A method of reducing concentrated tailings viscosity and yield stress for ease of pumping and them improved the safety of tailings storage in dam and a method of mining iron ore from tailings using additives were discussed. A series of NaOH-phosphate-based composite additives were found to reduce the viscosity and yield stress of concentrated tailings. The extent of reduction in yield stress can be its complete elimination and viscosity by more than 95%. Slurry handling and processing problems of concentrated tailings such as long distance pipeline transportation to dams, will no longer be issues. At the pond, lime can be used to increase the yield stress significantly enhancing the safe storage of this tailing. With these additives, good separation between the colloidal and slime materials and coarse particles was easily achievable. The iron rich settled layer can contained a) more than 58% Fe upgraded from 55% Fe slurry and b) 54% Fe from tailings of 47% Fe after treatment with additives composing of NaOH-phosphate-based and NaOH-Na₂SiO₃-polyphosphate. Further beneficiation of iron rich layer by removing the coarse impurities can be achieved by other processes such as the magnetic WHIMS process. With these additives, the mineral slurries and tailings can be processed in a more concentrated form for beneficiation and transport. The environmental footprint is smaller as less process water and a smaller tailings pond are needed.

降低浓尾矿粘度和屈服应力以方便抽水的方法，提高了尾矿在大坝中存储的安全性，并讨论了使用添加剂从尾矿中开采铁矿石的方法。发现一系列基于NaOH-磷酸盐的复合添加剂可降低浓缩尾矿的粘度和屈服应力。屈服应力降低的程度可以是其完全消除和超过95％的粘度。集中尾矿的泥浆处理和加工问题（例如长距离管道到大坝的运输）将不再是问题。在池塘中，可以使用石灰来增加屈服应力，从而显着增强该尾矿的安全存储。使用这些添加剂，可以轻松实现胶体和粘液材料与粗颗粒之间的良好分离。₂ SiO _3-聚磷酸盐。通过去除粗大杂质可以进一步富铁层的选矿，可以通过其他工艺（例如WHIMS磁工艺）实现。使用这些添加剂，可以将矿浆和尾矿以更浓缩的形式进行选矿和运输。由于需要较少的工艺用水和较小的尾矿池，因此环境足迹较小。