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Unsaturated behaviour of mine tailings in low precipitation areas

Chapter · January 2011

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.4660.7527

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 Unsaturated Soils – Alonso & Gens (eds)
© 2011 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-0-415-60428-4

Unsaturated behaviour of mine tailings in low precipitation areas

L.A. Oldecop, L. Garino & J.J. Muñoz

Instituto de Investigaciones Antisísmicas (IDIA), Universidad Nacional de San Juan, San Juan, Argentina

R. Rodriguez
Departamento de Recursos geológicos, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME), Madrid, Spain

C. García
Departamento de Ingeniería Geológica y Cartográfica, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Murcia, Spain

ABSTRACT: Tailing deposits are singular geotechnical structures, which are intended to last indefi-
nitely in time. One of the most important challenges in relation to such waste deposits is to predict their
behaviour in the long term, e.g. several centuries. In this context, it seems useful to observe the behaviour
of old abandoned tailings deposits. Since tailings are very fine grained materials, the unsaturated phe-
nomena play a significant role in the hydraulic and mechanical behaviour of the deposit. In this paper,
some examples of old abandoned tailing deposits are examined, located in low precipitation regions. The
in situ measured water content distributions show that, the degree of saturation remains relatively high,
even though the low rain amounts and high evaporation rates. It is concluded that the evolution of water
content should be taken into account in the deposit design process.

1 InTroduction management of the decant pond. Moreover, the

Tailings deposits are singular geotechnical struc-
tures. At least theoretically, they are intended to
last indefinitely in time, a fact which is very unu-
sual from the engineering point of view. Moreover
tailing deposits which are being built at present
times have extraordinary large volumes, exceeding
all previous experiences in civil engineering fills of
any kind. Many of these large tailings deposits are
being built as part of metalliferous mining projects
in arid regions of South America, mainly along the
Andes range in Perú, Chile and Argentina.
One of the most important challenges, in rela-
tion to these types of waste deposits, is to predict
their behaviour in the long term, maybe several
centuries or thousands of years. In this context, it
seems useful to observe the behaviour of old aban-
doned tailings deposits, in order to gain knowledge
about their long term behaviour and the evolution
trends of their geotechnical properties.
Failure case histories (Chandler & Tosatti, 1995;
Bligth, 1997; Fourie et al, 2001; Blight & Fourie,
2003) show that one of the most significant vari-
ables regarding the deposit stability is the water
content of the stored tailings. Most failures of
tailing dams (ICOLD, 2001) were related to rain-
fall, insufficient drainage provisions or improper
severity of the consequences of failure is also
related to tailings water content. Catastrophic mud
avalanches developed only in high water content
tailings or when special circumstances determined
that large amounts water entered the deposit.
Mine tailings are stored with an initial amount
of moisture which depends mainly on the process-
ing technology used, i.e., conventional slurry, paste
or filtered tailings. The deposition method, man-
agement techniques of the deposit and the climate
are determinant factors for evolution of moisture
distribution within the deposit. In tailing deposits
located in arid regions a large portion of the stored
material tends to develop an unsaturated condi-
tion. Since tailings are very fine grained materials,
the unsaturated phenomena play a significant role
in the hydraulic and mechanical behaviour of the
deposit.
In this paper, some examples of old abandoned
tailing deposits are examined from the point of
view of their geotechnical behaviour. It is believed
that useful lessons can be obtained from the study
of these geotechnical structures, although they are
significantly smaller in size than those which are
currently being built. Particular attention is given
to the unsaturated phenomena and their role in the
stability and general performance of the deposits.

1425
2 STUDY OF OLD ABANDONED
TAILING DEPOSITS
Figure 1 displays the geographical location of the
mining zones and the distribution of the studied
deposits in each zone.
The cases studied, a total of nine tailing ­deposits,
are located in two different regions: the Castaño
Viejo mining district in the central Andes moun-
tain range, Argentina and Sierra de ­Cartagena-
La Unión, in Murcia, Spain. The studied tailing
deposits were inactive for periods raging 15 to
45 years. No capping neither other reclamation
works where done upon the abandonment and
hence, they experienced free interaction with the
environment, since the end of mining operations.
The Sierra de Cartagena- La Unión mining
zone has about 50 Km2 and was exploited since the
roman presence in the Iberian Peninsula (III bC)
for the extraction of iron, lead and zinc. The lat-
est period of mining activity ranged from 1940 to
1991. Since the 90´s all mining works were aban-
doned and most tailing deposits were left as they
were. Eighty nine tailing deposits were identified
with a mean height of 10.5 m.
The mining operations in the Castaño Viejo min-
ing district were devoted to the extraction of lead,
zinc and copper. The most intense exploitation

Figure 1. Geographical location of the two mining zones and distribution of the studied tailing deposits. a) Sierra de
Cartagena-La Unión, Murcia, Spain. b) Castaño Viejo mining district, province of San Juan, Argentina.

1426
period lasted from 1956 to 1964 and since then all 3 FIELD EXPLORATION DATA
mining activity halted. Twenty four small tailing
deposits exist in the zone with heights ranging 5 The selected tailing deposits were studied in the
to 15 meters. In both mining zones, tailings were field. Borings were done from the top of nine tailing
transported and deposited in the traditional way, deposits, logging the usual geotechnical parameters.
i.e pumped or gravitational flow of slurry from Though the rather dry climates in which they are
the extraction plant to the deposit and discharge located, significant amounts of water were encoun-
by mobile spigots. Upstream construction method tered in all the studied tailings. Figure 3 and 4 dis-
was used with pond decantation. play the obtained profiles of degree of saturation.
The climate in both regions is of the arid type. The degree of saturation in the Cartagena deposits
Figure 2 shows mean monthly precipitation records has low values at surface, but they rapidly increase in
and the mean monthly evapotranspiration (ETP)
computed by the Thornwaite method (TM) and the Degree of saturation (S)
evaporation pan method (PEM), based on actual
0,00 0,20 0,40 0,60 0,80 1,00
evaporation measurements (Smajstrla et al, 2000).
Both environments determine high water-deficit 0
conditions. In Cartagena, the total mean annual
precipitation is 339 mm and the total annual ETP 2
is 904 mm computed with TM, and 724 mm when
computed with PEM. In Castaño the water-deficit is
even harsher, with a total mean annual precipitation 4
of 265 mm and ETP of 1276 mm computed with
PEM. TM method yield lower ETP values for the 6
Depth [m]

Dep 1
Castaño region but it should be noted that the TM
usually under-predicts the ETP in very dry climates. Dep 2
8
Dep3
Dep 4
10
a) 200 Dep 5
Rainfall
180
ETP (Thornwaite method) 12 Dep 6
160
ETP (Evaporation pan method)
140 Dep 7
mm/month

120 14
100
80 Figure 3. Profiles of degree obtained in Cartagena tail-
60 ing deposits (Filled symbols: non-vegetated deposits;
40 Hollow symbols: vegetated deposits).
20
0
May.
Mar.

Nov.
Apr.

Oct.
Aug.
Sep.

Dec.
Jan
Feb.

Jun.
Jul.

Month
b) 200
Rainfall
180
ETP (Thornwaite method)
160
ETP (Evaporation pan method)
140
mm/month

120
100
80
60
40
20
0
May
Mar

Nov
Apr

Oct
Aug
Sep

Dec
Feb

Jul
Jan

Jun

Month

Figure 2. Climatic data. Rainfall and evapotranspira- Figure 4. Castaño Nº 8 tailings deposit. Boring log and
tion. a) Cartagena, Spain. b) Castaño, Argentina. degree of saturation profile.

1427
the first 2–3 meters depth. From there on, S becomes
higher than 0.7 (in all cases except one). It interest-
ing to note that the lower S profiles (0.7) correspond
to vegetated deposits (in Fig. 3, Deposit 3: shrubs,
Deposits 5 and 6: trees). The highest values of S,
almost approaching 1 (though the phreatic level was
not reached), occur in non-vegetated deposits and in
those deposits where ponding of rain water occurs
in the top (Deposits 1 and 7).
The profiles of degree of saturation obtained
in the Castaño tailing deposits are shown in
Figures 4 and 5. The general tendency is similar
Figure 5. Castaño Nº 9 tailings deposit. Boring log and
degree of saturation profile.
Suction [MPa]
0,01 0,1 1 10
0,00
-1,00
-2,00
Depth [m]
-3,00
-4,00
-5,00
-6,00
-7,00
Suction Hydrostatic line
Figure 6. Suction profile corresponding to borehole
Nº 8 compared to the hydrostatic line.
to the observed in the data of Cartagena, with S
increasing with depth almost up to 1. However, no
phreatic water was encountered within the depth
of the boreholes. At site Nº 8, the phreatic level
was located at 1.5 meters below the base of the
deposit, in alluvial gravels. Moreover, deposit Nº 8
contains some coarse grained layers (sand) and in
correspondence with them, the degree of saturation
falls. A suction profile corresponding to the boring
in Nº 8 deposit is shown in Figure 6. The situation
displayed corresponds to a strong evaporation con-
dition. However between 1.5 and 2 meters depth a
downward flow front can be identified, probably
associated to a past (recent?) rain event.
4 stability issues
Most of the studied tailing deposits do not display
stability issues, in spite of their steep angled external
slopes. The construction method involved excavation
and re-filling (with or without compaction) of the
coarse fraction (sand) of previously discharged tail-
ings, allowing them to air-dry first. The resulting slope
angle was always close to the equilibrium angle at-
rest. So most of these deposits have slopes with angles
between 40 and 45º. Moreover, some of them suffered
the effects of hydraulic erosion, which produced some
vertical cuts, as the one shown in Figure 7, correspond-
ing to deposit Nº 8 in Castaño. In this case, a 7 meters
high, nearly vertical cut remains stable, mainly due to
the effect of matric suction and probably also by some
cementation effect due to precipitated salts.
On the other hand, in some few cases in Carta-
gena, the signs of slope failures occurred in the
100 past could be identified. The most likely trigger-
ing mechanism for these failures is the increase in
water content of tailings, due to infiltration of rain
water. Signs of water ponding in the top of the
deposit and platforms can be observed just in these
cases. Several relicts of the slumped tailings can be
seen in the direction of sliding reaching some 100 m
away from the slope toe. In one case (Figure 8) the
slumped mass crossed a small stream channel and
penetrated a nearby forest. These facts suggest that
the observed failures were of the flow type.
The previous observations lead to the conclusion
that the stability of these tailing deposits mainly
depends on maintaining an unsaturated condition.
But the presented field data also suggest that it is
not necessary that a very dry condition develops, for
ensuring enough strength in order to produce stable
slopes. In fact Rodriguez (2002) showed that, in tail-
ings materials, the highest apparent cohesion due to
matric suction develops for saturation degrees around
the air entry value condition (i.e., S ≅ 0.8). However,
it is worth to remember that this strength is instantly
lost when the degree of saturation approaches 1.
1428

Figure 7. Nearly vertical cut produced by hydraulic ero-
sion in Nº 8 tailings deposit, in Castaño.
40º
am
slopes
re
Slumped
St
mass
Forest
50 m
Figure 8. Plant view of “El Descargador” (Nº 4) tailings
deposit (Cartagena), showing the scarps of four slope
failures and the extent of the slumped masses of tailings.
5 long term water balance
In order to get an assessment of the long term behav-
iour of the tailings deposits, a water balance was
performed for all the nine cases studied, ranging the
whole period in which they remained abandoned.
It seems that making use of the fact that no human
1429
intervention occurred during those relatively long
periods of time, could yield interesting data about
how the deposit interacts with the environment.
Some basic assumptions were made for the
analysis:
- The initial time for the analysis is the moment of
abandonment.
- The initial water volume contained in the profile
is computed by assuming that the whole profile
was initially saturated (S ≅ 1). This is reasonable
since the height of the deposits is moderate (less
than 14 m) in relation with the material air entry
value (estimated in, at least, 200 kPa).
- Current water volume in the profiles are com-
puted on the basis of the measured water
contents.
- Consolidation and under-drainage has all already
occurred during the construction period.
- Infiltration is computed by the curve number
method SCS (1957), for those deposits in which
the geometry allows runoff.
- When the geometry of the deposits causes rain
water to pond in the top, all the precipitation
value is assumed to infiltrate in the deposit.
The water balance is performed by the following
equation:
Vw = Vw 0 + Ia . T – α . ETPa . T (1)
where Vw = current water volume in the whole
profile, Vw 0 = initial water volume in the profile,
Ia = mean annual infiltration, ETPa = mean annual
evapotranspiration, T = time period elapsed
between the moment of abandonment and bore-
hole execution, α = fraction of mean annual ETP
to be applied in order to make the balance to close.
α is taken as the variable of the analysis, measuring
how effective was the ETP as the driving force of
the tailings drying process. The analysis results are
presented in table 1.
Since TM and PEM yield similar ETP values in
the case of Cartagena, only the former was applied.
Table 1 results show that real evapotranspiration
(ETP) mean rates in bare deposits of Cartagena
are around 40% the predicted ones with the Thorn-
waite method. The ratios are a bit higher (45–55%)
for vegetated deposits, because plants enhance soil
moisture extraction. This was already noted when
observing the degree of saturation profiles. In the
tailings deposits of Castaño, the results based on
the TM are similar to Cartagena results while the
PEM results indicate that the overestimation of
ETP may be even higher in more arid climates.
The analysis performed shows that, in all cases,
in the long term, the ETP is overpredicted by either
of the applied methods. The most likely reason for
this is that in a water-deficit climate the drying
Table 1. Water balance for a 1 m2 tailings column.

Ia ETPa T
DEP Vw0 (litres) (mm) (mm) (years) Vw (litres) α = ETPreal / ETPteor Observations

Cartagena, Spain (Thornwaite Method)

1 4520,0 339,0 923,3 15,0 4110,2 0,40 Ponding/No vegetation
2 4551,5 329,0 923,3 15,0 3711,5 0,42 Runof/No vegetation
3 4521,0 339,0 923,3 15,0 3361,3 0,45 Ponding/Vegetation (shrub)
4 1890,0 329,0 923,3 15,0 1281,0 0,40 Runof/No vegetation
5 4780,0 329,0 923,3 15,0 2100,9 0,55 Runof/Vegetation (trees)
6 7262,5 339,0 923,3 15,0 5015,6 0,53 Ponding/Vegetación (trees)
7 3379,0 339,0 923,3 15,0 2777,9 0,41 Ponding/No vegetation
Castaño, Argentina (Thornwaite Method)
8 2568,5 205.8 673.6 45,0 1455.5 0.34 Runof/No vegetation
9 3103,4 264.7 673.6 45,0 2718.0 0.41 Ponding/Vegetation (shrub)
Castaño, Argentina (Evaporation PAN Method)
8 2568,5 205.8 1276.1 45,0 1455.5 0.18 Runof/No vegetation
9 3103,4 264.7 1276.1 45,0 2718.0 0.21 Ponding/Vegetation (shrub)

process of tailings involves not only stage I dry-
ing (Gowing et al, 1990), in which the evaporation
front is at the soil surface, but also stages II and
III, controlled respectively by capillary rise and
vapour diffusion from the evaporation front to the
soil surface. This effect is apparent in the satura-
tion degree profiles. An additional factor slowing
the drying process could be the transport of salts
due to capillary rise and their precipitation at the
deposit surface (Newson & Fahey, 2003).
6 conclusions
Except in a shallow superficial layer, the saturation
degree is relatively high in the studied deposits. It
seems a general fact that, no matter how dry is the
climate, the loss of water of the tailings deposit will
not continue indefinitely, but rather reach a stable
state. For depths greater than a couple of meters,
the drying process will not go on further than a
certain point lying between saturation and the air
entry value condition (0.7 > S > 1).
Capillary water produces an apparent cohesion
which ensures the stability of the studied deposits.
Hence stability relays on maintaining the unsatu-
rated state. Regarding the design of modern tail-
ing deposits, a desirable and realistic design target
would be, not to expect indefinite drying of tail-
ings, but to reach a suction value (and the corre-
sponding saturation degree) near to the air entry
value. All capping and reclamation works should
help to maximize runoff/infiltration ratio in order
to avoid recharge of water.
Water content of tailings seems to be a funda-
mental variable for the long term behaviour and
safety of the deposit and hence its evolution should
be taken into account in the deposit design process
and monitoring programs.
references
Bligth, G.E. (1997). Destructive mudflows as a con-
sequence of tailing dyke failures. Proc. Instn. Civ.
Engng, 125, 9–18.
Blight, G.E. y A.B. Fourie (2003). “A review of cata-
strophic flow failures of deposits of mine waste and
municipal refuse”. Int. Workshop on Occurrence and
Mechanisms of Flow in Natural Slopes and Earthfills,
Sorrento, Italia.
Chandler, R.J y Tosatti, G. (1995). The Stava dams failure.
Italy, July, 1985. Proc. Instn. Civ. Engng. 113, 67–79.
Fourie, A.B., G.E. Blight y G. Papageorgiou (2001).
Static liquefaction as a possible explanation for the
Merriespruit tailings dam failure. Can. Geotech. J, 38,
707–719.
Gowing, J.W., Konukcu, F. & Rose, D.A. 2006. Evapora-
tive flux from a shallow watertable: The influence of a
vapour–liquid phase transition. Journal of Hydrology
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ICOLD (2001). Tailings dams. Risk of dangerous occur-
rences. Lessons learnt from practical experiences.
­Bulletin 121, UNEP.
Newson, T.A. & M. Fahey (2003). Measurement of
evaporation from saline tailings storages. Engineering
Geology, 70, 217–233.
SCS, 1957. Hydrology National Engineering Handbook.
USDA Soil Conservation Service.
Smajstrla, A.G., Zazueta, F.S., Clark, G.A. & Pitts, D.J.
(2000). Irrigation Scheduling with Evaporation Pans.
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