Freezing/Thawing Weathering Resistance of Solidified Mine Tailings Matrices

Abstract

Mine tailings have been the source of water resources contamination over the years. This paper presents a novel approach for the solidification and stabilization of these mine tailings using Calsifrit binder and compares it to conventional Portland cement, slag, and fly ash. The resulting mine tailings matrices represent new materials with the potential of using them in construction processes in cold climates. Experimental results showed that the tailings binder matrices of concern passed the freezing/thawing durability tests. Furthermore, developed computer code Tailings-DEM™ was able to model successfully matrices' freezing/thawing characteristics.