CA2924919A1 - Waste-free comprehensive mining process, wfcm - Google Patents

Waste-free comprehensive mining process, wfcm Download PDF

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Publication number
CA2924919A1
CA2924919A1 CA2924919A CA2924919A CA2924919A1 CA 2924919 A1 CA2924919 A1 CA 2924919A1 CA 2924919 A CA2924919 A CA 2924919A CA 2924919 A CA2924919 A CA 2924919A CA 2924919 A1 CA2924919 A1 CA 2924919A1
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CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
tailings
pit
crater
underground
paste
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
CA2924919A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Juan Rayo Prieto
Victor Encina Montenegro
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
JRI INGENIERIA SA
Original Assignee
JRI INGENIERIA SA
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by JRI INGENIERIA SA filed Critical JRI INGENIERIA SA
Publication of CA2924919A1 publication Critical patent/CA2924919A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B09DISPOSAL OF SOLID WASTE; RECLAMATION OF CONTAMINATED SOIL
    • B09BDISPOSAL OF SOLID WASTE NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B09B1/00Dumping solid waste
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B09DISPOSAL OF SOLID WASTE; RECLAMATION OF CONTAMINATED SOIL
    • B09BDISPOSAL OF SOLID WASTE NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B09B3/00Destroying solid waste or transforming solid waste into something useful or harmless
    • EFIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21CMINING OR QUARRYING
    • E21C41/00Methods of underground or surface mining; Layouts therefor
    • EFIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21CMINING OR QUARRYING
    • E21C41/00Methods of underground or surface mining; Layouts therefor
    • E21C41/32Reclamation of surface-mined areas
    • EFIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21FSAFETY DEVICES, TRANSPORT, FILLING-UP, RESCUE, VENTILATION, OR DRAINING IN OR OF MINES OR TUNNELS
    • E21F15/00Methods or devices for placing filling-up materials in underground workings
    • EFIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21FSAFETY DEVICES, TRANSPORT, FILLING-UP, RESCUE, VENTILATION, OR DRAINING IN OR OF MINES OR TUNNELS
    • E21F15/00Methods or devices for placing filling-up materials in underground workings
    • E21F15/06Filling-up mechanically
    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02WCLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO WASTEWATER TREATMENT OR WASTE MANAGEMENT
    • Y02W30/00Technologies for solid waste management
    • Y02W30/50Reuse, recycling or recovery technologies
    • Y02W30/58Construction or demolition [C&D] waste

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mining & Mineral Resources (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • General Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Geochemistry & Mineralogy (AREA)
  • Geology (AREA)
  • Remote Sensing (AREA)
  • Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
  • Processing Of Solid Wastes (AREA)
  • Manufacture And Refinement Of Metals (AREA)

Abstract

The proposed invention corresponds to a process for the disposal of tailings that eliminates the need to build waste dumps and tailings dams and the use of natural soil for collection of waste, and also optimizes the use of fresh water and eliminates the dust generation from blasting and vehicle traffic outdoors.

It is used in mines changing from open pit operation to underground mine, wherein the pulp obtained from the process of ore flotation from the underground mine is transported to a paste-thickening plant on the edge of the pit or crater and the thickened pulp is deposited in the sinking pit or crater of the underground mining operation.

Description

TITLE: WASTE-FREE COMPREHENSIVE MINING PROCESS, WFCM
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention is developed in the field of mining. The so-called Waste-Free Comprehensive Mining (WFCM) process consists of modifying substantially the way we operate large mines, changing from open pit operations to Large-Scale Underground Mining (LSUM) located under the position of a pit previously exploited, for the purpose of using said space as paste tailings deposit.
It consists of a mining operation process that considers changing from an open pit operation to an underground mining operation, filling the cavity left by exploitation with paste tailings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Historically, the most frequent destination for tailings was deposit in rivers, lakes and ocean floors. Then a practice started to prevail of confining them in tailings deposits to be contained and isolated in order to prevent movement of sediments, also with the risk of collapse or liquefaction, especially in seismic regions.
Most publications and articles related to the final disposal of tailings refer to deposit of conventional tailings, thickened and in paste, in dams, or the disposal of conventional tailings in abandoned pits or the deposit of tailings inside underground mines using it as a filler in order to extract the remaining reserves in the pillars or to stabilize the roof of the mine. This practice goes back to the late 1980s and has been used mainly in gold, coal and polymetallic mines, in which case paste tailings, cemented tailings or mixtures of tailings with rocks and "paste rock" cement are used.
Cementing tailings prevents contamination of groundwater, and provides mechanical resistance to the paste. The paste fines (20 to 45um) should correspond to at least 15% of the weight of the paste and the dosing of the binder is between 2% and 6% of the weight of the mixture.
During the past 20 years, conventional practices of management and disposal of tailings have changed in order to reduce environmental pollution and recover the water contained in the tailings. The latter concepts are relevant today because the laws are increasingly stringent with respect to the generation of a more sustainable mining and at closure of mining operations.
The latter is intended to perpetually ensure the physical and chemical stability of tailings dams.
The factors that have influenced these changes in criteria are:
= The responsible use of water improving technologies for thickening tailings to reduce consumption of fresh water; in areas of water shortages or dry climates in the world;
= Increased awareness of governments and private sectors to take care of water supply sources and avoid environmental pollution.
Currently, the trend is to reduce or eliminate tailings deposits, arranging them in mining excavations. ("Tailings and mine waste 10", 2011, Taylor &
Francis Group, London ISBN 978-0-415-61455-9) As set out above, a new Comprehensive Waste-Free Mining (CWFM) process is proposed. This process is a worldwide technological breakthrough
2 that combines cutting-edge technological developments achieved in the processes of: underground mining, management and thickening of tailings and deposit of paste tailings.
The WFCM process consists of substantially modifying the way to operate large mines, changing from open pit operations to Large-Scale Underground Mining (LSUM), with the purpose of using the space created by the pit and the future sinking crater as tailings deposit.
Substantial improvements provided by WFCM to the process of operating large deposits are:
= Elimination of tailings dam, thus reducing soil contamination. The impact is concentrated on the same site intervened by the pit.
= Decreased risk of dam collapse, especially in seismic areas.
= Closure of the pit with the use of tailings.
= Elimination of air pollution by particulates.
= Reduced use of fresh water for industrial process because of maximum recovery and recycling of water from the tailings.
Although technologies for underground mining and paste tailings disposal are known, to the best of our knowledge, there is not any comprehensive operation in the world depositing paste tailings in the pit and in the crater of an active underground mine located under a pit.
In an intensive search for patents related to the proposed process, no direct references were found to the use of paste tailings for filling pits or for the purposes of sealing the walls of a pit or filling craters resulting from operations by sinking. Basically, the patents refer to the process of obtaining
3 the paste, the application of additives and improvement of equipment for the process of obtaining and storing the paste.
Below are two patent applications related to paste tailings obtained from http://worldwide.espacenet.com/:
= CN102247714 describes a mechanism for continuous production and storage of paste tailings for filling mines and tailing processing;
= CN1202569 describes a technology for filling mines with highly concentrated paste and equipment for fluidizing, drawing water, stirring and transporting the paste.
Publications in scientific articles, seminars and commercial sites on the web show mainly information regarding the use of paste tailings mixed with cement for filling for purposes of structural reinforcement in underground mines.
Although technologies for underground mining and paste tailings disposal are known, there is not any comprehensive operation depositing paste tailings in the upper pit of the crater in an active underground mine.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a mining process that consists of an underground mining operation under a pit, which will be used to deposit the tailings generated in the ore processing plant. Tailings will be thickened until reaching the consistency of a paste before being deposited.
This process eliminates the need to build a tailings dam. Tailings are deposited in the pit and in the crater of the underground mine. This reduces
4 the use of fresh water for the ore extraction process because the water from tailings is recovered and recycled to the plant.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
Figure 1 shows a cutaway view of an ore deposit which has changed from open pit operation to underground mining operation and a diagram of the different steps of the process.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention is an innovative mining process that involves modifying the operation of large mines that change from open pit operations to Large-Scale Underground Mining (LSUM) by using the space created by the pit and the future sinking crater as paste tailings deposit.
Figure 1 shows a section of a mining deposit which was operated by open pit (1) method and is currently being operated by an underground mine (2) method. The cavity left by the operation of the pit increases during underground mining by sinking because the latter forms a crater in the bottom of the pit. The void volume of the pit and the crater is continuously filled with the thickened tailings produced as waste in the ore treatment plant The operation of the underground mine must be carried out using the operation system by sinking blocks (block/panelcaving), thus generating a crater at the bottom of the pit. This crater increases its volume as the ore extraction is carried out from the underground mine. This means an increase in time of the capacity to store tailings. An important aspect of the invention is that filling with paste tailings is deposited in the cavity of the pit and the crater, as the operation of the underground mine is carried out.
5 The process of the invention uses steps already known in the prior art listed here to better clarify the invention, in which the ore extracted from the underground mine (2), is transported (3 and 4) to the crushing, grinding and flotation step (5), where the concentrate (6) and the tailings (7) are obtained.
Without altering the configuration of the concentrator plant, instead of sending the tailings to a dam, these are pumped to the edge of the pit, where, through a second step of high density thickening (8), water (9) is extracted and deposited as paste tailings in the cavity left by the mining operation (11).
The substantial improvement provided by the invention proposed for the process for operating of large mining deposits is eliminating the need to use natural soil for collection of solid waste, both from open pit operations and tailings from concentrator plants, that is, waste dumps and tailings dams are eliminated. Also, this maximizes recycling of industrial water and eliminates dust generation from blasting and vehicle traffic outdoors, increasing productivity and reducing fuel consumption.
6

Claims (3)

WHAT IS CLAIMED:
1. A process for the disposal of tailings that eliminates the need to build waste dumps and tailings dams and eliminates the use of natural soil for collection of waste, optimizes the use of fresh water and eliminates the dust generation from blasting and vehicle traffic outdoors, wherein it is used in mines changing from open pit operation to underground mine;
the pulp obtained from the process of ore flotation from the underground mine is transported to a paste-thickening plant on the edge of the pit or crater;
the thickened pulp is deposited in the sinking pit or crater of the underground mining operation.
2. The process for storing tailings, according to claim 1, wherein the increase in volume of the open pit due to sinking of the crater is used to increase the capacity for storage of thickened tailings.
3. The process to store tailings, according to claim 1, wherein it can also be used in underground mines operating by sinking blocks (block caving), which do not operate using a pit, using only the volume generated by the sinking crater.
CA2924919A 2015-03-24 2016-03-23 Waste-free comprehensive mining process, wfcm Abandoned CA2924919A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CLCL0742-2015 2015-03-24
CL2015000742A CL2015000742A1 (en) 2015-03-24 2015-03-24 Procedure to dispose tailings that eliminates the construction of ballast dumps and tailings dams, because it is used in mines that migrate from the open pit farm to the underground mine, the pulp obtained from the process of floating the underground mine ore is transported to thickening plant.

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA2924919A1 true CA2924919A1 (en) 2016-09-24

Family

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA2924919A Abandoned CA2924919A1 (en) 2015-03-24 2016-03-23 Waste-free comprehensive mining process, wfcm

Country Status (6)

Country Link
CA (1) CA2924919A1 (en)
CL (1) CL2015000742A1 (en)
EC (1) ECSP17060076A (en)
MX (1) MX2017011604A (en)
PE (1) PE20160796A1 (en)
WO (1) WO2016149850A1 (en)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN112045117A (en) * 2020-08-20 2020-12-08 杨行涛 Welding wire recycling and connecting device

Families Citing this family (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN107882561A (en) * 2017-11-10 2018-04-06 安徽省交通航务工程有限公司 A kind of advanced administering method in the high ground-water level sinking land in coalmining areas
CN109057799B (en) * 2018-07-11 2019-06-28 中国矿业大学 It is a kind of the north open coal mine water resource storage and concocting method
CN109737845B (en) * 2019-01-25 2021-03-30 安徽江南爆破工程有限公司 Blasting demolition method for soil dam
CN110409359B (en) * 2019-06-20 2021-01-15 中国矿业大学 Segmented construction method for bottom reservoir of inner-drainage open pit
CN110409360B (en) * 2019-06-20 2021-01-15 中国矿业大学 Pit bottom reservoir staged construction method based on intermediate bridge of inner-discharging strip mine
CN111119990B (en) * 2020-02-10 2021-03-23 北京科技大学 Industrial-grade multifunctional paste filling test platform and test method
CN114108566A (en) * 2021-08-17 2022-03-01 国家能源投资集团有限责任公司 Distributed water storage construction method for strip mine
CN114558866B (en) * 2022-03-04 2022-11-22 四川大学 Intelligent storage device for open-cut blasting dust in high mountain gorge area

Family Cites Families (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5141365A (en) * 1988-07-14 1992-08-25 Fosroc International Limited Backfilling in mines
US5636942A (en) * 1996-01-26 1997-06-10 Brackebusch; Fred W. Mineral processing tailings disposal
CN103590830B (en) * 2013-10-08 2015-04-01 中钢集团马鞍山矿山研究院有限公司 Open pit and underground space-time synchronous mining method for multiple-ore body
CN104314570B (en) * 2014-09-30 2016-03-16 河北联合大学 Long thick ore body Wall ore reclaims and the transitional exploitation method of open air trestle
CN104653224B (en) * 2014-12-12 2016-08-03 河北联合大学 The method that open-air pit tailing cemented filling is administered

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN112045117A (en) * 2020-08-20 2020-12-08 杨行涛 Welding wire recycling and connecting device

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
MX2017011604A (en) 2018-11-09
CL2015000742A1 (en) 2015-08-14
PE20160796A1 (en) 2016-08-13
ECSP17060076A (en) 2017-11-30
WO2016149850A1 (en) 2016-09-29

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