Decrease the moisture of the leaching tailings material

The presence of moisture in the tailings reclaimed with a rotary shovel causes materials to behave with greater fluidity, which generates greater pore pressure and prevents the construction of stable platforms, in addition to generating a deficient use of the authorised spaces, resulting in new environmental requirements to extend the storage areas. It is known that if there were less humidity in the material, the risks indicated would decrease, and the volume used for the disposal of mining process waste could be reduced.

SCOPE OF THE CHALLENGE:
• Dynamic leaching heap (zone to be removed by the rotary shovel)
• Tailings reclaim process, from the rotary shovel to the deposit in the tailings dump
• Tailings dump

BACKGROUND – PREVIOUS SOLUTION ATTEMPTS:
The solutions evaluated have been more expensive than the current situation.

• Decrease the risk of collapse of the reclaimed tailings dump due to increased pore pressure
• Decrease the volume of the reclaimed tailings

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS:
• Decreased Pore Pressure
• Moisture in tailings (%)
• Compliance with design parameters (rest α, H)