Operational and environmental solutions for mine tailings
Water generated by tailings storage facilities typically contains elevated concentrations of sulfates and other regulated constituents, creating challenges for many mine sites. M&A provides services to manage tailings water including designing and implementing monitoring systems that range from traditional well networks to data collection systems installed within impoundments. We also design wellfields and develop pumping strategies to control groundwater impacts associated with tailings.
Capabilities
- Developing water balances using deterministic approaches and stochastic analyses
- Using GoldSim water balance models to predict the tailings pond size and seepage rates under different scenarios
- Characterizing ambient groundwater conditions and impacts from tailings operations
- Designing interceptor wellfields to capture tailings seepage
- Monitoring and analyzing unsaturated/saturated hydrologic conditions within operating impoundments with subsurface sensors and telemetry
- Sampling groundwater, surface water, and soil to ensure regulatory compliance
- Providing support for permitting new tailings facilities and complying with regulatory requirements at planned and operational ones
- Designing mitigation measures for regulatory compliance
