Disintegration characteristics of red clay-tungsten tailings mixtures improved with guar gum and xanthan gum.

To mitigate disintegration of red clay-tungsten tailings mixed soil, xanthan gum and guar gum were used as amendments. Specimens with varying biopolymer contents were tested under moisture contents of 15%, 18%, and 21% and curing times of 0-28 d. Low-field NMR, FTIR, and SEM were applied to reveal pore-water states, chemical interactions, and fabric evolution. Relative to untreated soil, complete disintegration time rose by 66.7%, 82.1%, and 200.2% for XG contents of 0.5%, 0.75%, and 1.0%, respectively. With GG content ≥ 0.5%, the cumulative disintegration ratio remained below 100% during the test. Increasing moisture from 15% to 18% and 21% prolonged disintegration of untreated soil by 24.6% and 86.3%, while sharply decreasing cumulative disintegration in amended soils: at 1% GG, 67.9% fell to 6.4% and 0.59%; at 1% XG, 100% fell to 15.1% and 3.98%. Curing further reduced cumulative disintegration, particularly for GG-treated specimens. Mechanistic analyses revealed that xanthan gum interacts via hydrogen bonding and ionic coordination, while guar gum mainly forms hydrogen bonds with partial ionic interactions; both form hydrogel networks that coat particles, bridge aggregates, and reduce pore sizes. These findings provide practical guidance for in-situ stabilization of fine-grained tailings, demonstrating that biopolymer treatment can improve pond cover durability, mitigate water-induced erosion, and enable partial resource reutilization of tungsten tailings.