Summer crash program trains undergrads to tackle mine tailings challenges

When the wind tunnel they planned to use malfunctioned, University of Arizona mining engineering student Andrew Robida and his research teammates built their own.

Using an enclosed tube and a large fan, the team blew air onto mine tailings treated with magnesium chloride and molasses to help suppress tailings dust.

For Robida, the test was the highlight of his summer.

“I’ll never forget when my team and I first tested the wind tunnel we made and actually saw material leaving the petri dish after having so many complications during the program,” he said.

Robida was one of 15 undergraduate engineering students who participated in the six-week Tailings Application and Innovation Learning Summer program, or TAILS 26. 

The Tailings Center organized the inaugural program, which drew students from four College of Engineering units: the School of Mining Engineering and Mineral Resources; the School of Electrical, Computer and Software Engineering; the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering and Mechanics; and the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering.

Graduate student preceptors Tinotenda Chimbwanda, Saleh Khawaja and Ipsita Panda joined faculty advisers Edward Wellman, Nathalie Risso and Tejo Bheemasetti in guiding the undergraduates.

Tailings are the waste left behind after mineral extraction. Mining produces large volumes of finely milled rock and water slurry, which operators must manage to protect the environment and ensure safe storage. Engineers in the field specialize in areas such as real-time monitoring, soil mechanics and structural stability.

Wellman, an associate professor of practice in SMEMR, said introducing students to tailings research early meets an industry need.

“The industry needs engineers from a variety of disciplines who understand the challenges involved,” he said.

During the first two weeks, students took a crash course in tailings design, water management and dam construction, and they heard from industry professionals. They spent the last four weeks designing experiments to address tailings challenges.

Risso, assistant professor of mining and geological engineering, said undergraduate research helps students apply classroom concepts to real-world problems.

“That can be very powerful for motivating people,” she said. “The best student is a motivated student.”

Students take the lead

Merwin Mendoza, an ECSE junior, said TAILS 26 broadened his understanding of an industry he has known since childhood.

Mendoza grew up in Cajamarca, Peru, where his family worked in mining. Still, he started the summer knowing little about tailings.

His team tested whether hyperspectral imaging could estimate moisture levels in tailings. Mendoza wrote code and processed the imaging data, while his mining engineering teammates identified which measurements mattered.

Mendoza said TAILS 26 differed from his past research experiences, where graduate students led the work and assigned him tasks. 

“In this case, it was kind of the opposite,” he said. “We had to do most of the most important stuff.”

Graduate student preceptors provided guidance without taking over the projects, allowing undergraduates to develop their research plans and decide how to carry them out.

Building interest across domains

The program’s mix of disciplines was intentional.

“When you work in real-life operations, there is always a team, and the team is never all mining, all environmental,” Risso said.

Students produced concrete results over the summer. At least one team plans to keep working with faculty mentors. The students aim to turn their work into a research paper and an invention disclosure for a portable app that assesses tailings moisture.

The program already changed how Robida views his future. He entered TAILS 26 looking for mining research in a subject he hadn’t studied in class. He left considering a field he had never thought about before.

“I now have an interest in tailings,” Robida said. “It is a rather expansive field with a lot of interesting areas.”