UTILIZATION OF GOLD MILL TAILINGS AS A SECONDARY RESOURCE IN THE PRODUCTION OF A HIGH-STRENGTH TOTAL TAILINGS PASTE FILL

Fine tailings produced in the milling process have traditionally been disposed of in tailings ponds. Attempts have been made to use these fi ne tailings in backfill however, to dale the majority of backfill oper ations have utilized only a small percentage of fines. The remaining f ines are, therefore, being sent to tailings ponds creating a waste dis posal and environmental problem. This disposal practice is even more a cute in the gold milling industry where fine grinding, required for va lue liberation, results in the production of large quantities of fine tailings, of which a large percentage cannot be wed in backfill. Throu gh Cold-Bond Tailings Agglomeration (CBTA) these fine tailings can be agglomerated into pellets which can then be used as a coarse aggregate in backfill. This paper presents the results of using these pellets t o create an Agglomerated Tailings Paste Fill (ATPF) made entirely of f ine gold mill tailings and cementing binders. Through this process, su pplementary imported aggregates such as sand, gravel rock-chips are no t required while still maintaining adequate backfill strength. By usin g this CBTA technology, line tailings are diverted from tailings ponds and becomes utilized as a value added resource in the form of aggrega tes for rise in paste fill.