A digital library for using mine tailings in low-carbon concrete replacements for mine back-filling & 3D printing

Research to investigate the inclusion of mine tailings into low carbon concrete replacement materials for both mine back-filling and 3D printing has the potential to reduce the proportions of unutilized waste produced by mining-intensive countries. To aid this, procedures to revoke the waste status of the raw and final materials, and to produce a mix composition ‘digital recipe’ library are required in addition to the standard material characterization and testing. Such a system can be continuously augmented and used to search for recipes supporting carbon neutrality and the circular economy for mine filling solutions and other applications, including 3D printing with low-carbon concrete replacement mate-rials. Results show the mineral composition of two principal tailing sources con-taining aluminosilicates and so having the potential to be active materials in ge-opolymer or alkali-activated materials. Additionally, the compressive strength of some tailing-containing mix compositions surpass some without, some but not all mixes are rheologically suitable for mine back-fill pumping and/or 3D print-ing, and tailings-induced porosity increases with increased tailing incorporation.