BACK ANALYSIS OF FORMATION OF SOFT MINING TAILINGS DEPOSITS / RETROANÁLISE DA FORMAÇÃO DE UM DEPÓSITO DE REJEITOS FINOS DE MINERAÇÃO CONSTRUÍDO PELO MÉTODO SUBAÉREO

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2006

RESUMO

The growing mineral exploration generates increasing amounts of mining tailings that need to be properly disposed, requiring larger and larger areas. The conventional way of tailings disposal consists of spigotting tailings in a pulp form within an impoundment. This practice generates low density, compressible and soft deposits. These characteristics, which harm storage of tailings and make rehabilitation difficult, have been of concern to geotechnical engineers in the last decades. In this context, important developments on both engineering properties and tailings disposal have been made. This work investigates an alternative method of fine tailings disposal, known as subaerial, by making a back analysis of a tailings deposit built using that construction technique. The method, which also applies to other alternative approaches, consists of discarding thin layers of tailings, alternating cycles of filling and resting (no deposition), and allowing drainage and/or evaporation to take place during the resting period. This operation leads to the optimization of physical processes such as consolidation and desiccation. The research approach for the back analysis was done in two distinct but complementary fronts. The first - more qualitative, tried to identify the stratigraphic profile of the deposit and its formation history. This was made possible through document screening (design plans, technical reports, personal communications, photos, etc.) and by establishing a geotechnical program of field and laboratory investigations. The other front more quantitative, sought to model the subaerial method by using numerical solutions of the soft soil large strain consolidation and desiccation events, following the filling and resting steps according to that technique.

ASSUNTO(S)

construcao civil resíduos teste de materiais laboratórios análise numérica

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