«Mekhanobr Engineering» JSC (St. Petersburg, Russia):

Kibirev V. I., Deputy General Director for hydrotechnical works, Candidate of Engineering Sciences, spb.kibirev@mail.ru

The need for dewatering and the required dewatering degree for the hydrotransport and storage of liquid mining waste are being discussed. This discussion is against the background of the worldwide application of the storage technology implying the maximum degree of thickening, up to the storage of dry waste. The article presents the results of the analysis of two storage projects for thickened oreprocessing tailings in Russia and Canada. JSC Mekhanobr Engineering has been focused on the practical applications of the storage technology for thickened tailings since the 1970s. However, the low costs of electricity, metal, and soil filling in construction impeded all efforts to confirm the effectiveness of these storage systems at that time. Significant changes have occurred since the beginning of the 2000s, when a number of tailings facilities with the hydrotransport and storage of thickened tailings of processing plants were put into operation, based on the design documentation developed by JSC Mekhanobr Engineering. The tailings storage facilities at the Blagodatnoye deposit of the Olimpiadinsky GOK (Russia) and at the Musselwhite deposit in the Northwestern Ontario (Canada) were launched almost simultaneously in 2010. Despite the different designers, both projects use similar thickened tailings storage layouts and technology, which enable several advantages as compared with the traditional tailings dams, including the elimination of the clarification pond in the tailings storage compartment. Analysis of the accumulated information on the launch and operation of the two very similar tailings thickening, hydrotransport and storage systems provides a practical confirmation to the possibility of organizing a highly efficient storage method and technology for highly thickened fine tailings in the conditions of the Far North.

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