Abstract: The steady-state strength and deformation characteristics of saturated tailings play a major role in flow slide of tailings dams.Through the tests，it is fully understood that the steady-state properties of tailings is an important content for dam stability evaluation.Taking a tailing dam of Jiujiang in Jiangxi as the research object，the steady-state properties of saturated tailings were studied by CU test.The results showed that triaxial shear curve of saturated loose tailings has obviously softening characteristic，and softening degree of curve decreases with increasing of confining pressure.Under the same confining pressure，the less the pore is，the more the softening phenomenon is not obvious.The steady line of tailings is established according to the test results，and it is proved that steady-state is inherent property of tailings，namely the steady state line is unique.The steady-state internal friction angle is the effective internal friction angle that tailings deformation ultimately can utilize，and then the value of internal friction angle is calculated.

Key words: Tailings, Triaxial tests, Steady-state properties, Steady-state line, Steady-state internal friction angle