Colloquium 2004: Hydrogeotechnical properties of hard rock tailings from metal mines and emerging geoenvironmental disposal approaches

Tailings are ground rock particles from which the valuable minerals or metals have been extracted. An historical overview on hard rock mines shows that since the 1930s, it has become current practice to pump the tailings into storage areas circumscribed by dykes made of the tailings themselves. However, numerous physical and chemical stability problems were observed mainly owing to the particular hydrogeotechnical and mineralogical properties of the tailings. Therefore, modifications to the conventional methods were proposed, but these were relatively costly, not always efficient, and sometimes difficult to implement. New management methods that improve the physical and (or) chemical stability have hence been developed to reduce environmental risks associated with tailings storage, namely, densified tailings, environmental desulphurization, covers built with tailings, and co-disposal of tailings and waste rock. Even if many aspects need to be optimized, these approaches can be considered today as interesting alternatives to conventional tailings management approaches.