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October 9, 2023
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Circular use of fine-grained tailings to underground mine wind walls

Publicated to:Circular Economy. 2 (3): - 2023-01-01 2(3), DOI: 10.1016/j.cec.2023.100053

Authors: Li E; Xi B; Zhang N; Shi X; Zhou J; Segarra P; Wang H

Affiliations

Central South University - Author
City University of Hong Kong - Author
Huazhong University of Science and Technology - Author
Politecnico di Milano - Author
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid - Author
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Abstract

Mining activities tend to generate various waste including tailings, waste water and waste rock. Efficient management and disposal of these waste materials are critical to minimize their environmental impact and ensure the sustainable operation of mining activities. A huge number of tailings are produced all around the world each year. Generally, part of the tailings is used for underground backfilling and another part is discharged to the tailings dam. The former can provide underground support while the latter tends to cause some environmental problems because the tailings are generally mixed with some chemicals. Regarding this, enhancing the circular use of tailings is crucial to guarantee the sustainable mining engineering. In this study, the feasibility of using fine-grained tailings to make non-burning hollow bricks for underground windbreaks is investigated. A two-stage experiment was implemented where the first stage experiment indicated the threshold of water content, the ratio of cement and tailings and the ratio of fine-grained and rod-mill tailings. In addition, it can be indicated that the addition of polyethylene fibers would increase the compressive strength of hollow bricks in some extent. The second-stage experiment was conducted with no rod-mill tailing added and it can be found that when the ratio of cement and tailings is equal or higher than 1:6, fiber content is more significant in improving brick strength but when this value is lower, the ratio of cement is more important than fiber factors. When the ratio of cement and fine-grained tailings is 1:8 with 0.5 g/kg and 12 mm polypropylene fiber added, the hollow brick is capable of achieving strength of 1.4 MPa for 28 days curation with the price of 0.50 RMB/block. This proportioning scheme is the least expensive while meeting the strength of the windbreak wall for the Fan Kou lead–zinc mine. Finally, it can be indicated that the usage of fine-grained tailings to make underground windbreak wall is feasible and thus provide a new scenario to circular usage of tailings. In addition, other proportioning schemes proposed in this study perhaps can meet more engineering requirements so as to provide more alternatives for circular use of tailings.

Keywords

Fiber-reinforcedFine-grained tailingsHollow bricksLead–zinc mineWindbreak walls

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Circular Economy due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2023, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations from Scopus Elsevier, it yields a value for the Field-Weighted Citation Impact from the Scopus agency: 1.84, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 3.7 (source consulted: Dimensions Jul 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-07-04, the following number of citations:

  • Scopus: 21

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-04:

  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 21 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

    It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

    • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

    Leadership analysis of institutional authors

    This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: China; Hong Kong; Italy.

    There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (LI, ENMING) .