Natural Resources Extraction: Stressors and Impact Management - Sustainable Practices in Geoenvironmental Engineering - page 161

TABLE 5.3
Equilibrium Suspension Volumes Obtained from Soil Suspension Tests

Suspended Solids Equilibrium Volume, cc/g Void Ratio

Kaolinite 1.3 3.4

Illite 3.1 8.2

Montmorillonite 21.5 57

Amorphous Fe 2 O 3 20.5 82

Gibbsite 1.0 2.6

Mica 3.0 7.9

Quartz 0.14 1.12

Source: Adapted from Yong, R.N., Particle interaction and stability of suspended solids, in: Sedimentation
Consolidation Models: Predictions and Validations , R.N. Yong and F.C. Townsend (eds.), American Society of
Civil Engineers Publication, pp. 30-59, 1984.

TABLE 5.4
Composition of Slurry Tailings Solids and Suspension Fluid in Stagnant Zone of Slurry Tailings' Ponds
Type of Slurry
Tailings

Suspension Fluid,
Dominant Ions

Measured
sc (%)

Computed
sc (%) Suspended Solids Composition

Phosphate slime
(Florida)

Carbonate-lourapatite, quartz,
montmorillonite, attapulgite,
wavellite, feldspar, dolomite, kaolinite,
illite, crandallite, heavy minerals

Ca

2 +

,Mg,Na ,

2 + +

14 13.4

K,SO

+ 2 −

,HCO

−

4 3

Aggregate slime
Southeast Asia

Kaolinite, montmorillonite, illite

2 + 2 + +

14.3 10.5

Ca ,Mg,Na ,

+ 2 −

K,SO

4

Clay coating,
Southeast USA

Illite, montmorillonite, mixed-layer
minerals, chlorite, quartz

2 − − −

52.7 51.8

CO ,HCO ,Cl,

3 3

SO

2 −

,Na,Mg

+ 2+

,Ca

2+

4

Tin mining
slime, Malaysia

Kaolinite, gibbsite, mica, quartz,
“other”

Na + , Ca 2+ , K + , Mg 2+ 52 50.8

2 − − −

Beneiciation
slurry, Western
Canada

Montmorillonite, illite, feldspar,
kaolinite, chlorite

CO ,HCO ,Cl, 8.7 9.1

3 3

2 − + 2+

SO ,Na,Ca ,

4

K,Mg

+ 2+

Tar sands
sludge,
Western
Canada

Kaolinite, illite, chlorite,
montmorillonite, mixed-layer
minerals, feldspar, quartz, siderite,
ankerite, pyrite, Fe 2 O 3

Not available 41.9 42.2

Source: Adapted from Yong, R.N., Particle interaction and stability of suspended solids, in: Sedimentation
Consolidation Models: Predictions and Validations , R.N. Yong and F.C. Townsend (eds.), American Society of
Civil Engineers Publication, pp. 30-59, 1984.
Note: sc, Solids concentration.

slimes obtained from aggregate recovery of aggregate loams, a comparison of the pre-
dicted solids concentration with actual measured values showed good accord. The ratio of
predicted to measured solids concentration (predicted/measured) varied from 0.96 to 1.05.
What this tells us is that colloidal dispersion of the suspended solids is responsible for the
dispersion stability of the slurry tailings (Table 5.4).