The rate of growth of mining copper industry in Chile requires higher consumption of water, which is a resource limited in quality and quantity and a major point of concern in present times. In addition, the efficient use of water is restricted due to high levels of evaporation (10 to 15 (l/m2) per day), in particular at the north highland mining sites (Chile). On the contrary, the final disposal of tailings is mainly on pond, which loses water by evaporation and in some cases by percolation. An alternative are the paste thickeners, which generate stable paste (70% solids), reducing evaporation and percolation and therefore reducing water make up. Water is a resource with more demand as the industries are expanding, making the water recovery processes more of a necessity than a simple upgrade in efficiency. This technology was developed in Canada (early 80s) and it has widely been used in Australia (arid zones with similar weather conditions to Chile), although few plants are using this technology. The tendency in the near future is to move from open ponds to paste thickeners. One of the examples of this is Minera El Tesoro. This scenario requires developing technical capacity in both paste flow characterization and rheology modifiers (fluidity enhancer) in order to make possible the final disposal of this paste. In this context, a new technique is introduced and experimental results of fluidity modifiers are discussed. This study describes how water content affects the flow behavior and depositional geometry of tailings and silica flour pastes. The depositional angle determined from the flume tests, and the yield stresses is determined from slump test and a rheological model. Both techniques incorporate digital video and image analysis. The results indicate that the new technique can be incorporated in order to determine the proper solid content and modifiers to a given fluidity requirement. In addition, the experimental results showed that the pH controls strongly the fluid paste behavior.

中文翻译：

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矿浆的流动增强以提高尾矿中的水回收率：基于 Matlab 的成像处理工具

智利采矿铜业的增长速度需要更高的水消耗，这是一种质量和数量有限的资源，也是当今关注的主要问题。此外，由于蒸发量高（每天 10 到 15 (l/m2)），水的有效利用受到限制，特别是在北部高地矿区（智利）。相反，尾矿的最终处置主要是在池塘中，它通过蒸发和在某些情况下通过渗透失去水分。另一种选择是糊状物增稠剂，它产生稳定的糊状物（70% 固体），减少蒸发和渗透，从而减少水的补充。随着行业的扩张，水是一种需求量更大的资源，这使得水回收过程比简单的效率提升更重要。该技术是在加拿大（80 年代初）开发的，并已广泛应用于澳大利亚（与智利气候条件相似的干旱地区），尽管很少有工厂使用该技术。近期的趋势是从开放池转向糊状增稠剂。这方面的例子之一是 Minera El Tesoro。这种情况需要在膏体流动特性和流变改性剂（流动性增强剂）方面发展技术能力，以便最终处理这种膏体。在此背景下，介绍了一种新技术并讨论了流动性调节剂的实验结果。本研究描述了含水量如何影响尾矿和硅粉糊的流动行为和沉积几何形状。由水槽试验确定的沉积角，屈服应力由坍落度试验和流变模型确定。这两种技术都结合了数字视频和图像分析。结果表明，可以采用新技术来确定适合给定流动性要求的固体含量和改性剂。此外，实验结果表明，pH 值强烈控制流体糊状行为。