A gold–silver mine located in Latin America has been operational for over 20 years, following a gold vein deposit by developing a series of longitudinal pits and underground operations. A single tailings storage facility (TSF) has been operational since the commissioning of the process.
In accordance with the latest production schedule, a 3-year expansion in the Life of Mine (LOM) was defined, more than the available capacity to store tailings under the current TSF configuration.
With the objective of guaranteeing continuous tailings deposition, a trade-off study (TOS) was requested to analyse the preferred expansion alternative to achieve the required storage capacity. In order to best complete this objective, a broader option identification stage was performed.
Technical development and assessment of alternatives was developed with the mine and corporate personnel to define the preferred alternative. Given its likely impact in the decision-making, several aspects (e.g., design, construction, operation, potential for further expansions and closure) were considered during the analysis. Geotechnical, geochemistry, hydrological and hydrogeological aspects were considered with the final goal of enhancing the project value, focusing on sustainability, risk management and economics.
This paper presents the workstream, designs, main outcomes of the trade-off study and a proposed path forward. In particular, benefit of providing a preferable option linked to plan, and considering backup plans in alignment with the potential uncertainty range, has shown to be beneficial for decision making and maintain a resilient path forward.
