Application of electro-osmosis to the consolidation of sand quarry tailings

The need for an effective and efficient consolidation method for mine operations has significantly increased throughout the past decade. In comparison to inefficient, conventional consolidation methods, electro-osmosis consolidation has shown great potential in consolidating tailings, with measured benefits demonstrated from laboratory experiments and some civil engineering applications. However, in order to achieve large scale field implementation in mining operations, a comprehensive, optimised electro-osmosis operation procedure is required. The aim of this paper is to examine the efficiency and effectiveness of the electro-osmosis consolidation method with respect to sand quarry tailings. This laboratory-scale study is the initial part of a larger research endeavour which seeks to upscale the findings to operational quarries. In this paper, experiments were undertaken on sand quarry tailings in testing tanks at two different scales, containing approximately 0.06 m³ and 1.07 m³ of tailings. Tests were conducted using steel electrodes. The results indicate a positive outcome of using electro-osmosis consolidation, and a more optimised outcome may be achieved with the implementation of intermittent current and polarity reversal.