Abstract
On October 24, 2007, a slow-moving landslide damaged an active waste rock stockpile and a “downstream” gold heap leach facility. The deep-seated landslide under the waste rock stockpile and heap leach facility involved approximately 35,000 cubic meters of material. The combined failure resulted in permanent shutdown of the open mine after 2 years of operations. The contributing factors to the failure include insufficient investment in geotechnical characterization of the foundation below the waste rock stockpile, disputed interpretations of the complex geomorphology and geologic conditions underlying the site, limited emphasis on the engineering design of the waste rock stockpile, surface water and groundwater management challenges associated within a high rainfall environment and ineffective technical communications within the owner and external project teams.
This paper evaluates the applicability of the observational method relied upon during the design-build process for the waste rock and heap leach facilities at the Bellavista Gold Mine. The paper also explores various governance aspects and engineering design and oversight failures that contributed to the geotechnical failure.
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