Resource Center

Podcasts

Changing the View of Mining Procurement from Cost to Benefit

Nancy Duquet-Harvey has a keen sense of the effects water management plans and strategies will have upon the mine permitting process. In this podcast, Nancy, the Environmental Coordinator at Aurico Gold, discusses;

• Effective operational and environmental initiatives
• Understanding the effects water management has on permitting
• Environmental impacts of water management

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Dear Approving Manager
Present your approving manager with this letter detailing the specific reasons why you should attend the 2nd Water Management in Mining event and you will not be denied!
Past Attendee Snapshot
Interested in attending the Water Management in Mining Summit? Take a look at the list of past attendees broken down by job title and company.

Presentations & Videos

Reliable Permitting for Water in New Mines
Properly planned and operated, sustainable mining can provide greater efficiencies and improve overall operations while complying with regulatory agencies and the needs of ‘neighbors.’

This keynote presentation by Adrian Brown, P.E., International Mine Water Association, will focus on the challenges, regulatory frameworks and strategies required to reliably permit the water management aspects of new mining operations:

• Comprehend the permitting framework for new mines
• Perform reliable and transparent investigations and evaluations of mine water impacts
• Design mining operations to reliably limit expected and potential impacts to water
• Design contingency plans for all possible upsets
• Lead in long-term water management sustainability
Mining Influenced Waters: Their Chemistry & Treatment

Tom Wildeman of the Colorado School of Mines not only details the treatment objectives of Mining Influenced Waters, he also outlines methods for removal in this past presentation. Mining Influenced Water is any water whose chemical composition has been affected by mining or mineral processing activities. Acid Rock Drainage is a MIW that has mineral acidity; the Passive Treatment of which utilizes common geochemical reactions typically assisted by microbes or plants; does not require the addition of chemical reagents, power and/or short term exchange of process media, and functions without human intervention for long periods.
Abandoned and Inactive Mines: Reclamation, Acid Rock Drainage and Water Usage
The environmental characterization necessary to evaluate feasibility of source control remedies is discussed in this presentation with Mike Wireman of the U.S. EPA and Bruce Stover of Colorado DRMS. The funding and operation of large, electric-powered treatment plants are constrained by funding and long-term operation and ownership issues. As a result, in recent years there has been increasing applied research related to the feasibility of source control measures to mitigate impacts from discharging AMD.
Spatially Detailed Mass-Loading Studies-A Technique to Characterize Pre-Mining Water Quality
You will find detailed mass-loading studies – including theory and field procedures – data analysis with simple, spreadsheet calculations and solute-transport modeling – as well as case studies and decision making efforts to mitigate, remediate and document in the past presentation with Katie Walton-Day, a Research Hydrologist at USGS Colorado Water Science Center. Katie is returning as a member of the speaker faculty for the 2nd Water Management in Mining Summit.

Articles

Rio Tinto's Mine Water Management And What You Can Learn
For mine sites in Africa, a dry continent, water is a critical issue to production and operations. The scarcity of water not only means mining companies need to ensure water supply, it also affects the way mines use water. Courtesy of Mining IQ.
Water Management Within the Mining Industry: An Update on the Challenges
Our planet is facing a real crisis in water resources. Climate change and population increases are changing the balance of supply and demand. According to predictions, by 2030 the world's population will be over 8.1 billion. Since 1950, the need for water has tripled and it will double again by 2050.

It is water management that is emerging as the pre-eminent sustainability issue within the global energy and mining resource industries. With water being the most important resource in all mining and quarrying developments and operations, it can be used and abused.
Waste and Contaminated Water Management in Mining
Water Management has been of utmost importance for many mining operations and companies. In this exclusive interview with Sue Aitken, the Manager Mining Services and Senior Geotechnical at Beca, she spoke with Mining IQ about sustainable water use in mine sites and how companies can ensure waste and contaminated water are dealt with appropriately.
Miners Still Lack Effective Water Management
Although water has long been recognized as a critical commodity in mining, many mining companies still do not have effective or sustainable water management practices.

Dr. Venkata Kambala, Head of Research and Development at Hudsons Resource in Australia said sustainable water management in mine sites is at a critical point and can no longer be ignored. In his role, Dr. Kambala helps resource companies develop new water and waste water treatment solutions.

Whitepapers

Improving the Performance of Mining Infrastructure through the Judicious Use of Geosynthetics
The use of geosynthetics within the mining industry is not as extensive as within some other industries, such as the hazardous and municipal solid waste industries. However, in certain, very specific applications, the volumes used can be very large, such as in the lining of heap leach pads.

This particular application provides two conditions of extreme loading for geosynthetics: extremely large normal loads and severe chemical exposure. The performance of geomembranes in these applications could be useful indicators of likely success in other applications.
Water Issues Related to Mining
Water management is a critical issue at most mine sites around the world. At many mining locations, there is too much water and at some there is too little. Past mining operations ahve often impacted surface water and groundwater resources at the mine sites and can have more far-reaching implications to local communities and downstream sources.

Significant water-quality impacts can result from exposure and weathering of waste rock and tailings stored at the ground surface and rock in under-ground mines. Acid mine drainage and elevated levels of trace metals can greatly impair aquatic ecosystems.
Geo Environmental Applications of Geosynthetics
The Keynote Lecture focuses on the use of geosynthetics for geoenvironmental applications that are linked with landfills, mining applications and ponds for environmenetal protection.

This whitepaper abstract gives insight into the different applications and the corresponding design theories, regulations and standardization when appropriate, from all over the world.
Dry Stack Tailings - Design Considerations
Filtered tailings can be a viable option for managing tailings disposal at mines. Some of the advantages of filtered tailings include:

1. Reduction in water consumption, as more process water can be recycled

2. The filtered tailings can often be stacked (often referred to as dry stack tailings) to reduce the footprint for the tailings storage

3. The dry stack tailings can often be reclaimed concurrent with placement, thereby reducing reclamation costs
Underground Bulkhead Construction for Mine Discharge Control at Hardrock AML Sites
Reclamation of abandoned or inactive hardrock mine sites on public and private land in the western U.S. often involves developing a strategy for dealing with acid rock drainage (ARD) discharges. At many sites, there is no remaining reclamation responsiblity or viable potentially responsibile parties associated with the past mining operation.

With continued NGO watershed stakeholder groups and local and state governments are often reluctant or unable to implement ARD treatment to help clean up pollution problems they didn't create, even though they may have the funding and desire to do so.