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Preliminary Study on the Use of Reverse Osmosis Brine and Mine Tailings as Cement Paste Mixtures for Mine Backfilling Application

The processing of low-grade gold ores generates a significant volume of tailings and wastewater that impacts the environment. The treatment of wastewater using reverse osmosis (RO) produces brine as a by-product with high salinity levels. Improper disposal of mine wastes can significantly pollute wa...

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Main Authors: Opong, Rachael Wereko, Nsiah‑Baafi, Elsie, Andrews, Anthony, Koomson, Bennetta
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: Springer Nature 2024
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access_status_str Open Access
author Opong, Rachael Wereko
Nsiah‑Baafi, Elsie
Andrews, Anthony
Koomson, Bennetta
author_browse Andrews, Anthony
Koomson, Bennetta
Nsiah‑Baafi, Elsie
Opong, Rachael Wereko
author_facet Opong, Rachael Wereko
Nsiah‑Baafi, Elsie
Andrews, Anthony
Koomson, Bennetta
author_sort Opong, Rachael Wereko
collection Thesis
description The processing of low-grade gold ores generates a significant volume of tailings and wastewater that impacts the environment. The treatment of wastewater using reverse osmosis (RO) produces brine as a by-product with high salinity levels. Improper disposal of mine wastes can significantly pollute water bodies and soils. A novel and sustainable method for managing, disposing, and handling these wastes is vital. The use of RO brine and mine tailings to produce cement paste mixtures for backfilling applications has been investigated. Sulfide gold mine tailings and RO brine were characterized, and cement paste backfill (CPB) mixtures were prepared by mixing varying proportions of cement and RO brine. The CPB cubes were cured for a specified number of days, and their physical and mechanical properties were determined. The results indicate a decrease in slump value with increasing cement content, whilst the slump increased with RO brine content. The compressive strength at 28 days increased with binder content reaching a maximum of 1.83 MPa using 50% RO brine. The CPB cubes produced with 50% RO brine and 12 wt.% cement possessed the required combination of fluidity and strength for mine backfilling applications.
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license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from KNUSTSpace — Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (Ghana)
publishDate 2024
publishDateRange 2024
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spelling oai:ir.knust.edu.gh:123456789/15452 Preliminary Study on the Use of Reverse Osmosis Brine and Mine Tailings as Cement Paste Mixtures for Mine Backfilling Application Opong, Rachael Wereko Nsiah‑Baafi, Elsie Andrews, Anthony Koomson, Bennetta The processing of low-grade gold ores generates a significant volume of tailings and wastewater that impacts the environment. The treatment of wastewater using reverse osmosis (RO) produces brine as a by-product with high salinity levels. Improper disposal of mine wastes can significantly pollute water bodies and soils. A novel and sustainable method for managing, disposing, and handling these wastes is vital. The use of RO brine and mine tailings to produce cement paste mixtures for backfilling applications has been investigated. Sulfide gold mine tailings and RO brine were characterized, and cement paste backfill (CPB) mixtures were prepared by mixing varying proportions of cement and RO brine. The CPB cubes were cured for a specified number of days, and their physical and mechanical properties were determined. The results indicate a decrease in slump value with increasing cement content, whilst the slump increased with RO brine content. The compressive strength at 28 days increased with binder content reaching a maximum of 1.83 MPa using 50% RO brine. The CPB cubes produced with 50% RO brine and 12 wt.% cement possessed the required combination of fluidity and strength for mine backfilling applications. 2024-02-13T14:56:52Z 2024-02-13T14:56:52Z 2022-11-24 Article https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-022-05959-1 https://ir.knust.edu.gh/handle/123456789/15452 en_US application/pdf Springer Nature
spellingShingle Opong, Rachael Wereko
Nsiah‑Baafi, Elsie
Andrews, Anthony
Koomson, Bennetta
Preliminary Study on the Use of Reverse Osmosis Brine and Mine Tailings as Cement Paste Mixtures for Mine Backfilling Application
title Preliminary Study on the Use of Reverse Osmosis Brine and Mine Tailings as Cement Paste Mixtures for Mine Backfilling Application
title_full Preliminary Study on the Use of Reverse Osmosis Brine and Mine Tailings as Cement Paste Mixtures for Mine Backfilling Application
title_fullStr Preliminary Study on the Use of Reverse Osmosis Brine and Mine Tailings as Cement Paste Mixtures for Mine Backfilling Application
title_full_unstemmed Preliminary Study on the Use of Reverse Osmosis Brine and Mine Tailings as Cement Paste Mixtures for Mine Backfilling Application
title_short Preliminary Study on the Use of Reverse Osmosis Brine and Mine Tailings as Cement Paste Mixtures for Mine Backfilling Application
title_sort preliminary study on the use of reverse osmosis brine and mine tailings as cement paste mixtures for mine backfilling application
url https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-022-05959-1
https://ir.knust.edu.gh/handle/123456789/15452
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AT andrewsanthony preliminarystudyontheuseofreverseosmosisbrineandminetailingsascementpastemixturesforminebackfillingapplication
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