摘要 |
A process is disclosed for disposing mineral processing tailings. The process includes the step of treating the tailings to produce a flowable paste including a mass comprised of particles at least approximately 15% of which are less than 20 microns in diameter. The process further includes the step of preparing an unconfined ground surface tailings disposal site by grading a selected site to produce a substantially level paste receiving bed. The flowable paste is then deposited onto the paste receiving bed from a discharge station to flow by gravity to a natural angle of rest of between approximately 1 DEG and 10 DEG slope. The paste is allowed to consolidate from flowable to a solidified state, retaining the natural angle of rest. Overburden is then placed over the solidified paste. The process is particularly useful in ore processing using cyanidation in which cyanide destroying chemicals are used at or prior to preparation of the flowable paste.
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