Recycling Quarry Dust as a Supplementary Cementitious Material for Cemented Paste Backfill

Quarry dust (QD) landfill causes environmental issues that cannot be ignored. In this study, we systematically explore its potential application as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM) in cemented paste backfill (CPB), revealing the activated mechanism of modified QD (MQD) and exploring the hydration process and workability of CPB containing QD/MQD. The experimental results show that quartz, clinochlore and amphibole components react with CaO to form reactive dicalcium silicate (C2S) and amorphous glass phases, promoting pozzolanic reactivity in MQD. QD promotes early aluminocarbonate (Mc) formation through CaCO3-derived CO32− release but shifts to hemicarboaluminate (Hc) dominance at 28 d. MQD releases active Al3+/Si4+ due to calcination and deconstruction, significantly increasing the amount of ettringite (AFt) in the later stage. With the synergistic effect of coarse–fine particle gradation, MQD-type fresh backfill can achieve a 161 mm flow spread at 20% replacement. Even if this replacement rate reaches 50%, a strength of 19.87 MPa can still be maintained for 28 days. The good workability and low carbon footprint of MQD-type backfill provide theoretical support for—and technical paths toward—QD recycling and the development of low-carbon building materials.