Investigating the utilisation of mine tailings and waste rock in the shotcrete for underground support

The Challenge

Industrial solid waste, especially mine waste, causes a series of environmental problems and issues with sterilisation of land. It would reduce the environmental impact caused by mining activity ifwaste rock and tailings could be reusedfor other purposes. Somepreviousstudiesinvestigated the use ofwaste rock and iron ore tailings to make a concreteproduct, which has been found effective and efficienton reusing waste to make highervalue-added products. However, there islittleresearch on turning waste toshotcrete for underground support and it is therefore valuableto do more studiesin this area.

Proposed Solution

This project has two aims. The first is to replace aggregates in conventional shotcrete by using tailings and waste rock. The second goal is to further reduce or replace cement in the new shotcrete by adding other materials such as fly ashandslagwhere early strength is not an issue.

Proposed Benefits to WA

A new approach for converting crushed rock into safe, strong, flexible engineering materials that can be used in underground mine support. In addition to reducing engineering and safety costs in Western Australian mines, this technique could offer environmental benefits by reducing the volume of waste rock created by mining and stabilising it in forms less likely to contaminate groundwater or soil.