(mining) The waste that remains after the minerals have been extracted from an ore by ore dressing; the waste from coal mining.
Used in a Sentence
tailings
Definitions, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for tailings.
Editorial note
Even the Sierra Club is reasonably satisfied.[2] Rather than tailings ponds, they have a large back-end processing operation which gets the water out of the tailings.
Examples15
Definitions3
Parts of speech1
Quick take
(mining) The waste that remains after the minerals have been extracted from an ore by ore dressing; the waste from coal mining.
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of tailings gathered in one view.
(agriculture) Inferior or damaged grain, as well as seeds of other plants (weeds), removed from grain before milling or sowing.
(alcohol production) The weak feints, the last fraction of product obtained at the end of distillation, typically impure and containing fusel oils.
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for tailings.
noun
(mining) The waste that remains after the minerals have been extracted from an ore by ore dressing; the waste from coal mining.
noun
(agriculture) Inferior or damaged grain, as well as seeds of other plants (weeds), removed from grain before milling or sowing.
noun
(alcohol production) The weak feints, the last fraction of product obtained at the end of distillation, typically impure and containing fusel oils.
Example sentences
Even the Sierra Club is reasonably satisfied.[2] Rather than tailings ponds, they have a large back-end processing operation which gets the water out of the tailings.
And yet, the tailings for uranium are much less in volume than the tailings (and eventual processed waste products) from the fuels that would replace it, like coal and oil.
Molycorp's Mountain Pass, CA rare earth mine is now in full production.[1] No more tailings ponds.
That footprint is extended by mining operations, fuel transport (mostly railroad), and tailings and ash disposal.
In addition, such ores often contain thorium and its decay products, which makes tailings radioactive.
Nuclear waste is fundamentally static; unlike tailings, it pretty much stays where you put it.
A tailings pond 1 mile across instead of dumping the sludge into a river?
If you had the choice between holding a handful of uranium ore or uranium tailings, you'd do better to choose the former.
They should call it tailings pile coin instead because it's been premined so badly.
Specifically, groundwater seepage from tailings ponds is probably one of the nastiest local consequences.
Uranium tailings are one of the biggest environmental issues with nuclear power, and one of the ones I never hear anyone mention.
HGA is apparently unaware that uranium tailings are effectively worse than uranium ore, containing 85%+ or the original radioactivity of the ore, but concentrated and exposed.
Quote examples
In any case, most of them could be extracted from aluminium mine tailings ("red mud") at moderate expense.
Interestingly enough the old rare earth mine in Nevada, back when it was closed and essentially "abandoned" had a variety of radioactive materials in its tailings (the most common being Thorium) we did a science trip once to grab some and figure out the various isotopes in it.
I don't have stats about what gets directly into the oceans, but when we mine gold, copper, and other ores, we create entire ponds called "tailings ponds" full of arsenic, cyanide, mercury, and all sorts of other nasty substances.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use tailings in a sentence?
Even the Sierra Club is reasonably satisfied.[2] Rather than tailings ponds, they have a large back-end processing operation which gets the water out of the tailings.
What does tailings mean?
(mining) The waste that remains after the minerals have been extracted from an ore by ore dressing; the waste from coal mining.
What part of speech is tailings?
tailings is commonly used as noun.