Mill waste, or tailings, are abrasive and cause severe wear on piping components as they are collected and delivered to the tailings storage facility (TSF). Tailings applications often see the highest solids content slurry, and highest pipeline volume, and can have a wide range of pressures. Isolation valve performance and life span have a direct impact on mill throughput and operating costs.
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“Tailings" refer to the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are the by-products of the extraction processes used in mining to recover metals, minerals, or coal.
A spigot refers to a specific outlet used in the distribution of tailings in a tailings storage facility (TSF), such as a tailings dam or a tailings pond. The primary function of a spigot is to discharge the tailings slurry into the designated area in a controlled manner.
High-rate or high-density thickeners concentrate tailings before disposal, recovering a significant amount of process water and creating high-density tailings. For example, FLS Deep-Cone® thickeners can recover up to 70% of tailings water, making them ideal for water conservation. Deep-Cone thickeners feature deep side walls, steep cone angles, and a patented inner spiral rake design to create and allow effective operation with deep mud beds, extended mud residency times, and increased solids compaction – all of which optimise water recovery.
Meanwhile, the E-CAT™ thickener combines high-rate thickening and water clarification into a single unit. These thickeners handle high throughputs while achieving highly efficient solid-liquid separations to produce a high-clarity overflow for excellent water recovery and minimal water treatment costs.
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Tailings filtration incorporates high-rate or high-density thickeners followed by various filters to achieve up to 95% tailings water recovery. Filtered tailings, thus, increase the water returned to the plant for re-use; however, selecting the correct filter is critical. Some tailings can be sufficiently dewatered using a vacuum filter, while others require pressure filtration, such as the latest AFP filter press. Designing an effective – but not cost-prohibitive – filtered tailings solution is a balancing act that requires an in-depth understanding of tailings characteristics, process, equipment capabilities, and costs.
With a maximum filter feed pressure of 15 Bar, the AFP filter press achieves maximum cake density and minimum cake moisture, without using membranes, when dewatering many concentrate and tailings slurries. It also incorporates data-driven control and decision-making for optimised proactive maintenance. For example, the Intelliplate plate alarm system detects the time and location of any media failure so the issue can be addressed before it propagates or damages plates. Meanwhile, a moisture sensor determines cake moisture every 10-30 minutes, allowing near real-time responsiveness to filter performance issues.
Paste tailings have been dewatered to form a thick, non-segregating paste with minimal water content. This means they don’t flow easily and produce little to no seepage when stored. Paste tailings are often used to backfill underground mines. The paste is mixed with a binder, such as cement, to support and prevent heading collapse and subsidence. Any excess paste can be stored in surface tailings facilities.
Most paste backfill projects have used FLS dewatering equipment, such as Deep-Cone thickeners or vacuum filters. In addition to recovering significant tailings water via thickening and filtration, paste backfill reduces surface tailings storage requirements while supporting underground mining operations, allowing previously unmined ore (pillars and supports) to be extracted. Mixing the paste with a binder stabilises the tailings, minimising the risk of groundwater contamination. Acid rock drainage is also reduced for certain ores.