Closure Through a Process of Collaboration - Suggestions as to How Mining Companies and Contractors Can Work Together to Make Closure Processes Successful

Haymont, Rory; Clements, Emily; Lacy, Harley

doi:10.36487/acg_repo/802_21

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…This team facilitates the delivery of Newmont's closure standards throughout Newmont's Australasian operations. As described in Haymont et al (2008) successful closure and rehabilitation can be achieved by attracting personnel with a range of relevant skills and knowledge. This can be achieved by developing specialist teams within companies and utilising specialist contractors to carry out closure and rehabilitation works.…”

Section: Teamworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resolving challenges in tailings closure in semi-arid deserts — a case study into the decommissioning and rehabilitation of the Tanami Mine Three Cell tailings storage facility

Pang¹,

Lacy²,

Haymont³

et al. 2009

Proceedings of the International Conference on Mine Closure

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Tanami Mine, located within the Tanami Desert of the Northern Territory, approximately 670 km northwest of Alice Springs, is one of the most remote mine sites in Australia. The site comprises 45 open pits, eight backfilled pits, 11 in-pit tailing storage facilities (TSF), 24 waste rock landforms, two above ground TSF, a processing plant and on-site village accommodation scattered over 70 km in length.The mine site, including TSF, has been subject to a systematic closure process over the last five years. The large Three Cell above ground paddock style TSF was seen by previous mine closure planners as a major challenge to rehabilitate, and accordingly had attracted the largest portion of the closure budget. Deposition of tailings into the TSF occurred between 1992 and 2001, and from this time the cells were allowed to dry and consolidate. The decommissioning process for the facility began in 2004, and a staged and logical approach was employed. Early in the process a review of literature and prior investigations was undertaken to identify gaps in information. The resolution of identified gaps required geochemical investigations for acid base chemistry and multi-elements, surveys of density of deposited tailings, compaction reduction studies through ripping trials with different dozers, ripper depth and configurations, geotechnical assessment of the existing walls, and an extensive upper surface closure option review, followed by a field trial to determine optimum cover designs for rehabilitation and closure.Planning for tailings closure can often be a two to three year process, or longer for more problematic tailings stored in complex facilities, or facilities located on mine sites that have competing resource requirements. At the time of writing this paper, the closure earthworks for the Three Cell TSF were in the final stages, resulting in an active closure process of five years duration. It is expected that by late 2009 all earthworks will be complete and an "as-built decommissioning report" will be prepared. The site will then move into the monitoring phase.The closure of the TSF has not been without challenges and included a one in 910 year annual exceedance probability (AEP) rainfall event which produced large-scale surface water flow and erosion. Other challenges included drought conditions, cold winters, extreme summer temperatures and perceived edaphic difficulties. This paper presents the process employed for the closure of the Three Cell TSF, the investigations, the issues encountered and the final closure strategy.

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Section: Teamworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resolving challenges in tailings closure in semi-arid deserts — a case study into the decommissioning and rehabilitation of the Tanami Mine Three Cell tailings storage facility

Pang¹,

Lacy²,

Haymont³

et al. 2009

Proceedings of the International Conference on Mine Closure

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…An alternative to the situation of closure processes that are often an afterthought and are fraught with difficulty, is to provide good quality planning, preparation and budgeting prior to closure. With robust and tested implementation processes, appropriate review, regular adjustments to design and utilizing a mining fleet of specialist rehabilitation earthmovers, it is likely that a project will stay within original budgets (Haymont et al, 2008b).…”

Section: Closure and Rehabilitation Planning Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They have the opportunity to influence the closure and rehabilitation process in many ways, and a range of skills and knowledge is required. Haymont et al (2008b) proposed that questions, such as those below, should be asked of team members and the team management:…”

Section: Project Teammentioning

confidence: 99%

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Commitment, Experience and Teamwork — The Key to a Successful Mine Closure Works Programme at Tanami Mine Site

Potts¹,

Lacy²

2008

Proceedings of the International Conference on Mine Closure

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Tanami mine site, located in one of the most remote and inhospitable locations of Australia, is undergoing one of the largest mine closure works programmes seen in Australia over the past five years. The mine area and its satellite pits are scattered over an area of 100 km in length and 1800 km 2 within the Tanami Desert of the Northern Territory, approximately 670 km north-west of Alice Springs, and is one of the most remote mines in Australia. The majority of the project area occurs within the Central Desert Aboriginal Land Trust, administered by the Central Land Council (CLC).The site is a historic mining area which was mined for gold from the early 1900s and, most recently, from the mid 1980s, up until 2004. The site comprises 45 open pits, eight backfilled pits, 11 in-pit tailing storage facilities, 24 waste rock landforms, two above-ground tailing storage facilities (TSFs), a processing plant and on-site village accommodation. The site is in the final phase of closure works after five years of investigation work, planning and earthworks. Consultation with local indigenous groups, government departments and other key stakeholders has facilitated a transparent closure process towards the agreed return to traditional land-use. The final land-use objective for the Tanami Mine is for rehabilitation of the mined environment to occur over the long term to promote the establishment of sustainable ecosystems. Following the demonstration of rehabilitation and the achievement of lease relinquishment, the area will be returned to the site's traditional owners for traditional uses.The harsh environmental conditions of cold winters, extreme summer temperatures, highly variable rainfall (from occasional drought to intensive, short duration cyclonic rainfall), frequent wildfires and remoteness are some of the many challenges faced during the closure process. The size of the site and array of landforms, some composed of highly unstable and dispersive waste material, further complicated the closure process. The progress of the Tanami mine closure works programme to date is largely the result of effective interaction between an experienced closure and reclamation team, as well as a committed and engaged workforce. The management team provides leadership in planning, design, execution, environment, safety, community relations and cost control to assist and engage the workforce.https://papers.acg.uwa.edu.au/p/852_35_Potts/

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Closure Through a Process of Collaboration - Suggestions as to How Mining Companies and Contractors Can Work Together to Make Closure Processes Successful

Cited by 2 publications

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Resolving challenges in tailings closure in semi-arid deserts — a case study into the decommissioning and rehabilitation of the Tanami Mine Three Cell tailings storage facility

Resolving challenges in tailings closure in semi-arid deserts — a case study into the decommissioning and rehabilitation of the Tanami Mine Three Cell tailings storage facility

Commitment, Experience and Teamwork — The Key to a Successful Mine Closure Works Programme at Tanami Mine Site

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