What the review covers
Qaidi and colleagues examine mine tailings as geopolymer aggregates and precursors, including mechanical behaviour, durability, microstructure and thermal properties.
What the authors found
Highly crystalline tailings often showed low reactivity. The reviewed studies used reactive additions and mechanical, thermal or chemical pretreatment to change material performance; outcomes depended on composition and processing.
Evidence limits
The authors identify limited long-term durability research and relatively little attention to contaminant movement during leaching and its effects on the products.
Further research proposed
They recommend classifying tailings by mineralogical and chemical characteristics, investigating contaminant behaviour and assessing transport distances and product markets in feasibility studies.