Strength and Durability of Iron Ore Tailing Materials Stabilized using Portland Cement as Base Materials: A Case Study Of Golgohar Mine

In order to mitigate the environmental impact of iron ore tailing (IOT) and also to reduce the use of natural aggregates, these materials can be used as road materials after stabilization with chemical additives. In this research, the feasibility of using Golgohar IOT, stabilized with 4, 6 and 8% of Portland cement as road base materials, has been investigated. To this end, modified Proctor compaction test, unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test and durability against freezing and thawing (F-T) cycles test were conducted on IOT samples stabilized with different percentages of Portland cement. Results of compaction testing on the samples showed that increasing the percentage of cement increases the optimum moisture content (OMC) and decreases the maximum dry density (MDD). In the next stage, IOT were stabilized using 4, 6 and 8% of Portland cement and UCS samples were fabricated with three different compaction moistures (dry side, optimum moisture content and wet side) and cured for 7, 28 and 56 days. The results showed that with increasing the percentage of cement from 4 to 8% for all curing times, the UCS increased between 1.45 to 2.15 times. Also, the 28-day UCS and 56-day UCS are about 1.73 times and 2.34 times the 7-day UCS, respectively. It was also found that the UCS increases with decreasing moisture content. The results of durability tests against (F-T) cycles on the samples showed that with increasing the percentage of cement, the durability of stabilized materials increases, so that in samples with higher percentage of cement, the lowest percentage of weight loss and volume reduction is observed. Finally, it was found that IOT stabilized with at least 4% of Portland cement provides the necessary strength and durability criteria for use as stabilized base layer.