Reduction of technogenic load from sludge collectors due to separation and dehydration of the stored material

Abstract

Purpose: the identification of geomechanical problems of mining industry wastes accumulation and substantiation of the ways for their solution with the possibility of processing the watery technogenic feedstock. It has been shown that in order to reduce the technogenic load, it is necessary to reduce the area of land under the waste ponds and the accumulated volumes themselves of mining and enrichment wastes. It has been revealed that the mineral stock, formed from wide grain-size classes with a high content of particles less than 0.2 mm, is dewatered up to 18 – 22 % by traditional methods and is practically not classified. A mathematical model has been proposed of screening and dewatering kinetics, which takes into account comprehensively the initial distribution of particles and liquid throughout the height of the screened material layer, segregation, mixing, sifting, vibrational transportation features and change in the height of the layer. The use of technology will allow: increase the economic efficiency of enterprises; to expand the feedstock base for construction, coke and chemical industries and power industry; to solve the problems of creating additional containers for storing the wastes; to improve significantly the environmental situation in the mining and processing regions.