GEOMECHANICS / GROUND CONTROL

Reynolds Soil Technologies targets tailings

Australian fine particle management company Reynolds Soil Technologies has launched a range of hydroseeding, hydromulching and crusting solutions for miners looking for short and long-term solutions that reduce tailings risks.

 A water cart is used to apply RST's Total Ground Control to treat the fine particles of a dry tailings dam of a bauxite mine

A water cart is used to apply RST's Total Ground Control to treat the fine particles of a dry tailings dam of a bauxite mine

RST said these services, which aid the suppression of dust to treat and rehabilitate tailings dams, are increasingly being sought by mining projects in Australia and beyond.

"There currently is no cost alternative to crusting for the suppression of dust, other than revegetation," said  RST operations and technical director David Handel. "But these tailings storage facilities need to get to that point. There is water recovery and evaporation processes then compaction, and the dry tails that are left behind require tailored dust control," Mr Handel said.

"When a company is ready to rehabilitate the tailings, it can involve laying a capping liner to seal it off before applying topsoil to revegetate. We can treat a full tailings dam and seal in the fines by putting a clay capping over the whole surface".

The company's solutions include Total Ground Control, a wind-resistant binding and crusting product, and the polymer additive Guardian Dust Binder, which maximises water penetration by improving the water properties for open source emission ground sealing. Hydromulch Tackifier is used to bind seed and mulch to the soil substrate.

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