Various researchers have tackled tailings materials from their respective regions, achieving substantial recoveries of copper, iron, cobalt, zinc, gold, and silver through acid …

In several countries around the world, abandoned mining sites are blighted by pollution from metal and metalloids. Generated by mining processes, toxic pollutants have lasting effects on the ecosystem. The study examined the environmental impact of waste from a copper mine that was operated by the Caucasus Copper Limited Company between 1905 and 1928, …

Herein, the recovery of iron from copper tailings via low-temperature direct reduction and magnetic separation was conducted; process optimization was carried out, and …

Publications show e.g. utilization of tungsten mine waste mud for the preparation of geopolymeric binders (Pacheco-Torgal et al., 2008), copper mine tailings use in the production of bricks through geopolymerization (Ahmari and Zhang, 2012, 2013), albite activation for the use in geopolymers (Feng et al., 2012) and sulphidic gold mine tailings ...

To address this question, this literature review focused on these properties as observed in a wide range of tailings. It was identified that these materials are predominantly …

I'm going to use a theoretical example here. Say a copper mine produced 1Mt of metal in 1999 at 90% recovery. The remaining 10% of copper, around 111kt, went to tailings. If the average copper price in 1999 was US$1,500/tonne then that 10% represented US$166.5 million of metal.

Mine tailings, the byproduct of mining and mineral processing, are increasingly mass produced as a result of increased demand for metals and minerals as well as the advancement in technology that allows for the exploitation of lower-grade ores. Lower grades can increase the volume of tailings that may contain new gangue minerals that should be …

In this work, we describe results from bioleaching mine tailings generated at two operational copper mines, carried out at different temperatures (with mesophilic and …

Mine-tailing dumps are one of the leading sources of environmental degradation, often with public health and ecological consequences. Due to the complex ecosystems generated, they are ideal sites for exploring the bacterial diversity of specially adapted microorganisms. We investigated the concentrations of trace metals in solid copper (Cu) mine tailings from the …

Increasing population levels, growing economies, rapid urbanization and changes in consumption patterns have increased the demand for raw materials such as base and precious metals, leading to growing concerns regarding their availability and the global efficiency of the mine supply chain. Mine tailings, consisting of process effluents that are generated in a …

The findings show that the copper ore tailings and iron ore tailings if incorporated in the required amount as supplementary cementitious material will reduce the mining waste as well as develop the sustainable cementitious material with enhanced engineering properties. ... Utilization of high volumes of copper mine tailings in the production ...

The abundance of mining activities continuously increases mine wastes/tailings that require storage/disposal. It is well understood that the accumulation of tailings around mines, and consequently, their spreading in the environment could cause serious ecological hazards. Reuse and recycling of mine tailing materials, in construction and earthwork applications (such …

Abstract. The prohibition of river sand mining has drawn the attention of researchers in finding practicable alternatives. In the approach of finding these alternatives, it is essential to ensure minimal or zero impairment to the ecological balance, which can be mainly attained by making use of industrial waste/byproducts. The wastes from the mining industry …

This paper addresses the mechanism of acid mine drainage generation in tailings from an abandoned mine site and predicts the evolution of zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and iron (Fe) concentrations. Batch leaching experiments and sequential extractions were conducted to investigate the leaching behavior of these contaminants from the tailings and to understand …

Fig. 2 illustrates the iron ore beneficiation process, particularly magnetic separation, resulting in the generation of inevitable tailings. Due to the characteristics of iron ores and the conditions during beneficiation, it is inevitable that approximately 2.5–3 tons of IOTs are generated for every 1 ton of iron ore concentrate produced [7].In 2019, the global annual …

Tailings from copper and uranium mining often produce measurable levels of radioactivity. Tailing Ponds . Some mining wastes become very fine after they have been ground up during processing. The ...

The comprehensive utilization of iron tailings, a low-grade and refractory iron mineral, has received global attention. Various recovery technologies, including gravity separation [6], flotation [7], magnetic separation [8], and bioleaching [9], have been developed to exploit the rich iron resources in iron tailings based on the distinct properties of iron oxides and gangue …

In 2021, Godirilwe conducted leaching experiments on tailings material from Bor Copper Mine, Serbia, considering both raw tailings and a concentrated tailings variant. Characterization of the samples revealed differences in copper and iron content, with the raw tailings containing 0.24% Cu and 3.51% Fe, while the concentrated tailings had ...

It reached 7 billion tonnes of mine tailings generated yearly worldwide, and 19 billion solid tailings will be accumulated by 2025. ... Similar to copper waste, iron ore residues can b e mixed in ...

I have tailings that came from a copper extraction process. It is in solid 2" or less in size. We are curious if there is a way to make pig iron with this? And also how to get rid of the SiO2(silica). I'm not sure if grinding this stuff up and using some kind of mag separation …

If a large — and controversial — copper mine is built in ... zinc, copper, iron and lead into the Rio ... stresses that "tailings dams for large-scale mining operations are major structures ...

(coarse and fine) and two copper tailings (coarse and fine). Compared to the copper tailings, the iron tailings showed higher compressibility, lower permeability, lower strength, and lower cyclic resistance. With the decrease in void ratio, the coefficient of consolidation almost kept constant for the fine iron tailings, whereas for the fine ...

hua et al. (2011) [45] used tailings fro m copper mines and co al gangs as substitute s for clay to make cement clinker. Copper slag is also being used in the manufacture of roof tiles,

Mining generates 13 billion tonnes per year of potentially toxic wet slurry waste, called tailings, commonly deposited in tailings storage facilities (TSF). Since 1915, 257 TSF failures have ...

Process mineralogy was applied to design the process circuit of magnetite tailings containing copper, lead and zinc from Marcona Iron Ore Mine. ... Therefore, this study provides an available separation of copper-zinc-lead minerals from iron tailings at Marcona Iron Ore Mine based on process mineralogy, thereby giving a prior diagnosis strategy ...

The copper grade is substantially higher compared to the average copper grade in tailings from the 1930s of 0.33% and far above the average of SERNAGEOMIN's cadaster of mine tailings (sampling only the first meter), which gives copper grades of 0.27% for inactive and abandoned tailings <10 M t . The investigated TSF was in operation between ...

Among the tailings produced in China in 2019, iron tailings were 520 million tons, accounting for 40.9%, copper tailings were 325 million tons, accounting for 25.6%, and the rest were rare and precious metal and non-metal tailings (Du et al., 2020). Among all types of tailings, non-ferrous metal tailings have a tremendous pollution potential ...

The oxidation of sulfide-bearing mine tailings catalyzed by acidophilic iron and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria releases toxic metals and other contaminants into soil and groundwater as acid mine drainage.

Due to growing mining volumes, global tailings generation was estimated to total ~3.2 bn tons for copper and ~1.8 bn tons for iron in 2018. It is well known by the mining industry that the cost of tailings management and reclamation are significant for business profitability and long-term survival.

Among various mine tailings as source material for geopolymer the copper mine tailings (CMTs), iron mine tailings (IMTs), and gold mine tailings (GMTs) are widely researched as is summarized in Table 1. In the geopolymer, they are often mixed with other alumina silicate source materials e.g. fly ash, blast furnace slag, metakaolin, copper slag ...