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Solutions for Gold Mine Tailings

xinhai 2021-05-31(03:05:00) 2225 0

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The comprehensive utilization of gold tailings refers to the recovery of useful minerals and the overall utilization of non-metallic fine-grained materials, which are mainly divided into the following aspects: the recovery of valuable elements in tailings, tailings filling the mining area, the overall utilization of tailings and so on.

#1 Recovery of Valuable Minerals

Most gold ores contain copper, lead, zinc, iron, sulfur and other minerals, so not only gold and silver can be recovered from the tailings after cyanidation, but also a considerable amount of associated metals can be recovered. At present, the comprehensive recovery of valuable elements in gold tailings is mainly focused on gold, silver, iron, copper, lead, zinc, sulfur, etc. Since gold is usually symbiosis with chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, etc., and with the different content of each element of the ore, the symbiotic ore will also be different. Usually, copper, lead, and zinc are comprehensively recovered after gold cyanidation.

#2 Tailings Filling

Currently, one of the most effective ways to directly utilize gold tailings is to backfill the mine goaf. Especially for those mines where it is not convenient to set up gold tailings pond on the one hand, and on the other hand the local market for construction materials is relatively small, the comprehensive utilization method of using gold tailings to backfill the mining area goaf has greater environmental and economic significance. The mining of mineral resources will cause a large number of mined-out areas in the underground of the mine, which not only brings significant property losses to local residents, but also causes safety hazards in the daily lives of residents.

Therefore, many mining companies have recognized the seriousness of the problem and are considering backfilling the goaf at the beginning. As a better filler, gold tailings can be used for local materials and waste utilization, also for the mining enterprises to save the cost ofcrushing and transporting the production of fillers. In general, the filling cost of using gold tailings as filler is low, only 1/4 of the cost of crushed stone filling. Tailings and aggregates with some cement can be used as mine fill material to realize mine backfill under reasonable

#3 Utilization of Tailings

(1)For Cement and Concrete Aggregates

The gold mine tailings are used to produce high quality road cement and sulfuric acid resistant cement. In addition, according to different particle size requirements, the gold tailings particles can be used directly as coarse and fine aggregates for concrete without processing, which makes concrete have higher strength and better durability.

(2)For Glass

Gold mine tailings glass products mainly include a variety of bottles and jars glass, some color glass, a few photosensitive glass or flat glass, most tailings glass products are obtained with siliceous, aluminosilicate, alkali aluminosilicate tailings as the main material.

(3)For Bricks

Gold mine tailings can be used to produce both building bricks and bricks for pavement and wall decoration. Decorative surface tiles, more suitable for exterior wall tiles, can also be mixed with different color pigments to make colorful smooth surface tiles, instead of ordinary tiles, artificial marble, etc. for indoor decoration.

  (4)  For Reclamation

The cyanide in the smelting tailings will be converted into natural fertilizer after decomposition, which is beneficial to plant growth. This creates good conditions for the reclamation of gold tailings ponds. Reclamation planting crops or trees protects the ecological environment while generating economic benefits. There are two main types of reclamation: one is to plant trees directly in and around the gold tailings pond, and the other is to cover the surface layer of tailings with a moderately thick layer of soil and plant crops or plants on the soil; however, a large amount of good soil is required for practical application, and transportation and mulching consume a lot of costs, making it difficult to promote widely.

#4 Suggestions for Utilization of Gold Mine Tailings

Gold mine tailings are a valuable secondary mineral resource. Strengthening the comprehensive utilization of tailings resources is beneficial to social development and environmental protection. The significance of the development and utilization of gold mine tailings is mainly reflected in the protection of ecological environment, recycling of resources, improving the economic efficiency of mining enterprises and reducing the cost of mining enterprises.

  • Strengthen the upgrading of gold mine tailings recovery technology and recovery equipment. According to the tailings characteristics of different gold mines, select the corresponding production technology and optimize the recovery equipment, increase the recovery rate of useful metals in the tailings as much as possible, and enrich the characteristic recovery technology.

  • Increase the policy guidance on the comprehensive utilization of gold mine tailings. Take reclamation as an example, it can not only improve the ecological environment, but also solve the problem of tailings occupying land resources, etc. The disadvantage is that the cost is high; the relevant departments should encourage mining enterprises to invest costs into tailings development and utilization, and give appropriate policy support, subsidize or reduce taxes for mining enterprises with shortage of funds, so as to provide support for mining enterprises to promote sustainable development of mines.

  • Promote the research of tailing-free process. Tailings-free process is to utilize different elements or minerals in the tailings after gold ore dressing, and no tailings are produced in the whole production process, which is the final form of comprehensive utilization of tailings and the goal of long-term development of tailings treatment.

To Wrap Up

In conclusion, based on the background of the lack of mineral resources and environmental pollution problems, the comprehensive utilization of gold mine tailings is an inevitable trend for the sustainable development of gold mining related industries. Each mine processing plant should pay attention to the problem of gold mine tailings accumulation, strengthen the secondary use of resources and environmental protection awareness of the gold mining industry, and carry out the comprehensive utilization of gold mine tailings. If you have and questions, please leave your message in the form or contact online customer service directly.

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