Madencilik faaliyetlerini, önemli miktarda atık oluşturan maden işleme ve yaş zenginleştirme yöntemleri izlemektedir. Şlam fraksiyonları, proses suyu ile birlikte atık havuzlarına boşaltılır ve bu depolama ve bertaraf zorluklarına neden olur ve ciddi çevre sorunları yaratır. Bu nedenle, bu atıkların susuzlaştırılması hem ekonomik hem de çevresel açılardan gereklidir. Bu çalışmada, Ağıldere ve Hisarcık (Türkiye) bor atıklarının anyonik, katyonik ve iyonik olmayan flokülantlar varlığında flokülasyon davranışları incelenmiştir. Sonuçlar, Ağıldere numunesi için serbest çökme koşulunun optimum olduğunu göstermiştir. Diğer taraftan Hisarcık numunesinin çökelme hızı, flokülant kullanımı ile süspansiyon bulanıklığında önemli bir azalma da göstererek önemli ölçüde artmıştır. Flokülasyon deneyleri, flokülant tipinin Hisarcık numunesinin flokülasyonuna etkisinin genel olarak anyonik>katyonik>iyonik olmayan>flokülantsız olarak sıralanabileceğini göstermiştir. Çalışmada ayrıca ultrason destekleyici bir uygulama olarak kullanılmıştır. Sonuçlar, ultrason uygulamasının her iki numunenin de çökme hızını azaltmasına rağmen, ultrason varlığında daha kompakt bir çökelti yatağı oluşması nedeniyle Hisarcık numunesinde ultrason varlığında daha düşük çökelti yatağı yükseklikleri elde edildiğini göstermiştir. Mining activities are followed by mineral processing and wet beneficiation methods which generate a significant amount of tailings. Slime fractions are discharged to the tailing ponds with associated process water and this causes storage and disposal difficulties and creates severe environmental problems. Therefore, dewatering these tailings is necessary for both economic and environmental aspects. In this study, the flocculation behaviors of the boron tailings from Agildere and Hisarcik (Turkey) were studied in the presence of anionic, cationic, and non-ionic flocculants. The results showed that the free settling condition was optimum for the Agildere sample. On the contrary, the settling rate of the Hisarcik sample increased considerably by the use of flocculants with a significant decrease in the turbidity of the suspension. Flocculation experiments indicated that the effect of the flocculant type on the flocculation of the Hisarcik sample can be generally ordered as anionic>cationic>non-ionic>no-flocculant. Furthermore, ultrasound was used as a supporting application. The results indicated that although the ultrasound application decreased the settling rate of both samples, lower sediment bed heights were obtained for the Hisarcik sample with ultrasound because of the formation of a more compact sediment bed in the presence of ultrasound.

One of the challenges encountered in mining is acid mine drainage (AMD) in sulphurous ores in response to rainfall and groundwater. CPB one of the most prevalent waste management systems addresses this issue today. Nevertheless, in the long term, the concretion in CPB may become ineffective because of external factors, such as groundwater and rainfall. The relevant sources in the literature have no mention of AMD problems that may occur in the long term with CPB, particularly in metallic ores. Most studies indicate that the issue which can be prevented by using cement. However, due to the destructive effects of nature, cement alone would be insufficient. Consequently, the research's principal aim is to form CPB hydrophobic, thereby reducing the interaction between CPB and water. In the study, stearic acid was chosen as the hydrophobic agent and application method to the CPB and the changes in load-bearing capacity were studied. Specimens were tested by ion chromatography, X-ray diffraction (XRD), elemental analysis by combustion, water absorption, uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). There was a decrease in the load-bearing capacity while gaining the hydrophobic properties of the material. The results confirm the validity of the selected agent and method and reveal that the effect of sulphate decreases with increasing hydrophobicity yet, there is no significant decrease in the 7, 14, and 28-day UCS tests. The optimal results were achieved when Stearic Acid (SA) was used at a concentration of 1.25 % for 7 % Portland cement and 0.75 % for 11 % Portland cement, with a UCS strength of 1.223 and 2.008 MPa, respectively. The expected benefit of stearic acid was realized as the water absorption value of the reference sample was 2.50 times higher in 7 % cement and 4.25 times higher in 11 % cement than the same value in Hydrophobic Cemented Paste Backfill (H-CPB). These results indicate that AMD formation can be prevented in the future with H-CPB. The results demonstrate that stearic acid, with the new methodology, forms the CPB hydrophobic, while only an acceptable strength loss was observed. Additionally, the outcomes point out that the methodology adopted does not consider a significantly adverse impact on hydration phase of concretation and can be utilized as an environmentally friendly backfilling method, thereby being evaluated as the cleaner backfilling for further CPB applications.

Polymer-based superplasticizers represent an emerging class of additives in cement and concrete production with demonstrated effects on zeta potential, ion exchange, turbidity and rheological behavior during hydration. This study examines the influence of polymer-based grinding aids focusing on the dosage of A2 on the grinding performance of Portland cement. Among the tested additives, A2 exhibited superior dispersing ability and agglomeration-preventing activity, yielding a zeta potential of −8.98 mV. Correspondingly, the release of the ion concentration of Ca²⁺ decreased to 190 mg/L, while SO₄²⁻ increased to 400 mg/L, indicating enhanced ionic interaction at the optimal A2 dosage of 2.5 g. The turbidity tests further revealed that cement samples ground with 2.5 g of A2 remained homogeneously suspended for longer periods compared to other additives. Overall, the analysis of cement surface properties confirmed that polymer-based grinding aids, particularly A2, significantly improve the dispersion stability of cement particles during grinding.