Effects of Preparation’s Parameters on Stabilization of Sabodala Gold Mine Tailings: Comparison of Fresh and Weathered Materials

Abstract

The Sabodala gold mine tailings were stabilised using geopolymerization technics in order to improve their mechanical properties in general for a reuse as building materials for local communities. The effect of several preparation parameters on the compressive and tensile strength of the stabilised tailings has been studied to define their optimums. For each formulation, all parameters are kept constant and only one is variable. The prepared samples are then tested for compressive and tensile strength to see how the variable parameter impact on these properties. The same work was carried out for the fresh tailings and for the weathered one to see whether they behave differently and if they need different treatment. The results show that for most of parameters, there is an optimal value on either side of which compressive and tensile strength decrease. Except for few parameters, the fresh and the weathered tailings have a similar behaviour with regards to trends of their mechanical properties with changing preparation conditions. In addition to the similarity of weathered and fresh tailings mechanical characteristics following their stabilization by geopolymerization, this work has proved the considerable effects of the preparation's parameters.