The Wassa Gold Mine is located near the village of Akyempim, Wassa District in the Western Region of Ghana, some 260 km from Accra. The former heap leach pad, now known as tailings storage facility 1 (TSF 1) extension, is bounded to the south, east and north by natural hills and to the west by a coffer dam, separating TSF 1 from TSF 1 extension.
The TSF 1 extension basin floors and walls were lined entirely with HDPE geomembrane to reduce the likelihood of contaminants seeping into the environment. A comprehensive drainage and water management system was constructed, including:
Knight Piésold conducted detailed design incorporating the former heap leach pad area into TSF 1 extension and provided a resident civil construction engineer to carry out the field engineering and supervise the earthworks soils laboratory, field testing, and the HDPE geomembrane liner installation. Other services included: