Why does tailings harm the environment

September.17,2020

The impact of tailings on the environment is mainly manifested in tailings pond dust, residual beneficiation reagent pollution and groundwater pollution. The pollution of tailings to the atmosphere is mainly caused by the extremely fine particles of mine tailings and piled up on the surface all the year round. This part of the tailings is prone to dust after drying, especially in the dry winter and spring in the north, a large number of tailings fly out of the tailing pond. In addition, covering arable land and good lands, fine particles can form “yellow dragons” as long as several kilometers in the windy season, which seriously pollutes the environment. If windy weather is encountered, it may raise tailings black sand dust storm.

The pollution of tailings to the water environment is mainly due to the need to add chemicals during the ore beneficiation process. The chloride, cyanide, sulfide, pine oil, flocculants, surfactants and other harmful chemicals remaining in the tailings Long-term storage will produce harmful gas or acidic water, which will flow into or be discharged into streams, rivers and lakes to poison aquatic organisms. The composition of tailings and residual beneficiation reagents have a greater impact on the water environment, especially tailings containing heavy metals. The sulfide produces acidic water and further leaches heavy metals. The loss will affect the quality of groundwater, and the chloride remaining in the tailings Hazardous agents such as cyanide, sulfide, terpineol oil, flocculant, surfactant, etc. will be affected by air, moisture, sunlight and self-interaction to produce harmful gas and acidic water when the tailings are stacked for a long time, which will aggravate the tailings. Loss of heavy metals.

On the one hand, the heavy metals dissolved in the tailings infiltrate into the bottom soil through the waste rock piles and the pores of the tailings pond or enter the soil through surface runoff; on the other hand, they enter the downstream hydrological system through the surface runoff or infiltrate into the groundwater, thereby reducing the surface water Linked with groundwater, it causes pollution of the entire mining area, large nearby areas and even basin water bodies.