Effect of placement water content and dry density on water retention behaviour of filtered tailings

ABSTRACT

Uncertainty exists as to the role of placement conditions of filtered tailings on water retention behaviour. In this study, we measured 12 drying and 12 wetting soil water characteristic curves on two filtered tailings with various initial gravimetric water contents and dry densities. Filtered tailings at ≥90% standard Proctor maximum dry density maintained higher degrees of saturation under suctions between 15 and 600 kPa, when compared to loosely placed (80% compaction) filtered tailings. Similarly, filtered tailings compacted wet of optimum maintained higher saturations under suctions between 15 and 600 kPa compared with filtered tailings compacted at optimum water content.

KEYWORDS:

• Filtered tailings
• hysteresis
• mining
• soil water characteristic curve, tailings

Acknowledgments

The authors also acknowledge the mines that provided filtered tailings samples for this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/17480930.2023.2260592

Additional information

Funding

Financial support for this work was provided via graduate funding for the lead author by the Tailings and Mine Waste Conference Committee.