Title
Design and implementation of an alternative process for the manufacture of bricks from gold mine tailings
Other title
Diseño e implementación de un proceso alternativo para la fabricación de ladrillos a partir de relaves mineros de oro
Date Issued
01 June 2020
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Publisher(s)
Universidad de Tarapaca
Abstract
In Arequipa-Peru, tailings produced from the gold cyanidation process are deposited in tailings dumps. This accumulation creates the need for large spaces, high maintenance costs, and a negative impact on the environment. The present study aims to develop a process for reusing gold mine tailings as a raw material for the manufacture of bricks. This study deals with important aspects of the mining industry involved in sustainable development, namely the transformation of an environmental liability into an environmental asset. This work will seek to address two problems related to environmental damage: the buildup of toxic solid wastes at mining sites, and the over-exploitation of natural resources in the brick production process. The proposed process has been divided into three stages: (I) thickening and molding; (II) filtering, mixing and neutralizing; and (III) drying and sintering. The development and validation of the process and the evaluation of the final featured products allow defining the process as “recycling” (collection, processing, trading, and use of materials considered wastes). Standard procedures in brick manufacture analyzed physical and mechanical quality from bricks produced. Results showed that the bricks comply with current regulations for materials in compression resistance, maximum absorption, and dimensional variation tests. It is concluded that the enormous environmental liability represented by mining tailings can be used as a raw material within the construction materials industry.
Start page
268
End page
276
Volume
28
Issue
2
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ingeniería del Petróleo, (combustibles, aceites), Energía, Combustibles Minería, Procesamiento de minerales
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85090665594
Source
Ingeniare
ISSN of the container
07183291
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus