Hambledon Miningplc

StephenWilson

EnvironmentalGeotechnicsLtd

StephanJefferis

Minepastebackfill:theuseof
groutsatmassivescale

Selectionofcementitiousbinder
Rheologyandpipeflow
Consolidation
Bleeding
Channelledbleed

SYNOPSISOFPAPER

Tailings minewasteaftermilling
Finetailingstypically80%passing75m
Wetandeasilyliquefiable
Potentialforflowslides occurredtoooften
Typicallyretainedwithintailingsdamsor
lagoons
Largeareaoflandrequiredwhichultimately
mustberestoredtotheenvironment

CONVENTIONALTAILINGS
MANAGEMENT

Slimes

Phreatic
line

Dam
Drain

Underflow
sand

Hydrocyclone

With grateful acknowledgment to Prof Tamas Meggyes, BAM

Superimposed pond
Clean water

Decant returned
to plant

Tailings feed
(slurry pipeline)

Overflow
fines

With grateful acknowledgent to

Prof T. Meggyes & Golder Associates

Surface paste disposal

Buluyanhulu - Tanzania

DamBreach

AZNALCOLLAR,SPAIN
FAILEDTAILINGSDAM

INSIDETHEFAILEDTAILINGSPOND
POTENTIALLYACIDGENERATINGPYRITEWASTE

 Convertingaproblemintoasset
Returnsaproportionoftailingsunderground
(maximum~50%)
Cementedmasscanbeusedforregionalunderground
minesupport
Pastewillnotstoproofcracking
notstiffenoughbutwillstopcollapse
Enablesgreaterproportionoforebodytoberecovered
Reducesdilutionoforeduringextraction
Reducesabovegroundstorage

CEMENTEDPASTEBACKFILL

 Watermaybescarcesomaximumrecoveryofwateris
desirableandachievedthroughthickeningorfiltration
Undergrounddisposalreduceslandtakeandenvironmental
risk
Acementitiousbinderisrequiredformaterialplaced
undergroundasthematerialretainswater
Minesareofteninremotelocations,howeverpaste
minimisesbinderrequirementscomparedtootherbackfills
Chemicalandphysicalpropertiesofminetailingscanbe
complexandvariable
Residualamountsofmetalssuchascopper,leadandzinc
cankillormassivelyretardcementset

PASTEBACKFILL

ALSONEEDTOSELECTAPPROPRIATEGROUTBEHAVIOUR
MODELS

REQUIREDPROPERTIES PASTEBACKFILL
Economyofwholeprocess
Minimumbindercontent
Exploitoravoidtailingschemistry
Minimumwatercontent
Pumpability
Selflevelling
Bleed/filtration/consolidationminimal
Penetrability notanissue

WITHGROUTSONESIZE
DOESNOTFITALL

Water
Recycling

Underground
Mine

Processing
Plant

Backfill
Plant

Binder

Tailings

Concentrate

Thickening

Mixing

or

Filtering

SimplifiedPasteBackfill
MaterialFlowDiagram

Cobriza Mine, Peru

Paste Thickener
Underflow

Lisheen Mine Paste Plant

Ireland

MASSIVE
THICKENER

PASTEMIXSTATION

TAILINGS BINDERMIXER

Typical thicker paste backfill

6-7 inch slump
Gold Tailings Sekisovskoye Mine, Kazakhstan

Typical
tailings
paste

Testing
Probably
willfind
abetter
one

 Pastemustbepumpableasitmayhavetobe
pumpedsubstantialhorizontaldistances
but
Minemaybedeepsothatthereisalarge
verticaldrop
Needtoavoidcavitationandfreefallofpaste
Otherwiseseveredamagetopipeworketc.

PIPELINEPRESSUREGRADIENT

P
L
4

Ww

Functionof:
shearstressatwallWw
pipediameterd

PIPELINEPRESSUREGRADIENT(P/L)

W W b  Pb J

ShearstressatwallWw isafunctionof:
yieldstress
plasticviscosity
shearrate

BASICRHEOLOGY BINGHAMMODEL

StandardequationexistforBinghammodel
butinpracticewalllayerdevelops
Walllayerismorefluid
Effectismorepronouncedinsmallerpipes
InvalidatessimpleBinghammodelforallgrouts!
andanyothersinglematerialmodelwhich
considersonlybulkfluid
Forpumpingpressure,needtoconsider
onlythewalllayer

PREDICTIONOFWALLSHEARSTRESS

Testvane
orbobin
cupof
grout

dN

Vp

Couldtrytomatchshearratesviscometer pipe
Complexandmaynotrepresentwallconditions
Sosetperipheralvelocityofshearvane/bobto
averagelinearvelocityinpipe,Vp
Uselargediametercup(infinitesea)

ROTATIONALVISCOMETRY

P
L

M
8
hD2d

Ww |Wr

WhereMisthetorqueonthebob

Hence

assume

Wr

2M
2
hD

SHEARSTRESSONBOB

 Shearstressonbobatappropriaterotational
speedsgivesanindicationpumpingpressure
Quick,verysimple,noneedtodevelopfull
rheologyformaterial
Providesarationalbasisforselectionof
viscometerrotationalspeedforoperational
QA/QC
Methodologycanberefinedforother
materials/applications

PIPELINEPRESSUREDROP