Characterisation of a thickened tailings beach

摘要

A geotechnical investigation has been carried out on the tailings beach of the Sunrise Dam central thickened discharge (CTD) tailings facility. This is believed to be the most comprehensive investigation of a thickened tailings beach so far undertaken.The investigation was carried out primarily for the purpose of evaluating the liguefaction resistance of the beach. However, additional data were also recovered to enable an assessment of the overall performance of the stack with respect to CTD design predictions. The investigation comprised CPTu and pore pressure dissipation tests, supplemented by shear wave velocity testing. In addition, stand-pipe piezometers were installed to provide information on the phreatic surface, and un-disturbed samples of tailings were recovered and tested for particle size, density, moisture content, and degree of saturation.These results are summarised and compared to predictions, as well as to results previously obtained for other sites. The influence of the effect of suction resulting from partially saturated conditions is discussed.