New development and frontiers of green mining with cemented paste backfill in China

With its advantages of being safe, environmentally friendly, economical and highly efficient, cemented paste backfill (CPB) has been an important transformative technology for green mining in metal mines in recent years in China. Therefore, this paper provides a review of the 30-year development history of CPB in China. The first CPB system in China was built in the Jinchuan No. 2 Mining Area in 1999, and the first CPB system based on a deep cone thickener was built in Huize lead–zinc mine in 2006. Since then, China’s CPB technology has entered the next new era. At the same time, this paper analysed new technologies such as paste rheology, rake blockage prevention measures, nesting repair for filling boreholes, pipeline blockage and leakage detection, intelligent control technology and national standards. The driving of CPB in the transformation of mining was emphasised through several demonstration projects. Moreover, unmanned CPB and comprehensive utilisation of total waste based on CPB were proposed as important development frontiers.