Design of a Co-disposal Facility for Thickened Tailings and Potentially Acid-generating Waste Rock
Authors: Patrick Williamson1, Wilson Muir2
Conference: Tailings and Mine Waste 2024
Date: November 10-13, 2024
1 INTERA Inc., USA
2 Knight Piésold Ltd., Canada
ABSTRACT
Environmental and geotechnical risks and impacts from surface disposal of mine waste are increasingly becoming a source of concern for regulators, investors, operators, and communities within the potential area of influence of mining operations. Waste disposal strategies should implement the Best Available Technology and Best Available Practice for waste management, while considering specifics of the local topography, climate, foundation conditions, construction materials, and waste characteristics. The Alacrán Cu-Au-Ag Mine Project (the Project) in northwestern Colombia will need to manage potentially acid generating waste rock during mining. The steep, rolling terrain limits disposal site options, and water management is challenging, with approximately 3 m of rain annually. Minimizing water in tailings storage facilities and reducing waste rock exposure to atmospheric oxygen and precipitation are common challenges at many mine projects. One emerging technology addressing both issues is co-disposal, which combines tailings and waste rock in a single engineered storage facility.
Co-disposal was selected as the preferred waste management strategy for the Project after multiple investigations. This waste management strategy will create a low-permeability waste deposit, reduce foundation seepage, and centralize the storage of all mining and processing waste. Co-disposal, in places where suitable, may reduce environmental risks and impacts, improve public perception, and lower costs and timelines for mining projects. Multiple lines of investigation are necessary for the effective design of a co-disposal waste management facility.
Download the full paper.