Lead–zinc tailings are the typical solid wastes in mines with high yield and low utilization rates in some countries at present. They are mainly stockpiled in tailings reservoirs, occupying massive land resources and threatening the health of the environment. One of the advantages of building material production in sustainability is the ability to utilize large amounts of industrial solid wastes, and the use of lead–zinc tailings in building materials is an effective way to meet the dual needs of environmental protection and economic development. This paper reviews the progress of utilizing lead–zinc tailings as building materials and mainly summarizes the status of lead–zinc tailings in cement, geopolymer, concrete, building brick, and foam ceramic. According to previous research, lead–zinc tailings contain large amounts of silica–alumina oxide, which can be used in the production of cement clinker. The addition of lead–zinc tailings to the sintered material can reduce the sintering temperature. The active components contained in lead–zinc tailings can be used in concrete instead of cement or in the preparation of geopolymers. Meanwhile, lead–zinc tailings can also be used as a fine aggregate. However, there are few studies on the durability of building materials with lead–zinc tailings. Additionally, most of the research results of building materials are in the laboratory stage, which are difficult to be promoted. In view of these problems, corresponding suggestions and prospects are given in the end in order to provide a reference for the research on the utilization of lead–zinc tailings.

At present, the treatment of tailings is mostly carried out in the form of stacking in tailings ponds, resulting in a huge waste of mineral resources and a major threat to the environment and ecology. Using tailings instead of a part of the cement to make cementitious materials is an effective way to reduce the accumulation of tailings. In this paper, lead–zinc tailings-based cementitious materials were prepared by using lead–zinc tailings, fly ash, and ordinary Portland cement, and the effects of four factors on the mechanical properties of lead–zinc tailings, as well as fly ash content, cement content, and water–binder ratio were studied by orthogonal experiments. The corresponding relationship between the factors and the properties of cementitious materials was determined, and the optimization and prediction of the raw material ratio of lead–zinc tailings-based cementitious materials were realized. The test showed the ratio of raw materials to be at the lowest price ratio. Synchronously the ratio that meets the minimum strength requirements was predicted. When the proportion of fly ash:lead and zinc tailings:cement = 30:40:30 and the water–binder ratio was 0.4, the predicted compressive strength of the prepared cementitious material achieved 22.281 MPa, which meets the strength requirements, while the total content of lead–zinc tailings and fly ash was the highest at this time.

The existence of lead-zinc tailings threatens the social and ecological environment. The recycling of lead–zinc tailings is important for the all-round green transformation of economic society. In this study, the possibility of fabricating sintered ordinary bricks with lead–zinc tailings was studied based on orthogonal experimentation, and the phase composition and micromorphology of sintered products were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). With lead–zinc tailings as the main material, and clay and fly ash as additives, the effect of clay content, forming pressure, sintering temperature, and holding time on physical properties of sintered bricks was analyzed. The results show that clay content and sintering temperature have a major effect on compressive strength, while sintering temperature and holding time play an important role in water absorption. During sintering, mica, chlorite, and other components in lead–zinc tailings are decomposed to form albite, hematite, maghemite, and anhydrite, which play a role in the strength of bricks. The optimal process parameters were found to be a ratio of lead–zinc tailings:clay:fly ash = 6:3:1, forming pressure of 20 MPa, firing temperature of 1080 °C, and holding time of 60 min. The corresponding compressive strength and water absorption were 34.94 MPa and 16.02%, which meets the Chinese sintered ordinary bricks standard (GB/T 5101-2017).

Lead–zinc tailings are waste materials generated from mineral processing and smelting, and their long-term accumulation poses potential threats to the environment and soil. To achieve resource recycling and sustainable development, this study used lead–zinc tailings and clay as raw materials and glass powder as a modifier to prepare modified lead–zinc tailing sintered bricks. Through full-factor experiments and single-factor experiments, the effects of the material proportions, the sintering temperature, and the holding time on the properties of the sintered bricks were investigated. The results show that the addition of glass powder significantly enhanced the compressive strength of the sintered bricks, reduced their water absorption rate, and improved their volume shrinkage rate. The optimal preparation conditions were as follows: 9% glass powder content, 90% lead–zinc tailings content, a sintering temperature of 1060 °C, and a holding time of 60 min. The resulting sintered bricks met the MU30-strength-grade requirements of the national standard for ordinary sintered bricks (GB/T5101-2017). The sintering temperature has a significant impact on brick performance; the compressive strength first increases, and then decreases, the water absorption rate continues to decrease, and volume change shifts from expansion to contraction. The influence of holding time was relatively weaker, but as the holding time increased, the compressive strength and the water absorption rate of the sintered bricks gradually stabilized. XRD and SEM analyses indicated that the minerals in the lead–zinc tailings decomposed and recrystallized during the sintering process. The liquid phase melt from the glass powder filled the pores and enhanced skeletal strength, thereby improving the microstructure and properties of the sintered bricks. The research findings provide a theoretical basis and practical guidance for the efficient utilization and building material application of lead–zinc tailings.