Emplaced geotechnical characteristics of hydraulic fills in a number of Australian mines

Abstract

Hydraulic fills used in Australian mines have similar grain size distributions whilst having quite different specific gravity values, typically in the range of 2.7–4.4. When produced and distributed in slurry at 65–75% by solid content, they settle to produce fills with similar geotechnical characteristics. The fills under investigation have been found to settle, in the laboratory, to a dry density of about 0.56 · specific gravity, a saturation water content of about 17–34%, and a porosity of 37–49%. A quick estimate of the optimum water content that gives the minimum porosity may be obtained by locating the intersection of the saturation curve and minimum porosity line, which may simply be done on a water content vs. porosity plot. However, transportability of the slurry requires it to be mixed at water content substantially greater than the optimum water content. As the tailings settle out of suspension, they settle to relative density of 50–80%. This paper shows that the current empirical relationships relating relative density and N-value to friction angle for sands will significantly underestimate the friction angle of the hydraulic fills. Based on limited experimental data, a unique relationship between relative density and friction angle is proposed for hydraulic fills placed in some Australian mines.