PASTE THICKENER TECHNOLOGY

FOR MINE BACKFILL

J. Stephen Slottee
PasteThick Associates
Salt Lake City, UT

Jerold Johnson
PasteThick Associates
Salt Lake City, UT


Introduction

The use of a thickener, without filtration, to produce a
non-settling paste (also called thickened tailings) with non-
Newtonian rheology has been practiced in Australia for
many years for the disposal of red mud. The application of
paste thickening technology outside of alumina is relatively
new. Interest and installations in paste thickening are
rapidly growing. Water shortages and environmental
pressures make consideration of thickening tailings to
solids concentrations within the paste range necessary in
most new tailings projects. The paste thickeners at the
DeBeers CTP plant in Kimberley, South Africa are the
latest example of paste tailings disposal on the surface, also
called stacking. Houman (2003) The use of a paste
thickener as an alternative to filtration for mine paste
backfill is a more recently developed application.

This paper describes the principles of design and
general operating characteristics of a paste thickener
compared to the conventional and high-rate thickener. The
application and operating performance of paste thickeners
in mine backfill is discussed as an example. An integrated
approach to process design is described that matches the
performance of the thickener, pumping system, and
application on a common rheological basis to ensure that
none of these steps prevents achieving process performance
targets.

Paste Thickener Design

Characteristics of Paste
The commonly used term paste is a suspension of
solids characterized by relatively non-settling, non-
segregating particles at high concentration compared to
settling slurries. As the name implies, paste has a self-
supporting structure as
shown in Figure 1.

Paste is generally
described as a Bingham
plastic, characterized by a
yield stress. Yield stress is
measured in units of
pressure and is related to
the force required to make
a paste flow. The shape
exhibited by a paste that
is not flowing is a result
of the presence of a yield
stress. Yield stress can be
measured directly with a laboratory viscometer. The yield
stress curve is correlation of yield stress with solids
concentration. Slump, measured in units of distance, is an
indirect measurement of yield stress and is used by the
underground mining industry as an indication of the
rheology and solids content of a tailings paste. An ASTM
12 inch slump cone test is the standard method used to
measure slump (ASTM, C 172-82: Standard Method of
Sampling Freshly Mixed Concrete). As shown in Figure 2
a slump cone is filled with sample, the cone is manually
lifted, and the distance the paste sample slumps is
measured. Slump and yield stress have an inverse
relationship. As yield stress increases, the measured slump
decreases, all other parameters equal.
Figure 1

1


The slump and non-settling nature of paste is produced
from naturally occurring clays, silts, and fine sands. The
solids content for a given slump is determined by the
specific gravity and particle size distribution of the solids.
Rheological and transport characteristics of paste are
mainly dependent on the content of fine particles (less than
20 micron). The rheological character of paste is a result of
the interaction of solid particle of different diameters and
volumes making percent volume an appropriate way to
characterize solid concentrations. However, industry
convention is to use weight percent. In these terms paste
concentrations can be as high as 75-90 wt% for base metal
tailings depending on particle size and solids specific
gravity.

The high viscosity of pastes makes pipeline design
critical. Pastes are generally pseudoplastic where the
viscosity decreases with shearing such as in pumping and
pipe line flow. The slump of paste produced by a thickener,
for example, may be higher than the slump at the end of the
pipeline delivering the paste to the mine stope. More
detailed descriptions of a paste can be found in sources such
as Boger (1999) and Robinsky (1978) and for pipeline
design, Paterson (2003).

Paste Thickener Design
The concept of deep cone thickening was developed in
the 1960 and 70s in the British coal industry. Over the
years the deep cone thickening idea has been combined
with modern day
flocculation
techniques, feedwell
design, and
improvements on the
design of the tank,
rake and underflow
discharge system to
produce the modern
deep cone type paste
thickener. This
thickener is
characterized by a
height to diameter
ratio typically greater than one to one with unit areas
(m
2
/tph) several times smaller than for conventional and
high-rate thickeners. The mud bed height in a deep bed
thickener is much higher (several meters) than the level in a
high rate thickener which more than compensates for the
effect of smaller area on underflow solids concentration.
The combination of the high aspect ratio and steep cone
angle also facilitates the discharge of paste underflows.

Understanding yield stress is a key parameter in paste
thickener design. Under gravity a tailings paste will flow to
a point dictated by the yield stress and stop. The paste must
move through the thickener and be delivered to the
pumping system for transportation to the application point.
With proper interpretation the operating range of a paste
thickener can be located on the yield stress curve (Figure 3)
revealing the maximum underflow paste solids
concentration and the minimum concentration below which
the suspension will be a settling slurry.

Bed depth distinguishes paste thickeners from other
types of thickeners. Bed depths in a deep cone type paste
thickener may be 10m or higher, creating compression
forces which drive up the underflow solids concentration.
Because of these depths, the concept of unit area, m
2
/tph
has little meaning for a deep cone style paste thickener. For
a given diameter and tonnage throughput, a paste thickener
may have a wide range of bed depths, producing a similarly
wide range of underflow densities. Because of the
understanding required for relating paste rheology, bed
depth, and thickener design to paste production, the number
of producers of this style of thickener is limited and
currently includes GL&V, Outokumpu, and WesTech.



Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
2
Paste Thickener for Mine Paste Backfill

The Paste Backfill Process
Hydraulic backfill using sand-sized particles from
cycloning for mine support has been used for over fifty
years. Paste backfill, which incorporates fines as well as
coarse particles, such as the complete spectrum of a mill
tailings particle size distribution (total tails), is a more
recent development. The design of a paste backfill system is
dependent on the backfill materials available at the mine
site, such as mill tailings. Paste is produced by filtration or
thickening. If backfill strength is required, the paste is
mixed with a binder, such as portland cement, and water is
added to adjust the slump as necessary for pumping and
pipeline flow. The paste/binder mixture is pumped to the
mine borehole for gravity transportation to the stopes. The
slump required in the mine is a function of the mining plan
and cycle time for accessing stopes. Typically a slump of 6-
10 inches is required. If the tailings are too fine to produce
the required strength with binder addition the tailings may
be mixed with alluvial sand or crushed rock to produce a
wider particle size distribution and higher strengths as
described by Landriault (1995). Mine backfill with a paste
is also a method of tailings disposal, in which case a binder
may not be used. Brackebusch (1994) discusses the
advantages of the advantages of paste backfill systems over
more conventional methods of backfill.

Preparing Paste for Mine Backfill with a Thickener
The conventional method of paste preparation is to
dewater the tailings from a mill operation in a high-rate
slurry thickener followed by filtration. Filters include
drum, disc, and horizontal vacuum filters. Water may be
mixed with the filter cake to achieve the desired slump for
transfer to the binder mixer.

The slump and solids content required for paste
backfill is determined by the mining plan which includes
such parameters as mining method, cycle time for accessing
stopes, binder (such as cement) requirement, safety (such as
controlling rock bursts), availability of backfill material, the
mine layout and so forth. Designs are site specific and
include a wide range of paste requirements. The lowest
slumps (higher solids content) of this range require
filtration. For the highest slumps (lower solids content)
producing the paste directly from a thickener becomes an
alternative to diluting filter cake.

There are no hard criteria for distinguishing where the
paste thickener option becomes viable. Experience with
pilot and full-scale operations suggests for slumps greater
than 9 inches, the paste thickener is an alternative to
filtration for producing the required paste. For slumps
between 8 and 9 inches, the paste thickener should be
evaluated as a possible better option. For slumps of 8
inches and lower, the paste thickener is unlikely to be an
option to filtration. These operating ranges are strongly
determined by solids particle size, throughput rate, and the
behavior of the paste under the shearing produced during
pumping and pipeline flow. Figure 5 shows a typical
flowsheet for preparing paste with addition of a binder.

Thickeners, including paste thickeners, are
fundamentally continuous processes. In many cases the
paste is intermittently required in the mine, depending on
the mining plan. Development of procedures and
mechanical design to meet a requirement for discontinuous
operation has been a significant step for the use of a paste
thickener in mine backfill. Experience has shown a properly
designed paste thickener can function effectively in semi-
batch operation. This is in part because a paste is non-
settling and the thickener is designed with exceptionally
high torque capacity for the raking mechanism. Storage
time, the resulting underflow slump and solids content must
be matched with the mining plan cycle time.
Figure 5

Operating Results in Mine Paste Backfill
Experience with paste thickeners for mine backfill is
growing as the technology becomes better known and full-
scale plants develop operating histories.

In one example, the paste plant consists of a thickener,
cement silo, building housing the flocculant preparation
system, electrical and control panel, and a positive
displacement pump. The thickener operates by making and
storing paste produced from cycloned base metal tailings
(s.g. 3.2-3.4) from the mine. During the backfill portion of
the cycle the stored paste is pumped at slumps of as low as
9 inches (measured at discharge of the thickener
centrifugal underflow pump) and solids content of as high
as 79-80 wt% to a mixer for cement addition.

3
In another application, the paste plant consists of a
thickener, cement silo, building housing the flocculant
preparation system, electrical and control panel, and a
positive displacement pump. Using base metal mill tailings
(s.g. 2.7-2.9), the thickener has produced 8-9 inch slumps
and 76-78 wt% solids, after underflow pumping.

The improvement in mine productivity with a paste
backfill system is shown in another example where paste
backfill is pumped to excavated stopes to allow for
underhand cut and fill mining methods, and reduce dilution
by reducing the amount of sand from fill that is recycled
back into the mill in the primary ore. The paste backfill
system uses a paste thickener and filter combination to
produce 76 wt% solids backfill.

An Integrated Approach to Designing Paste
Thickener Systems

The installations described above show that for an
appropriate application a paste thickener can effectively
produce the required paste for backfill. However, operation
and design of backfill systems using paste thickeners have
not been without problems. The problems generally
developed because an integrated systems design approach
was not used to match the paste thickener with paste
transportation, binder (cement) addition, paste setup time,
backfill strength, and other issues related to mining
methods.

An integrated systems design of thickened tailings and
paste processes, whether for surface disposal or mine
backfill, is essential for the successful operation. J ewell
(2002) A systems approach recognizes that rheological
properties of a paste are a common design basis from the
thickener to the pumps and pipeline design and to the
application. Designing one part of the process, such as the
thickener, without integrating the rheology of the thickener
underflow with the transportation system, binder
requirements, and mining plan will usually lead to
problems.

Figure 6 shows the concept of designing paste systems
starting with the application and working back to the paste
thickener. Using mine paste backfill as an example,
determination of the strength requirements for the stope
backfill must be completed before required slumps are
determined and the tailings dewatering technology, filters
or a paste thickener, is selected. Cemented stopes must
reach the required strength in a time period that allows the
mining activity (blasting, hauling, etc) to proceed on
schedule. In addition to specifying required underflow
solids content or slump, the mine backfill design must
specify thickener cycle time. Matching the paste thickener
operation with the mine cycle time requires a design for the
necessary holding time in the thickener, and an operating
procedure to produce the required paste characteristics on a
cycle time required by the mine.
Figure 6

Conclusions

Paste thickeners are an established alternative to
conventional and high rate thickeners for the surface
disposal of tailings as a paste or thickened tailings. In
underground mining the paste thickener is an emerging
option to the conventional solution of filtration for a paste
backfill application.

Unlike conventional thickeners, the deep cone style
paste thickener operates with a deep bed of solids, utilizing
time and compression forces to achieve high solids
concentrations, well into the range where the suspension
exhibits the non-settling characteristics of paste.

With the right particle size distribution, paste
thickeners without filters can effectively produce paste for
mine backfill requiring slumps of 9 inches and higher, after
shearing. Depending on the application slumps
approaching 8 inches may be produced. For applicable
tailings and backfill requirements, the paste thickener offers
an alternative to filtration for the production of paste.

The design of a paste thickener process always starts
with the definition of the solids concentration and rheology
of the paste at the application point. Working up the flow
sheet, the pumping and pipeline and the thickener are
designed to produce the required application rheology.


4
References

1. Abbott, J . et. al. (1973) Coal preparation plant effluent
disposal by means of deep cone thickeners, 6
th

International coal preparations congress, Paris, October
1973.
2. Boger, D.V. (1999) Rheology and the Minerals
Industry, Min. Proc. Ext. Met. Rev., Vol 20, Overseas
Publishers Association, 1999.
3. Brackebusch, F.W (1994) Basics of paste backfill
systems. Mining Engineering, October 1994.
4. Houman, J ., Johnson, G. (2003) Commissioning and
Operation of the Paste Thickening Farm at Kimberley
Combined Treatment Plant, International Seminar on
Paste and Thickened Tailings, Melbourne, 2003.
5. Paterson, A. (2003) The Hydraulic Design of Paste
Transport Systems, International Seminar on Paste
and Thickened Tailings, Melbourne, 2003.
6. J ewell, R.J ., Fourie, A.B. and Lord, E.R. (2002) Paste
and thickened tailings A guide. The University of
Western Australia, 2002.
7. Landriault, D. (1995) The Present State of Paste Fill
in Canadian Underground Mining, 97
th
Annual
General Meeting of C.I.M. Rock Mechanics and Strata
Control Session, Halifax, Nova Scota, May 14-18,
1995.
8. Robinsky, E.I. (1978) Tailings Disposal by the
Thickened Discharge Method for Improved Economy
and Environmental Control. Tailings Disposal Today,
Proceedings 2
nd
International Tailings Symposium,
1978.


5