Biopolymer amended kaolin for tailings containment: An engineered solution
- 1Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400076, India; Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam 781039, India; Corresponding authors.
- 2Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam 781039, India; Corresponding authors.
Abstract
Tailing storage facilities contain mining waste with high-ionic-strength salts that might pose an environmental risk. Kaolin clays have recently received significant attention for barriers due to their reduced shrinkage cracking. Xanthan Gum, a biopolymer, has been studied to modify kaolin for use as a barrier to mitigate environmental issues. This study assesses the hydraulic, volume-change, diffusion, and retardation properties of kaolin clay and xanthan gum-modified kaolin under hydro-chemo-mechanical loading relevant to mine storage applications. Through-diffusion experiments were performed on materials acquired from hydraulic permeation testing under mechanical stress to replicate field conditions. Xanthan gum improved chemical compatibility, reduced hydraulic infiltration, and lowered diffusion rates considerably. Theoretical concentration profiles for kaolin and xanthan gum-amended kaolin barriers were derived using numerical modelling of the advection-diffusion equation utilizing the finite difference method. This study indicates that xanthan gum-modified kaolin is a feasible, environmentally sound option for improving the efficacy of barriers in mine tailing disposal, presenting considerable promise for mitigating the environmental effect of tailings storage facilities.
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BibTeX
@article{yadav2026biopolymer,
title = {{Biopolymer amended kaolin for tailings containment: An engineered solution}},
author = {Himanshu Yadav and Bharat Venkata Tadikonda},
journal = {Biogeotechnics},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.bgtech.2025.100182},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bgtech.2025.100182},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Biopolymer amended kaolin for tailings containment: An engineered solution
AU - Himanshu Yadav
AU - Bharat Venkata Tadikonda
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/30
JO - Biogeotechnics
DO - 10.1016/j.bgtech.2025.100182
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bgtech.2025.100182
AB - Tailing storage facilities contain mining waste with high-ionic-strength salts that might pose an environmental risk. Kaolin clays have recently received significant attention for barriers due to their reduced shrinkage cracking. Xanthan Gum, a biopolymer, has been studied to modify kaolin for use as a barrier to mitigate environmental issues. This study assesses the hydraulic, volume-change, diffusion, and retardation properties of kaolin clay and xanthan gum-modified kaolin under hydro-chemo-mechanical loading relevant to mine storage applications. Through-diffusion experiments were performed on materials acquired from hydraulic permeation testing under mechanical stress to replicate field conditions. Xanthan gum improved chemical compatibility, reduced hydraulic infiltration, and lowered diffusion rates considerably. Theoretical concentration profiles for kaolin and xanthan gum-amended kaolin barriers were derived using numerical modelling of the advection-diffusion equation utilizing the finite difference method. This study indicates that xanthan gum-modified kaolin is a feasible, environmentally sound option for improving the efficacy of barriers in mine tailing disposal, presenting considerable promise for mitigating the environmental effect of tailings storage facilities.
SN - 2949-9291
ER -