{"id":4943,"date":"2015-07-16T08:00:07","date_gmt":"2015-07-16T12:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/?p=4943"},"modified":"2026-02-20T23:26:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T23:26:23","slug":"determining-the-rheological-properties-of-mine-tailings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/mining\/determining-the-rheological-properties-of-mine-tailings\/","title":{"rendered":"Determining the Rheological Properties of Mine Tailings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"copperMining activities produce a variety of waste products, including waste rock, slags, overburden, mine water, and tailings<\/a>. Tailings are leftover mineral byproducts of ore processing. The composition of tailings depends on the composition of the ore and the extraction process used to obtain the ore. Tailings typically consist of finely-ground rock, processing chemicals, and small quantities of metals found in the host ore.<\/p>\n

Because of their small size and high water content, tailings are difficult to manage. In the past, tailings were dumped in or near water where they could contaminate groundwater or travel by water or air to contaminate the surrounding area. Tailings are currently used as backfill in underground mines, stored in open pits, dried and stacked, or pumped through pipelines into tailings ponds on site to allow the solid particles to separate from the water and settle on the bottom. The water is then reused in mining operations. <\/p>\n

The ability to pump tailings from the mine to the pond depends on the composition and viscosity of the tailings. To determine if tailings can be pumped with the existing pumping equipment, the viscosity and the yield stress need to be measured. The yield stress value is strongly dependent on solid content of the slurry.<\/p>\n

Rheology Solutions<\/a> defines these important rheological properties as follows:<\/p>\n