Improvement of Traditional Mining Tailings Storage Facilities

Traditional mining tailings storage facilities may generate calamities and contaminants that cause the infiltration of tailings dam and even lead to dam failures. In view of this, new tailings storage facilities are designed in this paper by combining traditional tailings storage facilities with barrier systems including a vertical drainage system, a compound liner system, a fluid collection system and a caps system. With the vertical drainage system, water in contact with tailings can be transported into the fluid collection system. With the compound liner system, fluid can find a waterproof environment, which prevents the contamination of the environment such as surface water, groundwater, soil and food chain. With the fluid collection system, water in contact with tailings and fluid can be collected and removed to wastewater treatment plants, thus avoiding dam failure and AMD generation caused by the reaction of iron sulphides with water and oxygen.