The vast majority of tailings storage facilities (TSFs) worldwide contain hydraulically deposited tailings, where tailings are brought to site through pipes in a slurry.
Following a number of TSF failures, significant efforts have been made to better understand the geomechanical behaviour of these structures.
These include several attempts to create samples in the lab that can reproduce the particular fabric and response of these tailings in-situ, given the difficulties in obtaining good quality undisturbed samples from within a TSF. GCG has been engaged to review different laboratory practices in relation to this, and to carry out a comprehensive review of the existing literature on the topic, particularly on the effects of different particle size distributions on the efficiency of different methods.
Location
