Développement de protocoles expérimentaux pour caractériser la consolidation de résidus miniers saturés et non saturés à partir d'essais de compression en colonne

Mining operations generate large amounts of solid wastes around the world. Two types of solid wastes can be distinguished: mine waste rock and mill tailings. Waste rock mainly results from the blasting activities performed to access the working areas of underground or open pit mines; it is usually disposed of in waste rock piles on the surface. Tailings are fine grained materials produced by ore treatment processes. These mine tailings are generally disposed in ponds in the form of a slurry. The progressive filling of tailing impoundment leads to their consolidation under self-weight. The behaviour of tailings then depends on their compressibility and the dissipation of pore water pressures.