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    Boliden’s recycled tailings backfill at Maurliden: closure design notes for engineers

    November 3, 2026|

    Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

    First reported on International Mining – News

    30 Second Briefing

    Boliden is shifting Maurliden’s open-pit reclamation to a paste backfill method using recycled tailings sand, replacing conventional waste rock infill at the zinc–silver–gold operation closed in 2019. Paste will be produced from existing tailings deposits and pumped into the pits to improve long-term geotechnical stability and reduce the footprint of surface tailings storage. For mine closure planners, the project signals growing interest in integrated tailings re-use, in-pit deposition and reduced reliance on new borrow materials for backfill.

    Technical Brief

    • Hydraulic transport of paste demands controlled rheology to ensure flow while preventing segregation or pipeline blockages.
    • Reclamation sequencing must coordinate paste placement with progressive capping, drainage and long-term water management.
    • Geotechnical design will need to verify paste strength gain, settlement behaviour and long-term erosion resistance.
    • Chemical stability of sulphide-bearing tailings in a cemented paste matrix becomes a key ARD control mechanism.

    Our Take

    Boliden’s work at Maurliden sits alongside more growth-focused moves in our database, such as its planned acquisition of Nexa Resources, signalling a strategy that couples portfolio expansion in zinc and polymetallic assets with visible closure and reclamation performance at legacy sites.

    The Maurliden closure (operations 2000–2019) gives Boliden a relatively recent test bed for re-using tailings in backfill, which could inform how it manages large underground operations like Garpenberg where abrasive slurry handling and paste-like materials are already central to the mining method.

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    Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.

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