ICARD-IMWA 2015 is organized to provide an international forum where mining professionals, operators, researchers and suppliers can meet to exchange, interact, analyze and discuss experiences and recent innovations in the area of sound and responsible mine water and effluent management. These proceedings contain 220 abstracts of papers and posters written by authors from 24 countries. The main topics addressed by the abstracts included in these proceedings are: Geomicrobiology, biogeochemical cycles and biomining; Applied mineralogy and geoenvironmental units; Prediction of drainage flow; Prediction of drainage chemistry; Mine water and drainage collection and treatment; Cover design and performance; Scaling from laboratory to field studies; Reliable mine waste management; Reliable mine water operation; Mine dewatering; Mine water management for closure; Mine water geochemistry and Pit lakes.
The closure of mine processing and waste disposal facilities is both a regulated activity and a potential source of corporate liability. All facilities must be designed and operated to satisfy relevant environmental regulations; however the authors' experience in preparation, submittal, defense and obtaining regulatory approval for implementation of closure related activities indicates that few are designed, and even fewer operated to facilitate closure. This paper discusses both the conceptual framework for closure oriented design and operation, and several specific design and operational elements that are key to characterizing closure components, and providing data that can be used to defend closure design and implementation.
In the present study, laboratory experiments were performed to investigate the geotechnical properties of four different tailings, including two iron tailings (coarse and fine) and two copper tailings (coarse and fine).
These guidelines describe the process that must be undertaken when a proponent is considering using a natural water body frequented by fish as a Tailings Impoundment Area (TIA) such that a regulatory amendment to the Metal Mining Effluent Regulations (MMER) would be required. In the context of these guidelines, the term, TIA refers to a natural water body frequented by fish into which deleterious substances (such as tailings, waste rock, low-grade ore, overburden, and any effluent that contains any concentration of the deleterious substances specified in the MMER, and of any pH) are disposed. The requirements for the conduct of alternatives assessments that are presented in Part 2 provide useful guidance for the assessment of all mine waste disposal areas including those developed on land. The overall objective of the alternatives assessment process is to minimize the environmental footprint of the disposal area.
Repository of sources (projects) under the Mineral Resources Program. Objective: Understanding potential and existing environmental impacts of mineral resources and their extraction promotes sustainable development of needed mineral materials and responsible stewardship of our natural resources. Topics include baseline data, bioavailability, deposit models, geochemistry, metal mobility, metals in waste, mine waste, mineral resource formation.
For most of its history, the mining industry in South Africa has not been subjected to comprehensive environmental regulation. In recent years, however, this has changed significantly, and the industry is now required to comply with a complex web of mining and environmental policy and legislation. Despite these regulatory advances, we still grapple with legacy issues, namely how to manage decades of environmental degradation, mining waste and long-term residual and latent impacts and how to equitably and fairly apportion duties, responsibilities and liabilities for the remediation of mining waste. An analysis of the Witwatersrand gold fields and the management of its uraniferous waste provides an excellent example of the complexity of these issues and lessons learnt.
The TAilings and IndustriaL waste ENGineering (TAILENG) Center is a research center dedicated to advancing the state of knowledge and practice in the design of tailings and industrial waste storage facilities. A consortium of four universities work with mine owners and operators to perform fundamental and applied research on mine tailings and industrial waste (e.g., coal ash) to improve the resilience and sustainability of geotechnical infrastructure required to promote safety in the mining and power industries. We educate students and professionals on the state-of-art and state-of-practice related to tailings and industrial waste storage facilities. We engage with mine owners and operators, consulting engineering, regulatory personnel, and interested members of society to discuss important aspects related to mining and industrial waste.
The Tailings and Mine Waste Conference is a conference hosted through the Colorado State University in conjunction with the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering at the University of British Columbia and the University of Alberta on alternating years.. This conference provides a forum for presenting the state-of-art and state-of-practice with respect to mill tailings and mine waste, as well as to discuss current and future issues facing the mining and environmental communities. The conference includes keynote lectures and technical sessions by practitioners and recognized experts in mine waste, with the technical papers presented in the annual proceedings. Proceedings are available electronically for 2009, and 2012-2021.
To meet the growing need for multi-disciplinary training and education, three major universities in the US that are at the core of training and research in mining engineering and mine waste management have combined forces to form the Tailings Center. The Tailings Center will leverage faculty from the three universities and work with industry leaders to develop timely and appropriate training opportunities for practicing professionals and graduate/undergraduate students that have an interest in tailings management.
TAILLIQ is a university-industry research project whose purpose is to help better understand and reduce the risk of mine tailings loss of containment from static liquefaction. The research is being carried out at four Australian universities, with funding providing by the Australian Research Council (ARC) and six international mining companies. The website has been developed to provide project updates and links to publications produced from the research.