Noun
tailings
plural of tailing
(mining) The waste that remains after the minerals have been extracted from an ore by ore dressing.
Synonym: mullock
Coordinate terms: overburden, gangue, slimes
(alcohol production) The feints, the last fraction of product obtained at the end of distillation.
Source: en.wiktionary.orgAbandoned mines with their wakes of mine tailings and toxic wastes dot the Rocky Mountain landscape. Source: Internet
For example, 99 tons of waste are generated per ton of copper, citation with even higher ratios in gold mining - because only 5.3 g of gold is extracted per ton of ore, a ton of gold produces 200,000 tons of tailings. citation These tailings can be toxic. Source: Internet
Depending on the quality of the bauxite ore, twice as much waste (" Bauxite tailings ") as alumina is generated. Source: Internet
But the zinc could not be recovered due to "the Sulphide Problem", and was left in the tailings that remained after the silver and lead was extracted. Source: Internet
Conventional water retention dams can serve this purpose, but due to cost, a tailings dam is more viable. Source: Internet
Extractive metallurgists are interested in three primary streams: feed, concentrate (valuable metal oxide/sulfide), and tailings (waste). Source: Internet