Characteristics analysis of iron tailings and current status and prospects of its utilization technology

Iron tailings are the largest component of solid waste in China, and currently face problems such as low comprehensive utilization rate and low added value of products. Due to the significant differences in the characteristics of tailings from different types of mines and the varying requirements for raw materials in different application fields, it is necessary to summarize the raw material characteristics and application technologies of iron tailings, and to evaluate the development prospects of this field, providing reference for the rational utilization of iron tailings and other bulk solid waste. Firstly, analyzes the differences in the characteristics of tailings discharged from different regions, minerals, and beneficiation processes in China, including elemental composition, valuable components, and particle size. Then, the current status of iron tailings application technology is summarized from two aspects: bulk utilization and high-value application. The bulk utilization technology of iron tailings includes tailings re-selection and preparation of building materials, among which tailings re-selection mainly focuses on extracting iron concentrate, valuable metal elements, and high-quality non-metallic minerals. When iron tailings are used as building materials, their application directions can be summarized as cementitious materials, sintered building materials, and melted materials. High value applications mainly focus on the preparation of functional non-metallic mineral materials. The development of new technologies such as mineral processing technology, equipment, and artificial intelligence plays an important role in improving the quality of tailings. At the same time as improving the quality of iron tailings upstream, through collaborative research between upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, targeted application research will be conducted based on the differences in the characteristics of iron tailings discharged by different sorting processes, which is expected to truly solve the problem of low utilization of high added value of iron tailings.