The design of fine-grained tailing reservoirs requires the determination of their physical, mechanical and hydraulic characteristics to predict both the reservoir filling operation and its reclamation. Once these characteristics are properly determined, moderately realistic tailings behavior prediction, such as its self-weight consolidation, can be obtained from numerical analysis. However, if a simple grain size analysis is not adequately carried out, one can find substantially large discrepancies between the analytical predictions and the actual field behavior. This paper presents results of an extensive laboratory program executed to obtain geotechnical parameters of mining and industrial wastes. Different residues from mining and industrial processing of bauxite were studied. The results of geotechnical characterization tests carried out on all materials are presented and compared. The effects of the testing technique utilized on the geotechnical characterization results are discussed. It is shown that the prediction of the sedimentation/consolidation behavior of these tailings when discharged as slurry using parameters obtained from characterization tests must be done with care.