Tailing Processing —— Extracting the Final Value of Tailings

Tailings are one of the products of sorting operations in the beneficiation process, and their content of useful target components is low, so they cannot be used for production. But in fact, tailings are not worthless. The comprehensive utilization of tailings resources can maximize the value of tailings and reap economic and environmental benefits.

Why Do Tailings Need to be Treated?

(1) There are abundant recoverable components in tailings: most of the ores in nature are associated types, and the general beneficiation process is to recover one or several minerals in the ore for maximum benefit. However, there are still available minerals in tailings. With the development and maturity of beneficiation technology, the minerals in tailings can be recycled again to generate economic benefits, and can also supplement the increasingly depleted mineral resources.

(2) The tailings are potentially harmful: the initial tailings treatment is to store them in the tailings pond, which will not only occupy a large amount of land, but also destroy the allocation of land resources. Mineral elements in tailings can also harm the surrounding natural environment and damage the soil. In addition, the dam failure of the tailings pond is also extremely harmful.

With the increasing attention to environmental pollution and tailings treatment, mines are required to further comprehensively treat and utilize tailings. What are the methods of tailings treatment?

Tailing Processing Technology

(1) Tailing Re-Processing: With the help of advanced technology and reasonable process, the useful components in tailings are recycled to the maximum extent, so as to realize the resource utilization of tailings, improve economic benefits, and reduce the amount of tailings discharged.

(2) Tailings as building materials: The elements such as silicon and aluminum contained in the tailings are indispensable components for the production of building materials. Using the tailings as building materials can dissipate the tailings in large quantities, and can also solidify or stabilize the harmful substances in them to prevent its migration.

(3) Tailings backfilling: Tailings backfilling is to refill the treated tailings waste back into the gob. It is a very effective way to reduce the number of tailings, which can reduce the cost of tailings dams and protect the landscape and the environment. 

The comprehensive utilization of tailings resources can achieve greater economic and environmental benefits, but the development of the comprehensive utilization of tailings is not yet mature at this stage, and there are still some problems, so the comprehensive utilization of tailings needs to continue to be excavated and promoted.