Effect of Partial Replacement of Natural Sand With Gold Mine Tailings on Some Properties of Masonry Mortars

Abstract

Sand constitutes bulk of cement mortar. Meeting the demand for sand in the construction industry without exploiting the natural resources is becoming a challenging task. In search of an alternative material for natural sand, gold mine tailings are substituted partially for natural sand in the production of masonry mortars. Natural sand is reconstituted by replacing it with 10%, 20% and 30% gold mine tailings. The effect of replacement on the properties of masonry mortars such as water retentivity, drying shrinkage and compressive strength is investigated. Major findings of the study are (a) water retentivity increases with the increase in fineness of sand for all sand types (b) As the sand becomes finer, the drying shrinkage increases and compressive strength decreases