Applying Chemometrics to Evaluate Mine Tailings’ Potential As Partial Cement Replacement

Abstract

This study investigates the utilization of mine tailings, the by-product originating from metal- and mineral-based ore mining, as a new cement replacement material. This paper is based on the chemical and physical characteristics of 13 mine tailing samples. In this study, Chemometrics were applied to consider all parameters simultaneously and obtain a thorough screening of potential relations in the large data set. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) groups samples according to (dis)similar features and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) visualizes predominating variables and relations to samples. The application of HCA highlighted a clear grouping between mine tailings according to characteristics. Meanwhile, PCA identified the predominant chemical and physical characteristics in the mine tailing samples. Chemometrics therefore provided a thorough overview of mine tailings’ physical and chemical characteristics. Keywords: mine tailings, chemometrics, cement replacement