Williams 2014

APPLYING SOIL MECHANICS PRINCIPLES
TO TAILINGS DEWATERING,
DENSIFICATION AND STRENGTHENING
David Williams
TAILINGS AND MINE WASTE 2014
Conference Sponsors
AMEC Earth & Environmental
Knight Pisold and Co.
Ausenco
MWH
BASF Chemical
MineBridge Software, Inc.
CETCO
Paterson & Cooke
ConeTec
Robertson GeoConsultants, Inc.
DOWL HKM
SRK Consulting, Inc.
Engineering Analytics, Inc.
Tetra Tech, Inc.
Gannett Fleming
URS
Golder Associates, Inc.
Community Sponsor
CDM Smith
Overview
Water recovery from tailings is most efficiently
achieved in-plant, but this must be balanced
against efficient management of tailings disposal
and cost
Densification and strengthening of tailings is best
achieved by depositing them in thin layers and
allowing time for consolidation and desiccation
This can be assisted by amphirolling to drain
surface water down tailings beach and increase
surface area exposed to desiccation, and by
subsequent dozing to compact tailings
Constraints under which TSFs Must

Operate
Climatic and topographic setting of TSF

Processing plant tailings production rates
Manage supernatant tailings water
Meet discharge water quality
Maximise tailings settled dry density
Rehabilitate TSF on closure to ensure stability,
minimise environmental impacts, and achieve
some post-closure land use / function
Good Tailings Management
Spigotting in thin lifts
Maintaining a small decant pond

Good Tailings Management

To achieve optimal water recovery and tailings
dry density
Which will minimise required TSF wall raises
Possibly allow upstream wall raising on
tailings, potentially using tailings to construct
raise
Will facilitate closure
Operational Tailings Water Balance

Evaporation from
ponded water and
wet tailings
Rainfall
Tailings input
Seepage
recovery
Phreatic surface
Stored wet tailings
Decant
Wall seepage
Foundation seepage
Groundwater mounding
Original groundwater table

TW + RR + WW = RW + EW + SE + SF + SW
TW = tailings input water
RR = TSF catchment rainfall and runoff
WW = net waste water
RW = water recycled to plant
EW = entrained water
SE = surface evaporation
SF = seepage into foundation
SW = seepage through wall

Best-known water volumes are initial % Solids,
rainfall, and evaporation from ponded water
Water volumes that can be determined
include entrained water, runoff, input and
storage of waste water, and evaporation from
wet, desiccating and dry tailings
Water volumes that are least well-known are
seepage into TSF foundation and through wall

An Australian Example
Average annual rainfall = 845 mm (range 308
to 1,542 mm, since 1994)
Highest daily rainfall recorded = 272 mm (and
776 mm over 3 days)
Water discharged into TSF ~5 times rainfall
Pumping capacity ~20 mm/day, of which
return water accounts for ~15 mm/day
Leaving ~5 mm/day in reserve for rainfall
10
Tailings Continuum
(Davies, 2004)
Complex water management
Inefficient water recovery
Containment required
Seepage likely
Rehabilitation difficult
Likely low OpEx and CapEx,
but high rehabilitation cost
Simple water management

Efficient water recovery
Process chamical recovery
Minimal containment required
Negligible seepage losses
Progressive rehab. possible
Stable tailings mass
High OpEx and CapEx,
but low rehabilitation cost
Tailings slurry
(typically segregating)
Slurry-like:
No particle/particle
interaction
Saturated
No effective stress
Thickened tailings
(dewatered, ideally non-segregating)
C
O
Paste tailings
Pumpable
N
(Dewatered, ideally non-bleeding)
T
I
Non-pumpable
N
U
U
Soil-like: M
"Wet" filter cake
(near-saturated)
Particle/particle
"Dry" filter cake
(85 to 70% saturated)
interaction
Effective stresses
and suction
Shear strength
11
Consistency of Tailings
High density slurry
High slump paste
Centrifuged (wet cake)

Low slump paste
Filtered (dry cake)

12
Transporting Filtered Tailings
By truck
By conveyor and stacking

TAILINGS AND MINE WASTE
13 2014
CRICOS Provider No 00025B
13
In-Plant Recovery of Tailings Water

THICKENING
NOTES
Conventional
and high rate
~25% Solids for coal tailings and red mud

40-50% Solids for metalliferous tailings
Transportable by centrifugal pumping
Beaching at ~1%
High
compression
thickening
Higher % Solids
Just pumpable by centrifugal pumps
Beaching at up to 5%
Paste
thickening
Raises % Solids to between 45% (red mud) and 75% Solids

(metalliferous)
Requiring transport by expensive diaphragm or positive
displacement pumps
Consistency of toothpaste
Requiring considerable management
Centrifuging
and filtration
Solid-like
Potentially transportable by conveyor or truck
14
Water Recovery from TSF

Generally limited to recovery of supernatant
water, plus seepage through wall
Other tailings water is lost to:
Entrainment within tailings
Evaporation from decant pond and wet tailings
Seepage into foundation
In order to maximise recovery of supernatant

water:
Direct supernatant water to decant pond
Minimise size of decant pond and rapid recovery
Maintain decant pumps and water return pipelines
15
Post-Closure Tailings Water

Balance and Quality
16
Post-Closure Tailings Water

Balance and Quality
RR = SO + EW + SE + SF + SW
RR = TSF catchment rainfall and runoff
SO = spillway overflows
EW = entrained water
SE = surface evaporation
SF = seepage into foundation
SW = seepage through wall
17
Downstream vs. Upstream TSF

Wall Raising
Typically, TSF walls initially constructed as
starter dams using borrow material
Wall raising can be:
Downstream using borrow material
Upstream partially on desiccated tailings using
borrow material and/or tailings, if suitable
2 m high upstream raise
2 m downstream
wall raise
18
Upstream Wall Raising using

Tailings
Harvesting tailings
Moisture-conditioning
Compacting tailings
Completed raise
19
Excessive Wall Settlement due to

Borrow Pit being Infilled with Slimes
Failure
Resulting kink
20
Amphibious Excavator, Amphirol

and D6 Swamp Dozer
Amphibious Excavator
D6 Swamp Dozer
Parked Amphirol
21
Principles of Farming Tailings by

Amphirol
In good weather in a dry climate, farming can
be achieved in a month-long cycle
Amphirols exert 3 to 5 kPa bearing pressure
(c.f. ~35 kPa for a D6 Swamp Dozer)
Some surface drying and strengthening is
required to allow safe and efficient amphirol
operation
Too heavy a bearing pressure and/or too soft a
tailings surface leads to bogging
22
Principles of Farming Tailings by

Amphirol
An amphirol should:
Essentially float on lightly desiccated surface
Create trenches down beach to facilitate surface
drainage
Maximise surface area exposed to evaporation
and strengthening
Expose un-desiccated tailings on further farming
An amphirol should not over-shear tailings by

repeated farming, ~4 passes is optimal
23
Amphirols Dont Float!
24
Subsequent Farming by D6 Swamp

Dozer
A D6 Swamp Dozer (bearing pressure of ~35 kPa)
can be used once tailings have gained sufficient
shear strength and bearing capacity to safely
support it
A dozer may be used after amphirolling or simply
after tailings has desiccated naturally on exposure
Dozing improves already desiccated tailings by
compaction, leading to a further increase in dry
density and shear strength
25
Schematic Slurried Tailings Shear

Strength Profiles with Depth
Self-weight
+ Amphirol
+ Desiccation
+2 m Fill
Desiccation and fill are most effective for consolidation and strengthening
26
Safe Fill Height Placed with a D6

Swamp Dozer
Conventional bearing capacity analysis

gives:
H = Nc.sv /F.fill - He ~ 0.143 sv - 1
H = safe fill height (m)
Nc = bearing capacity factor (~5.14 for a strip)
sv = appropriate (vane) shear strength (kPa)
F = appropriate factor safety (perhaps ~2)
fill = unit weight of fill (~18 kN/m3)
He = equivalent height represented by D6 Swamp
Dozer (~1 m)
27
Strength Gain due to Fill Placement

Peak shear strength of loaded tailings will
increase as it drains, according to:
= .tan , up to 18 H.tan 30o or 10 H
= Increase in peak shear strength
= Increase in effective stress due to fill loading, up to
fill height H x Unit weight of fill (~18 kN/m3)
= Drained friction angle of tailings ~30o
28
Capping Wet and Dry Tailings
Thin lifts and desiccation to facilitate capping
Hydraulic capping of soft, wet tailings
29
Capping Tailings
Bow-wave failure
Surcharging edge
Bearing capacity failure
Pushing shallow fill on a broad front
30
Covers over Reactive Tailings

Rainfall
Rainfall
Evaporation
from ponded water
Evapotranspiration
from vegetated surface
Rainfall runoff
Nominal 1 m of growth medium

Seepage
along ~1% slope
Infiltration and storage
Nominal 0.5 m compacted seal, if required
Minor net percolation
Limited oxygen
diffusion and
net percolation
Evapotranspiration
from vegetated surface
Construction platform
/capillary break, if required
PAF or saline tailings
Rainfall-shedding Wet climates

Seepage
along ~1% slope
Nominal 1 to 2 m of
loose, rocky soil mulch
Infiltration and storage
Nominal 0.5 m compacted seal, if required

Minor net percolation
Limited oxygen
diffusion and
net percolation
Construction platform
/capillary break, if required
PAF or saline tailings
Store and release Dry climates

31
Conclusions
Good tailings deposition and tailings water
management can achieve optimal water
recovery and maximise tailings dry density,
which will:
Minimise tailings storage volume required and minimise

wall raises
Possibly allow upstream wall raising on tailings, potentially
using tailings to construct raise
Facilitate closure
Soil mechanics principles underlie dewatering,

densification and strengthening of tailings
32

Williams 2014

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APPLYING SOIL MECHANICS PRINCIPLES

TAILINGS AND MINE WASTE 2014

Knight Pisold and Co.

MineBridge Software, Inc.

Paterson & Cooke

Robertson GeoConsultants, Inc.

SRK Consulting, Inc.

Engineering Analytics, Inc.

Tetra Tech, Inc.

Golder Associates, Inc.

TAILINGS AND MINE WASTE 2014

Constraints under which TSFs Must

Climatic and topographic setting of TSF

Good Tailings Management

Spigotting in thin lifts

Maintaining a small decant pond

Good Tailings Management

Operational Tailings Water Balance

Stored wet tailings

Operational Tailings Water Balance

Operational Tailings Water Balance

Operational Tailings Water Balance

Simple water management

TAILINGS AND MINE WASTE 2014

High density slurry

High slump paste

Centrifuged (wet cake)

Low slump paste

Filtered (dry cake)

Transporting Filtered Tailings

By conveyor and stacking

CRICOS Provider No 00025B

In-Plant Recovery of Tailings Water

~25% Solids for coal tailings and red mud

Raises % Solids to between 45% (red mud) and 75% Solids

Water Recovery from TSF

In order to maximise recovery of supernatant

Post-Closure Tailings Water

TAILINGS AND MINE WASTE 2014

Post-Closure Tailings Water

TAILINGS AND MINE WASTE 2014

Downstream vs. Upstream TSF

TAILINGS AND MINE WASTE 2014

Upstream Wall Raising using

TAILINGS AND MINE WASTE 2014

Excessive Wall Settlement due to

Amphibious Excavator, Amphirol

Principles of Farming Tailings by

Principles of Farming Tailings by

An amphirol should not over-shear tailings by

Amphirols Dont Float!

TAILINGS AND MINE WASTE 2014

Subsequent Farming by D6 Swamp

Schematic Slurried Tailings Shear

Safe Fill Height Placed with a D6

Conventional bearing capacity analysis

Strength Gain due to Fill Placement

TAILINGS AND MINE WASTE 2014

Capping Wet and Dry Tailings

Thin lifts and desiccation to facilitate capping

Hydraulic capping of soft, wet tailings

TAILINGS AND MINE WASTE 2014

Bearing capacity failure

Pushing shallow fill on a broad front