Geopolymers are created by mixing a source of aluminosilicates, which can be natural or by-products from other industries, with an alkaline solution. These materials based on by-products from other industries have proven to be a less polluting alternative for concrete production than ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Geopolymers offer many advantages over OPC, such as excellent mechanical strength, increased durability, thermal resistance, and excellent stability in acidic and alkaline environments. Within these properties, mechanical strength, more specifically compressive strength, is the most important property for analyzing geopolymers as a construction material. For this reason, this study compiled information on the different variables that affect the compressive strength of geopolymers, such as Si/Al ratio, curing temperature and time, type and concentration of alkaline activator, water content, and the effect of impurities. From the information collected, it can be mentioned that geopolymers with Si/Al ratios between 1.5 and 2.0 obtained the highest compressive strengths for the different cases. On the other hand, high moderate temperatures (between 80 and 90 °C) induced higher compressive strengths in geopolymers, because the temperature favors the geopolymerization process. Moreover, longer curing times helped to obtain higher compressive strengths for all the cases analyzed. Furthermore, it was found that the most common practice is the use of sodium hydroxide combined with sodium silicate to obtain geopolymers with good mechanical strength, where the optimum SS/NaOH ratio depends on the source of aluminosilicates to be used. Generally speaking, it was observed that higher water contents lead to a decrease in compressive strength. The presence of calcium was found to be favorable in controlled proportions as it increases the compressive strength of geopolymers, on the other hand, impurities such as heavy metals have a negative effect on the compressive strength of geopolymers.

Geopolymers emerge as an ecological alternative for construction materials. These consist of a mixture of aluminosilicate sources and an alkaline solution that dissolves the silicon and aluminum monomers that come from the source to generate a gel called N–A–S–H that will control the main properties of the geopolymer. The geopolymer stands out for having good resistance to compression, as well as good resistance to high temperatures and corrosive environments. They have great potential as a replacement for classical technologies such as concrete, however, require further applied research to determine their feasibility on an industrial scale.

It is of interest to study the use of copper tailings as a raw material to generate geopolymers due to the exorbitant amounts of existing tailings deposits, which also produce different risks to nearby communities. Therefore, using this industrial waste as construction material would result in several environmental and economic benefits. Due to the above, it is necessary to perform laboratory tests that account for the relevant variables to obtain fresh geopolymer pastes with good consistency, and to obtain hardened geopolymers with good mechanical strength. This report gives an account of the experimental work carried out in the laboratory of the CIMS Sustainable Mining Research Center of the Engineering Consulting Company JRI, exposing the preliminary results observed in the generation of geopolymers by means of seven different methods using copper tailings and NaOH. Of the seven methods evaluated in the laboratory, it was observed that two of them deliver better results from a qualitative point of view, where the influence of the curing stage stands out, reflecting that temperature is one of the critical variables for the formation of geopolymers based on copper tailings and NaOH. The best means to work the mixtures should be studied to optimize the solubility of the NaOH and, therefore, the dissolution of the aluminosilicates in the tailings.