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.
ICARD-IMWA 2018 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. The majority of the papers included in the proceedings will deal with mitigation, remediation, and responsible mine water management. The conference aims to be a platform for exchanging ideas and experience from mining operations to remediation of abandoned mine sites in various climatic and cultural conditions.
Planning, operating, monitoring and closing a tailings storage facility (TSF) can present many challenges, especially in dynamic mining environments where site conditions vary spatially and with time. However, big impacts can be made at relatively small cost once the tailings management system, design and performance are well defined and understood. This paper presents various examples of initiatives aimed at achieving the design intent that have been adopted by Rio Tinto Iron Ore, which also reduce risks and improve tailings management performance. Examples presented include development and communication of short-term, long-term and life-of-facility deposition plans, implementation of simple deposition management tools, monitoring and managing slurry density, development and continual oversight of water balance models, and sound investment in water management infrastructure extending to safe performance in emergency situations. Regular governance was also implemented to provide assurance that these controls remain effective.
The new Technical Bulletin: Application of Dam Safety Guidelines to Mining Dams, complements the Dam Safety Guidelines re-published by CDA in 2013 by providing additional explanation of how the concepts described in the guidelines apply to mining dams. The Bulletin identifies some specific issues that should be considered during the design and safety evaluation of both tailings dams and water retention dams used in the mining industry. Available in hard copy only.
Innovation flourishes at the intersection of great challenges meeting compelling solutions. Canada's Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA) is an alliance of oil sands producers focused on accelerating the pace of improvement in environmental performance in Canada's oil sands through collaborative action and innovation. COSIA's membership accounts for over 90% of the oil sands product in Canada. Canada's oil sands producers are competitors and rivals; but they are also partners in a made-in-Canada collaboration model that is helping to redefine, globally, how companies can innovate together, and accelerate solution development to address some of the world's biggest challenges. COSIA companies are working aggressively to accelerate the pace of environmental performance improvement in the oil sands. Canada's oil sands industry is committed to reducing all aspects of its environmental footprint, reclaiming all lands affected by operations, and maintaining biodiversity. To create breakthrough science and technologies, COSIA brings together leading thinkers from industry, government, academia and the public. In addition, COSIA members themselves work together, each sharing considerable in-house expertise, innovation and intellectual property within the alliance, and dedicating substantial funds to COSIA's many environmental performance projects. The unique characteristics of oil sands tailings provide member companies with an opportunity to seek out innovative tailings management and technology solutions for responsible and sustainable growth of this key global energy resource. This keynote address will elaborate on each of the Environmental Priority Areas (EPA), with an emphasis on the Tailings EPA. It will provide the audience with a brief history, achievements, current technical challenges, and opportunities for collaboration to close remaining knowledge and technical gaps to accelerate the pace of environmental performance improvement.
CDA's Annual Conference is a national forum for dam owners and operators, engineers, geoscientists, regulators, and others. Share ideas and knowledge on management, maintenance and design of water dams and mining dams.
In 2012, SIMEC Mining commenced a detailed investigation into changing the way the magnetite tailings storage facility (Mag TSF) operates at the South Middleback Ranges (SMR) to increase water recovery and provide a sustainable cost-base for tailings management. Changes were also necessary to support the Magnetite Expansion Project (MEP) that was destined to be commissioned in October 2013. A feasibility study was performed with Golder Associates to understand the technical and commercial influences and provide a capital estimate for several options. The selected option from the study was a redesign of the current dual discharge TSF to a perimeter discharge, central decant (PDCD) design. Application of Nalco WaterShed polymer at the Big Baron Pit (Verdoornet al. 2018) revealed the technology would greatly assist in the successful conversion of the TSF to a PDCD configuration. Expectation was high that WaterShed polymer treatment would allow greater beach angle control, improved water recovery, and a reduction in surface water pooling across the TSF with water pooling concentrated around the central decant allowing for efficient removal prior to loss via evaporation or seepage. A conceptual design for the polymer tailings dewatering application was developed in collaboration with Nalco Water and dosing commenced in October 2013. Due to unknown risks associated with dewatering magnetite tailings, the project was split into two stages, namely, phase 1: a proof of concept trial to establish the applicability of Watershed on the magnetite tailings prior to commissioning of MEP; and phase 2: fully operationalise the PDCD configuration. Golder was engaged to develop a life-of-mine plan for the TSF at SMR that could be safely operated to a planned final height of RL 199 m. Throughout 2013 and 2014, design and construction occurred to convert the Mag TSF to a PDCD facility. A master plan was developed to manage tailings storage for five years from March 2014, referred to as the First 5 Year Plan. This involved six wall raises that would eventually fill the three voids near the western embankment and bring the height of the TSF to RL 172 m. The civil concept selected was based on an alternatives assessment that presented three options. SIMEC Mining chose the lowest cost approach of filling the voids with WaterShed polymer treated tailings to provide a base for 3 m wall raises upstream. Strict deposition and water recovery models were followed to ensure sufficient dewatering and the subsequent drying of the tailings layers. There was also extensive test work completed prior to each of the individual embankment raises to ensure that the dewatered tailings had the appropriate density and strength properties to support the raises before commencing with the lifts. During the first five years of operation, water recovery was around 60% and the volume utilisation was in line with the deposition model. The high percentage of water recovered enabled the processing plant to reach its new design capability, reduce significant downtime due to water availability and provide the mining operations with sufficient water for dust suppression. The second five-year plan is currently being finalised and progress is consistent with the tailings deposition and the dewatering model.
This paper presents a case study on the design of a thickened tailings storage facility (TSF) for a proposed open pit copper mine at Dareh Alou, Iran. Dareh Alou mine is a new copper mine owned by National Iranian Copper Company (NICICO). It is located in the Kerman Province of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The nominal production rate is 7 Mtpa for a life-of-mine (LOM) of 25 years. Planning was undertaken for the accommodation of a total of 175 Mt of tailings. The Dareh Alou mine site is located on a sloping side of a valley that is surrounded by hills, grading up to steep mountainous terrain. Since this is a greenfield project the location of the concentrator was selected in conjunction with the tailings deposition options study. Five concentrator locations with various ore transportation options have been investigated together with the tailings and water management study. The result of the study indicated that the best concentrator plant location was at RL 3050 m at approximately 2.5 km from the preferred TSF location. Various tailings and water management options were evaluated, including high rate, high density/high compression, and paste thickeners. These dewatering options were studied alongside the combinations of various TSF and thickener locations. The outcome of the options study indicates that if the price of make-up water is not included in the analyses, the preferred option is utilisation of high rate thickeners. However, after inclusion of make-up water at a rate of USD 1/m3, the preferred option would be the utilisation of high density/high compression thickeners. In this case, the distance between the concentrator and the TSF is such that transportation of un-thickened tailings to thickeners located adjacent to the TSF is the most efficient option. Also, thickening the tailings will provide benefits in reducing the embankment construction cost even though relatively large embankments will be required to close off the valley site.
For structures under the jurisdiction of the USBR, the design standards present clear and concise technical requirements and processes to enable design professionals to prepare design documents and reports necessary to manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public.
Part of an eight volume series, the purpose of this document is to provide practical guidance for gully control including a description of the factors affecting gully formation and a classification of gullies. Control measures include diversions and the specifications for various types of check dams and gully plugs.