Tailings management in gold plants

General aspects of tailings management that would be applicable to any mining operation are reviewed with specific emphasis on gold operations. The production of acid from sulphidic tailings is discussed together with selection criteria for impoundment of sulphides and tests to enable prediction of acid mine drainage. The chemistry and precipitation of arsenic associated with gold sulphides ores is also discussed. However management of cyanide from tailings ponds is of particular concern. The various methods of destroying and recycling cyanide are briefly reviewed with a focus on the advantages and disadvantages of AVR (Acidification–Volatilization by aeration and Reneutralization), SART (Sulfidisation, Acidification, Recycle and Thickening) and IX processes. Much of the general information is abstracted from a comprehensive text by the author [Ritcey, G.M., 1989. Tailings Management—Problems and Solutions in the Mining Industry, Elsevier Science, 970 pp.] with an update of practical experiences from the recent literature.