During minerals processing, colloidal clay mineral waste tailings are produced as a result of hydrometallurgical activities. Conventional polyacrylamide (PAM) polymer flocculant-assisted dewatering in gravity thickeners lead to fast settling but low to moderate solid content (e.g. 25 -35 wt%) sediments that create significant long-term tailings dam impoundment problems. Whilst thickener technology advancement may produce high settling rates, the resulting flocs are typically not conducive to compact consolidation, even under modest shear/compression conditions. In this study, the influence of interfacial chemistry, shear and unconventional polyethylene oxide (PEO) flocculant on orthokinetic flocculation and consolidation behaviour of 8 wt% talc clay dispersions was investigated at pH 7.5 and 22 ^oC. The dispersions’ flocculation performance was observed to be strongly dependent upon pre-coagulation in the presence of Mg(II) ions (0-10^-2 M), PEO dosage (100-500 g polymer/t solid), molecular weight (MW) (4×10⁶ vs. 8×10⁶ Da), and agitation rate (300-500 rpm). Significant enhancement of supernatant clarity at 10^-2 M Mg(II) and improved settling behaviour was achieved at higher than at lower polymer MW during flocculation. Furthermore, an optimum agitation rate of 400 rpm, reflecting maximum settling behaviour, was observed for 1 dm³ suspensions flocculated with 400 g•t^-1 solid. The flocculated sediment compacted to ~35 ± 2 wt% solid which upon shear at 100 rpm for 10 min, showed a dramatic increase of 12-16 wt% in solid content. PEO dosage and MW, and the agitation rate used in the flocculation stage, however, did not have any noticeable effect on sediment consolidation behaviour.