Effect of properties of tailings and binder on the short-and long-term strength and stability of cemented paste backfill

• DOI: 10.1016/j.matlet.2005.06.042
• Publication Date: 2005-07-21T20:39:53Z
• Authors: Ayhan Kesimal; Erol Yilmaz; Bayram Ercikdi; Ibrahim Alp; Hacı Deveci
• Keywords: 0211 other engineering and technologies; 02 engineering and technology

Abstract This paper presents the effect of physical, chemical and mineralogical properties of tailings and binder using two different sulphide tailings (Tailings T1 and T2) and Portland cement based pozzolanic binders (B1 and B2) on the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of cemented paste backfill (CPB) samples in the short and long terms. A total of 144 paste samples were prepared using different binder proportions of 4–7% by dry weight to determine an optimum CPB mixture with a target UCS of ≥ 0.7 MPa at a curing time of 28 days. The results have shown that the short-term strength development of paste backfill samples is dependent inherently on the properties of tailings and binder used. A general trend of increase in the short term strength of CPB samples was noted to occur with the decrease in the water-to-cement ratio. The paste backfill samples prepared only from Tailings T1 with 7 wt.% B1 type binder content were found to have a maximum UCS of 0.75 MPa while the samples obtained from Tailings T2 and Binder B2 produced consistently low UCSs of