Assessment of Effective Design of Tailing Pond for Safe Disposal of Iron Ore Tailings

Abstract

The management of tailings upholds the principle of economic development. Tailing ponds for the containment of iron ore tailings is an important issue, not only from the point of view of pollution control but also from the conservation of resources for the future. But due to huge cost of land and safety of the dam, it is worth designing an appropriate tailing pond size to a minimum level. The purpose of iron ore beneficiation and the cause of surface water pollution and ground water contamination are described. Physico-chemical characteristics of the tailings of an iron ore beneficiation plant and the effectiveness of tailing pond for the

removal of toxic pollutants are discussed. To carry out the effective design of tailing pond, settling characteristics of tailings were carried out. The results reveal that the optimum area required for the containment of the tailings should be much less, in comparison to the area utilized for the tailing pond.