Desarrollo de adoquines a partir de los relaves de mina.

Abstract

The constant mining development has generated a large number of environmental liabilities, especially mine tailings (mining waste), stored in tailings, most of which are abandoned after their useful life, without maintaining chemical and physical control, generating environmental contamination. The development of pavers using mine tailings begins with the physical, mineralogical and chemical analyzes of the tailings sand, to determine if the material is suitable as an aggregate. Once the tailings were analyzed, prototypes of pavers were made using different dosages, replacing the stone powder with the tailings in order to determine the best physical resistance characteristics according to INEN 3040 and INEN 1488 1986 standards. It was determined that the adequate dosage as tailings aggregate is replacing 70% of the stone dust in the manufacture of pavers. It is concluded that mortar designed based on tailings sand, cement and aggregates represents a saving at the time of managing these residues in relation to the construction of new tailings. A tensile strength of 3MPa was obtained, whose value is linked to the high quartz content (±80%), typical of the mineral paragenesis of the deposit.