Stabilization of Mine Tailings with Inorganic Polymer Binder

The project aims to refine a process developed by Terra CO2 Technologies to use a small proportion of geopolymer cement made from mine tailings to solidify and stabilize a bulk volume of tailings against leaching and water contamination. Beyond tailings stabilization, waste mineral geopolymer cement may be advantageous as an environmentally-friendly replacement for Portland cement because CO2 emissions are approximately halved with such a geopolymer cement compared to a similar quality conventional cement – a significant contribution given that ~5% of human CO2 emissions are caused by Portland cement production.

Faculty Supervisor:

Lee Groat

Student:

Donald Lake

Partner:

Terra CO2 Technologies Ltd

Discipline:

Geography / Geology / Earth science

Sector:

Mining and quarrying

University:

University of British Columbia