A study of the relationship between various Slurry material characteristics and the flow behaviour of co-disposed Kimberlite tailings upon deposition

Abstract

The most significant benefit of co-disposal of tailings based on the “Paste and Thickened Tailings Disposal” concept is the improved ability to “design” the properties of the co-disposed tailings material to suit the surrounding environment. The overall aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of the relationship between the key slurry material characteristics and the flow behaviour of co-disposed tailings upon deposition, for the case of montmorillonite clay-based kimberlite tailings. A fundamental understanding of this relationship will enable the successful manipulation and exploitation of the co-disposed tailings rheology for optimal tailings disposal and the minimisation of associated financial, environmental and social risks.

The key material characteristics selected for investigation were the vehicle solids concentration, suspension pH and vehicle to load ratio. The yield stress was selected as the key rheological property representing both the vehicle component rheology and co-disposed tailings rheology. Two yield stress measurement techniques were used, namely (1) direct yield stress measurement with the vane method and (2) indirect yield stress measurement with the slump test method. The correlation between these two methods was investigated as a secondary objective of this study.

It was concluded that the suspension pH strongly influences the degree of microscopic particle interaction of the vehicle component and that manipulation of the suspension pH could move the material between interactive and noninteractive states.

It was further concluded that increasing load mass percentage leads to a significant increase in the co-disposed material yield stress. It is believed that the load component mainly affects the co-disposed material yield stress through its contribution to the total solids concentration, which in turn results in an exponential increase in the material yield stress.

The findings of this study showed remarkable flexibility in the manipulation of the various input parameters to produce the same yield stress value. It is therefore now possible to maintain a constant yield stress value as required by the environmental depositional requirements through various combinations of the input parameters and so keep the integrity of the deposition site intact.

The correlation obtained in this study between the vane and slump test yield stress

measurement techniques was fairly poor. The slump test only provided an accurate prediction of the yield stress when the material was in a highly interactive state.

It is recommended that future research focuses on the thixotropic nature of the vehicle component as a function of suspension pH, the accuracy of the correlation between the vane and slump measured yield stress and the effect of the load on the bulk rheology of the co-disposed material.