What are tailings in mining?

Tailings are the waste products from mining. Depending on the type of mining, tailings can be liquid, solid or a slurry of fine particles.

Tailings include:

Finely ground rock particles – ranging from sand-sized to silt-sized.

Chemicals used to extract the valuable mineral or oil.

Water.

Trace quantities of metals such as copper, mercury, cadmium, zinc, etc.

Tailings In Mining

Concentration is the process of extracting the economic product from the crushed and ground ore, the waste from this process is the tailings.

Over the last decade, the mining industry has come a long way in improving how it operates: enhancing safety for mine workers and the communities living nearby, developing fresh approaches to protecting the environment, coming up with new ways of including and supporting local communities, and helping host economies grow in a sustainable way.