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Brittleness of Iron Ore Tailings : Fact or Artifact, a Case Study

Tailings and Mine Waste Conference (2023 : Vancouver, B.C.); University of British Columbia. Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering

This paper presents a case study on the assessment of brittleness of an iron ore tailings facility. The assessment focusses on the interpretation of cone penetration test (CPT) data from two test campaigns by two independent contractors. Different conclusions regarding brittleness were obtained. Apart from the various differences between the bespoke cones used, focus is placed on the piezocone saturation fluid, i.e., glycerin versus silicon oil, and the impact on the dynamic pore pressure response and equilibrium pore pressure regime. A unique feature of this assessment is the impact the results have on the brittleness classification. It is shown that differences in dynamic pore pressure response and tip resistance in the two datasets result in completely different brittleness classifications on this particular tailings facility. Based on the findings of this case study, it is recommended that future CPT campaigns allow for dual probes at each test position, the first using silicon oil as saturation fluid and the second using glycerin. This approach is likely to result in more reliable measurements of dynamic and equilibrium pore pressures, which will lead to improved assessments of tailings facilities.

Text

2023-12-08

Attribution-NonCommercialNoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/86820

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/