Characterization of mineral paste produced with sludge of metallic and non-metallic tailings

The disposal of tailings in the form of paste has several advantages compared to disposal conventional, for example: use a less area, improved recovery of water, greater operational safety of the dams, etc. In this work was characterised the pastes prepared with manganese and phosphate tailings. In the characterization of the solids were determined: granulometric analysis, determination of specific weight and identification of the main mineralogical species. In the pastes were determined: height of slump, repose angle (preliminary) and some rheological properties (viscosity and yield stress). The main results were: i) Predominant mineralogical species in manganese tailing (MT): Pyrolusite and Kaolinite, in phosphate tailing (PT): Calcite and Dolomite; ii) Average solids size were 6.23μm (MT) and 4.76μm (PT); iii) The MT and PT shows paste characteristics since 50% and 70% solids in mass respectively; iv) Were reached angles of repose above 8° (MT) and 16° (PT); v) The viscosity of pastes PT were higher than MT; vi) The yield stress of MT and PT increase exponentially since 45% and 65% solids in mass respectively. (author)