One-part geopolymers from mining residues – Effect of thermal treatment on three different tailings

[Display omitted] •Phosphate, kaolinite and lithium tailings were thermally treated at 750 °C and 900 °C.•Mineralogical characterization is an important identifier for treatment on tailings.•Phosphate and kaolinite tailings responded positively for calcination at 750 °C.•One-part alkali activation approach was successfully applied to the mine tailings.•Thermal treatment improved the strength properties of alkali activated tailings. Use of mine tailings as an aluminosilicate precursor in alkali activation is becoming an interesting alternative to manage the high-volume of waste generated from mining industries. However, very few tailings have so far been studied for their mineralogical properties and alkali activation potential. This study aims at understanding the ability of mine tailings from phosphate, kaolinite and lithium mines for their efficient participation in alkali activation. Biotite, muscovite, kaolinite, albite, and quartz were found to be the major minerals present in them. The impact of variation in mineralogy on silica and alumina solubility of these tailings was analyzed. The solubility was found to be high in impure kaolinite compared to the other two. Effectiveness of thermal treatment (750 °C and 900 °C) on improving the reactivity of these tailings in alkaline condition was also investigated. It was observed from the results that the effect of thermal treatment on the crystalline structure and solubility of an aluminosilicate material mainly depends on the mineral structure of the material, as well as the treatment temperature. Interestingly, thermal treatment reduced the solubility of lithium tailings with albite and quartz mineral. Effort has been made to relate the strength attained by alkali activation of mine tailings to their solubility values. However, despite of the higher solubility offered by impure kaolinite, phosphate tailings gives the maximum strength improvement by 62%. This can be due to the presence of calcium compounds in phosphate tailings that resulted in additional hydration products.