Mitigation of mine tailings dust with green biopolymer

Mine tailings (MT) dust is a major environmental concern. Many efforts have been attempted to mitigate MT dust, but all have limitations. The present study investigates the feasibility of utilizing two natural and renewable biopolymers, guar gum and xanthan gum, for MT dust mitigation. Moisture retention tests were performed to evaluate the water retention capacity of MT samples treated with guar gum and xanthan gum solutions at different concentrations. Wind tunnel tests were conducted to investigate the weight loss of biopolymer-treated MT samples after blowing wind for certain period of time. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging was also performed to investigate the microstructure of biopolymer-treated MT. The results indicate that the two biopolymers are effective in increasing the moisture-retention capacity and improving the dust resistance of MT.