Abstract: A large number of tailings produced in the beneficiation process are stored into tailings pond, but these tailings may transport with rainfall into the river. We researched the regularity of tailings transport in water flow through flume (length 23m, width 1m, and height 0.6m) experiment with flow rate of 0.05-0.3 m/s and tailings incoming rate of 20-315 g/min. The regularities of tailings diffusion, distribution of deposition form and amount, distribution of sediment concentration along the channel are analysed. Results suggest that the tailings diffused obviously after flowing into the flume. The longitudinal diffusion rate increased and the transverse diffusion rate decreased with water velocity increasing. The proportion of total deposition decreased with the increase of flow velocity, from 75% to less than 25% when flow velocity increased from 0.05 m/s to 0.3 m/s. The distribution of sediment concentration along the channel decreased and fitted with index formula well with the correlation coefficient R² about 0.9.

Key words: tailings, flume experiment, diffusion of tailings, deposition of tailings, sediment concentration