Value-Added Products from Coal Tailings

Abstract

The quantity of coal tailings (CT) currently discharged annually in Qld and NSW is estimated to be between 14 and 16 million dry tonnes with the majority going into tailings storage facilities (TSF). Due to the continuous mining activities over the last 50 years, the existing tailings storage in Australia has reached an order of 500 million tonnes. Currently, over 200 million tonnes of aggregates and 4.9 million tonnes of fertilisers are used in Australia per annum. As the demand for aggregates and soil conditioners is very high, a large proportion of tailings could be potentially consumed for the production of aggregates and soil conditioners to be used locally in mining areas and surrounding communities. This project aimed to develop a new tailings management solution by using tailings to produce road subbase aggregates and agricultural soil conditioners that can generate revenue from coal wastes and reduce the impact of CT on our environment. For this purpose, coal tailings from four mining sites were collected and investigated further