Laboratory investigation on the transitional behaviour of tailings from a gold mine site in Australia

Tailing dams constructed using the upstream method can be vulnerable structures, as they are partly founded on tailings deposits that are prone to liquefaction. Current stability and liquefaction analyses of tailings typically assume a single critical state line (CSL) in the volumetric plane. Howeve...

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Main Authors: Pahalage Nishadi Nayanthara, Jay Rajapakse, Chaminda Gallage, Sampath Sri Sameer Dareeju Biyanvilage, Timothy Rowles
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:Results in Engineering
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S259012302401733X
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author Pahalage Nishadi Nayanthara
Jay Rajapakse
Chaminda Gallage
Sampath Sri Sameer Dareeju Biyanvilage
Timothy Rowles
author_facet Pahalage Nishadi Nayanthara
Jay Rajapakse
Chaminda Gallage
Sampath Sri Sameer Dareeju Biyanvilage
Timothy Rowles
author_sort Pahalage Nishadi Nayanthara
collection DOAJ
description Tailing dams constructed using the upstream method can be vulnerable structures, as they are partly founded on tailings deposits that are prone to liquefaction. Current stability and liquefaction analyses of tailings typically assume a single critical state line (CSL) in the volumetric plane. However, recent research has identified non-convergent compression paths and multiple CSLs in various soils, ranging from gap-graded soils to well-graded silts and sands, a phenomenon commonly termed transitional behaviour. An extensive analysis was conducted using oedometer and triaxial tests on tailings from an Australian gold mine site to investigate potential transitional behaviour. Tailings specimens with varying initial void ratios were reconstituted using moist tamping (MT) and slurry deposition (SD) methods and compared with intact specimens from the site. The findings underscored transitional behaviour in the tailings, characterized by non-convergent compression curves and multiple CSLs observed from different specimen preparation methods. Scanning Electron Microscopy-based fabric studies revealed variations in particle arrangement attributable to the preparation method, likely resulting the transitional behaviour. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that specimens deposited as slurries generally replicated the fabric and mechanical responses of intact specimens more accurately than those prepared using moist tamping. These findings emphasise the significance of transitional behaviour in tailings liquefaction analyses and advocate for reassessing the influence of fabric in laboratory specimen preparation for CSL determination.
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spelling doaj-art-e65dd472d74242ef8fe4069643ba8a4d2025-08-20T02:34:36ZengElsevierResults in Engineering2590-12302024-12-012410348110.1016/j.rineng.2024.103481Laboratory investigation on the transitional behaviour of tailings from a gold mine site in AustraliaPahalage Nishadi Nayanthara0Jay Rajapakse1Chaminda Gallage2Sampath Sri Sameer Dareeju Biyanvilage3Timothy Rowles4School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, 2, George Street, Brisbane, QLD 4000, AustraliaSchool of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, 2, George Street, Brisbane, QLD 4000, AustraliaSchool of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, 2, George Street, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia; Corresponding author.Knight Piésold Pty. Ltd., 36 Cordelia Street, South Brisbane, QLD 4101, AustraliaKnight Piésold Pty. Ltd., 36 Cordelia Street, South Brisbane, QLD 4101, AustraliaTailing dams constructed using the upstream method can be vulnerable structures, as they are partly founded on tailings deposits that are prone to liquefaction. Current stability and liquefaction analyses of tailings typically assume a single critical state line (CSL) in the volumetric plane. However, recent research has identified non-convergent compression paths and multiple CSLs in various soils, ranging from gap-graded soils to well-graded silts and sands, a phenomenon commonly termed transitional behaviour. An extensive analysis was conducted using oedometer and triaxial tests on tailings from an Australian gold mine site to investigate potential transitional behaviour. Tailings specimens with varying initial void ratios were reconstituted using moist tamping (MT) and slurry deposition (SD) methods and compared with intact specimens from the site. The findings underscored transitional behaviour in the tailings, characterized by non-convergent compression curves and multiple CSLs observed from different specimen preparation methods. Scanning Electron Microscopy-based fabric studies revealed variations in particle arrangement attributable to the preparation method, likely resulting the transitional behaviour. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that specimens deposited as slurries generally replicated the fabric and mechanical responses of intact specimens more accurately than those prepared using moist tamping. These findings emphasise the significance of transitional behaviour in tailings liquefaction analyses and advocate for reassessing the influence of fabric in laboratory specimen preparation for CSL determination.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S259012302401733XTailingsCritical stateReconstitutedSlurry depositedTransitional
spellingShingle Pahalage Nishadi Nayanthara
Jay Rajapakse
Chaminda Gallage
Sampath Sri Sameer Dareeju Biyanvilage
Timothy Rowles
Laboratory investigation on the transitional behaviour of tailings from a gold mine site in Australia
Results in Engineering
Tailings
Critical state
Reconstituted
Slurry deposited
Transitional
title Laboratory investigation on the transitional behaviour of tailings from a gold mine site in Australia
title_full Laboratory investigation on the transitional behaviour of tailings from a gold mine site in Australia
title_fullStr Laboratory investigation on the transitional behaviour of tailings from a gold mine site in Australia
title_full_unstemmed Laboratory investigation on the transitional behaviour of tailings from a gold mine site in Australia
title_short Laboratory investigation on the transitional behaviour of tailings from a gold mine site in Australia
title_sort laboratory investigation on the transitional behaviour of tailings from a gold mine site in australia
topic Tailings
Critical state
Reconstituted
Slurry deposited
Transitional
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S259012302401733X
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