Mine tailings account for most of the environmental incidents related to the extractive industry, with risks increasing due to steadily rising tonnage of low-grade ore and extreme weather events. Recycling of tailings in raw-material-intensive applications presents an interesting alternative to costly tailings management with associated restoration efforts. Chemically bonded ceramics may offer a route to upgrading mine tailings into raw materials for ceramics. In this review such chemically bonded ceramic methods that may be used to recycle mine tailings as raw materials, are reviewed while focusing in particular on two methods: 1) geopolymerization/alkali activation and 2) chemically bonded phosphate ceramics. The aim of the review is not to give exhaustive review on the wide topic, but to scope the required boundary conditions that need to be met for such utilization. According to the findings, alkali activation has been studied for 28 separate silicate minerals in the scientific literature, and presents a viable method, which is already in commercial use in calcium-rich cement-like binder applications. Phosphate bonding literature is more focused on phosphate containing minerals and waste encapsulation. Very little work has been done on low-calcium tailings utilization with either technology, and more knowledge is needed on the effect of different pretreatment methods to increase reactivity of mine tailings in chemically bonded ceramics.

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Seepage water and drainage water geochemistry (pH, EC, O 2 , redox, alkalinity, dissolved cations and trace metals, major anions, total element concentrations) were studied at two active sulphide mine tailings impoundments in Finland (the Hitura Ni mine and Luikonlahti Cu mine/talc processing plant). The data were used to assess the factors influencing tailings seepage quality and to identify constraints for water treatment. Changes in seepage water quality after equilibration with atmospheric conditions were evaluated based on geochemical modelling. At Luikonlahti, annual and seasonal changes were also studied. Seepage quality was largely influenced by the tailings mineralogy, and the serpentinerich, low sulphide Hitura tailings produced neutral mine drainage with high Ni. In contrast, drainage from the high sulphide, multi-metal tailings of Luikonlahti represented typical acid mine drainage with elevated contents of Zn, Ni, Cu, and Co. Other factors affecting the seepage quality included weathering of the tailings along the seepage flow path, process water input, local hydrological settings, and structural changes in the tailings impoundment. Geochemical modelling showed that pH increased and some heavy metals were adsorbed to Fe precipitates after net alkaline waters equilibrated with the atmosphere. In the net acidic waters, pH decreased and no adsorption occurred. A combination of aerobic and anaerobic treatments is proposed for Hitura seepages to decrease the sulphate and metal loading. For Luikonlahti, prolonged monitoring of the seepage quality is suggested instead of treatment, since the water quality is still adjusting to recent modifications to the tailings impoundment.

: Relationship between mineralogy and the physico-chemical properties of till in central Finland. Bull. Geo!. Soc. Finland 64, Part 1,.The chemical and physical characteristics of the fine fraction of till were examined in the area of the Raahe-Ladoga metallogenic belt in central Finland. Till, weathered bedrock and rock samples were collected from the area, where element concentrations of till abruptly ranged from high in an anomalous zone (NE) to low in a non-anomalous zone (SW). The grain size distribution, specific surface area and unit weight, and the leachability of elements measured with several chemical methods were determined from the fine fraction (<0.06 mm) of till. The mineralogical composition of the fine fraction of till and weathered bedrock was established with the X-ray diffraction method (XRD), and the chemical composition of rock samples with the X-ray fluorescence method (XRF).The main factor affecting the increased element concentrations in the anomalous zone is the variation in mica and clay mineral types. The abundance of trioctahedral micas (biotite) and vermiculitic clays carrying most of the trace metals dissolved in aqua regia, has affected to the geochemical pattern of till in the study area. The concentrations of trace metals in the iron precipitates extracted with acid oxalate were too low to be used as evidence of the hydromorphic origin of the anomalous zone. The abundance of main silicates (quartz, feldspars) does not vary much in the fine fraction of till throughout the study area.The absence of the swelling smectite component from the surface layers of till indicates that the source was not the underlying weathered bedrock. The till with a vermiculitic mixed-layer mineral in the anomalous zone contains more material from old sediments weathered during interstadial or interglacial time than does the till with a low clay content in the non-anomalous zone. The abrupt change in the mineralogical and physical properties of till in the study area is suggested to be attributed to the difference in the transport and accumulation dynamics of overburden during deglaciation.

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Acid rock drainage (ARD) is a major problem related to the management of mining wastes, especially concerning deposits containing sulphide minerals. Commonly used tests for ARD prediction include acid–base accounting (ABA) tests and the net acid generation (NAG) test. Since drainage quality largely depends on the ratio and quality of acid-producing and neutralising minerals, mineralogical calculations could also be used for ARD prediction. In this study, several Finnish waste rock sites were investigated and the performance of different static ARD test methods was evaluated and compared. At the target mine sites, pyrrhotite was the main mineral contributing to acid production (AP). Silicate minerals were the main contributors to the neutralisation potential (NP) at 60% of the investigated mine sites. Since silicate minerals appear to have a significant role in ARD generation at Finnish mine waste sites, the behaviour of these minerals should be more thoroughly investigated, especially in relation to the acid produced by pyrrhotite oxidation. In general, the NP of silicate minerals appears to be underestimated by laboratory measurements. For example, in the NAG test, the slower-reacting NP-contributing minerals might require a longer time to react than is specified in the currently used method. The results suggest that ARD prediction based on SEM mineralogical calculations is at least as accurate as the commonly used static laboratory methods.

The occurrence of mycobacteria was studied in organic horizons of coniferous forest soils in Finland and related to environmental variables, i.e. plate counts of other heterotrophic bacteria, microbial respiration rate, chemical soil characteristics, vegetational characteristics and climatic conditions in the study period. Mycobacteria were isolated from all samples (n=47), with plate counts varying from 4.5×104 to 1.2×106 cfu g−1 dry soil. The plate counts of mycobacteria correlated positively with those of other heterotrophic bacteria, microbial respiration rate and the contents of Ca and Mn. In factor analysis, the viable counts of mycobacteria and other heterotrophic bacteria, and respiration rate were grouped in the same factor emphasizing that mycobacteria and other heterotrophic bacteria had similar associations with environmental characteristics. The plate counts of mycobacteria and other heterotrophic bacteria and microbial respiration rate were similar in organic horizons of pine and spruce dominated forests. The large number of mycobacteria in all organic horizons indicates that boreal coniferous forest soils are important sources for these bacteria.

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