SME just released the Tailings Management Handbook: A Life-Cycle Approach, a comprehensive resource rooted in the principles of ICMM and GISTM guidance. Edited by Kimberly Finke Morrison, the Senior Director, Global Tailings Management, of Newmont Mining, the manual contains the contributions of more than 100 world-renowned experts and delves into the basics of tailings facilities, including life-cycle planning, site and tailings characterization, design and construction, as well as systems and operations of Tailings Storage Facilities. Three of those contributors were David Hoekstra (SRK Denver), Victor Muñoz (SRK Vancouver), and Tarik Hadj-Hamou (SRK Reno), some of SRK’s principal consulting engineers in climatology, hydrology, water management, and geotechnics.
In chapter 2 of the Tailings Management Handbook, "Influences of Water Management", David Hoekstra and Michael Gabora (FloSolutions) provide a roadmap to developing a water balance to support the design and operation of a tailings storage facility. The chapter provides valuable information on understanding the planning required to develop a water balance, what features, and functionality should be considered, and guidelines for developing the model. The chapter discusses water balance inputs, model structure, and mathematical models to simulate the physical processes in the tailings impoundment, and how to decide what features to include and not include. The chapter also examines how to address climatic inputs developed, as described in the "Climate and Hydrology" chapter, from when to use average values to when probabilistic climate generators that adjust for climate change are appropriate.
In chapter 20, "Climate and Hydrology", Victor Muñoz and David Hoekstra discuss how climate and water, in its natural cycle, interact with tailings infrastructures; because climate and their effect can vary from deserts to permafrost and glaciers. The specific climate demands on the civil structures are wide and different. This chapter highlights these climate considerations to be included on tailings structures from topics related to climate monitoring, inflow design, hydrological models, and hydrological model selection to climate change. The chapter provides clear and current background knowledge to understand what a tailings facility engineer needs to know about climate and hydrology for tailings management, from planning, operations, and through to closure.
In Chapter 31, "Liner Systems", Tarik Hadj-Hamou and his co-authors provide an overview of types of liner systems (single, double or composite) for use at mine waste facilities (tailings storage facility, heap leach pad, and ponds), considerations for design and liner selection, and guidance for installation and construction quality control/quality assurance (CQC/CQA). The different types of material (HDPE, LLDPE, PVC, and bituminous) used in liner systems are described with their advantages and disadvantages. Guidelines for selection of material type are included along with a road map to perform or oversee the selection of optimum systems for the facility under consideration, the design, and set-up of a construction quality assurance program. The chapter also includes an extensive list of references.
Meet with Victor Muñoz at the SRK Booth #2221
Monday: 11AM - 3PM | Tuesday: 1PM - 3PM | Wednesday: 9AM - 11AM
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