Mining Waste in Asphalt Pavements: A Critical Review of Waste Rocks and Tailings Applications

This study focuses on the possible use of mining waste, particularly waste rock and tailings, in asphalt pavement construction. The goal is to analyze construction engineering research that centers on the performance of these materials as paving asphalt and to point out the significant gaps that exist in research in this area. A systematic review and a subsequent bibliometric study show a rapid increase in research publications in this area. Performance evaluation studies show that some mining wastes (fillers) of iron and copper tailings can improve the performance of asphalt binders and mixtures at elevated temperatures (rutting resistance) and can make them more resistant to rutting when used as aggregates.

However, adverse effects on a pavement's critical qualities such as its fatigue life, low temperature cracking, and moisture susceptibility are observed to be inconsistent, largely depending on the specific physicochemical properties and quantity of the waste material used. Most of the literature has focused on short-term studies, leaving considerable gaps about the longevity of the material, its life cycle environmental and economic impacts, and the variability of the waste material. This area of study demonstrates the mining waste potential to replace traditional pavement materials, proving that mining waste can be a sustainable resource. There is a significant need for more multi-disciplinary studies to improve the research and support a wider

range of uses.

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