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Suction induced shear strength of gold mine tailings

Dissertation (MEng (Geotechnical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2006.

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Other Authors: Van den Berg, P.
Format: Thesis
Published: University of Pretoria 2013
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Van den Berg, P.
author_browse Van den Berg, P.
author_facet Van den Berg, P.
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2004, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MEng (Geotechnical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2006.
format Thesis
id oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/25390
institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:38:07.678Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2013
publishDateRange 2013
publishDateSort 2013
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/25390 Suction induced shear strength of gold mine tailings Van den Berg, P. delmew@tprsa.co.za Rust, Eben Westraad, Delme Desiccation Gold mine tailings Linear shrinkage Soil-water Air-entry UCTD Dissertation (MEng (Geotechnical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2006. The disposal of fine-grained mining and industrial waste by formation of hydraulic-fill tailings dams is becoming a design and construction activity of increasing scale. In light of the increasing pressure on the mining industry to sustain stringent safety and environmental standards it is becoming more important to gain technical knowledge of the waste problem. The upper layers of the tailings residue dams are in the unsaturated state with the matric suction component contributing to the overall shear strength. The ability to incorporate the matric suction component in shear strength calculations is important to safe design. This research project investigates the use of the mid-plane suction probe to measure matric suction. The results obtained from the probe is used along with various tests to construct a complete soil-water characteristic curve for Mispah gold tailings as well as to investigate suction induced shear strength of drying tailings with depth. The tests were conducted on gold tailings from Vaal Operation’s Mispah tailings dam. The laboratory tests consisted of a trough test, to determine the soil-water characteristics of the gold tailing and also a drying box test that simulated the drying and desiccation of the gold tailings in the daywall. The project concluded that the mid-plane suction probe could be used with acceptable accuracy to determine soil suctions. The model for the prediction of the soil water characteristic curve, derived by Fredlund and Xing (1992), was used successfully to predict the complete soil water characteristics curve for Mispah gold tailings. The equation derived by Vanapalli et al. (1996) was successfully used to calculate both the normal and suction induced shear strength of gold mine tailings using either the volumetric water content from the extracted samples or from the soil water characteristic curve. Civil Engineering unrestricted 2013-09-06T21:07:43Z 2005-06-13 2013-09-06T21:07:43Z 2004-10-09 2006-06-13 2005-06-10 Dissertation Westraad, D 2004, Suction induced shear strength of gold mine tailings, MEng dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://hdl.handle.net/2263/25390 > http://hdl.handle.net/2263/25390 http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-06102005-092115/ © 2004, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Desiccation
Gold mine tailings
Linear shrinkage
Soil-water
Air-entry
UCTD
Suction induced shear strength of gold mine tailings
title Suction induced shear strength of gold mine tailings
title_full Suction induced shear strength of gold mine tailings
title_fullStr Suction induced shear strength of gold mine tailings
title_full_unstemmed Suction induced shear strength of gold mine tailings
title_short Suction induced shear strength of gold mine tailings
title_sort suction induced shear strength of gold mine tailings
topic Desiccation
Gold mine tailings
Linear shrinkage
Soil-water
Air-entry
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/25390
http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-06102005-092115/