Waste Rock Dump Stability

Mining produces waste rock dumps and voids which need to be rehabilitated in a cost-effective manner to ensure that they are safe and environmentally acceptable. Waste rock is expensive to move, and final landforms should be constructed as an integral part of mine design to optimise operations throughout the life of the mine. The critical values of topographic and substrate parameters necessary to achieve site stability are not known with any degree of certainty for some mining operations.

The objective of this program is to provide a sound technical and cost-effective basis for selection and design of the optimum final rehabilitated landform for mines situated in diverse climates and with varying geomorphologies.

Completed Projects

Identification and Management of Dispersive Mine Spoils

Risk Management Strategies for the Surrender of Open-Cut Coal Mine Spoil Areas in the Bowen Basin Coalfields

Validation of a Risk Assessment Model for Tunnel Erosion on Waste Rock Dumps

Identification and Management of Dispersive Mine Spoils

Background

Dispersive spoils are an important cause of waste dump instability, due to large-scale piping failures, extreme unsuitability for revegetation, or relatively localised piping failures of constructed drainage systems. Waste dumps constructed of dispersive spoils are typically unstable for very long periods (often for the life of the dump), representing a significant ongoing cost for repair that is typically ineffective.

Dispersive materials occur in a number of mining areas, with well-known examples including the dispersive Tertiary spoil common through the central Queensland coal fields, and highly sodic paleochannel clays through the West Australian goldfields.

Despite a plethora of research on measurement of dispersion, attempts to relate dispersion measurements to erosion potential are relatively few, typically dealing with erosion processes of limited field relevance. None have considered potential for tunnel erosion, and current tests of dispersion have poor ability to predict erodibility.

Objectives

Outcomes

Develop, for mine sites with dispersible soils and spoils, procedures to improve the identification and management of these materials.

Methodology

Procedures for identification of dispersive spoils which can preferably be applied to drill core samples; Methods for prediction of potential erosion risks for various degrees of dispersion; Recommendations for placement of dispersive materials so that waste dump stability is not compromised; and Recommendations for management of existing dumps of dispersive materials

Project Team

Evaluate erosion mechanisms on dispersive materials, to obtain a realistic measure of erodibility of a range of materials of varying properties and dispersion, and to develop methods of assessing erosion risk; Evaluate methods for measuring dispersion, and the identification and/or development of a method that correlates strongly with field and laboratory measured erodibility and erosion risk; Investigate methods for dealing with dispersive materials, including design/construction of new waste rock dumps, and stabilising existing dumps; and Determine the microstructural, mineralogical and physico-chemical properties of dispersive materials.

Project Duration

Dr Rob Loch (Landloch Pty Ltd) (Project Leader) Dr Steve Raine (University of Southern Queensland) Prof Bob Gilkes (University of Western Australia) Assoc Prof David Williams (University of Queensland)

2002 - 2004

Project Sponsors

Project Report

Australian Premium Coals Pty Ltd Newcrest Mining Limited Newmont Australia Limited St Ives Gold Mine Co Pty Ltd Resolute Mining Limited

Final Report Dispersive Spoils Report June 2004

Risk Management Strategies for the Surrender of Open-Cut Coal Mine Spoil Areas in the Bowen Basin Coalfields

The economic component of this project was undertaken by a University of Queensland postgraduate student, Assoc Prof Barry Golding, who was supported by a postgraduate scholarship made available by ACMER through the Queensland Coal Mine Rehabilitation Fund. This component addressed the cost-effectiveness of rehabilitated mined land in the Bowen Basin.

Waste Dumps and Haul Roads

Effective design, operation and maintenance of waste dumps, tailings disposal areas and haul roads is critical to efficient mining operations. Unfortunately these are facets sometimes given less attention than they deserve, which can lead to expensive failures. Waste dumps often constitute two quite different issues, namely:

Stability and safe tipping operations, and Generation of contaminated runoff, particularly acid drainage.

While assessment of waste dump stability involves well established geotechnical design methods, the real difficulty arises in assessing appropriate design shear strength parameters for the waste materials and dump foundations. Two recent examples illustrate these issues.

Ernst Henry Mine, Queensland

The mine is in an area of flat terrain comprising a surface layer of overconsolidated, reactive, fissured clays. The pancake dumps are constructed in 15m lifts and the question is: to what height can they be built? The key issue is the shear strength of the fissured clays and to this end, use was made of monitored dump failures on fissured clay foundations published by Blight in 1969. Finite element modelling confirmed simple design equations for use in future dump management.

Griffin Coal Mining Company, WA

The issue at Griffin was that waste dump heights were notionally restricted to 30m by statutory guidelines, but the mine wanted to create 250m high in pit dumps. The key issue is the shear strength of the waste material, which includes rock fragments of a tonne or more, and is therefore not amenable to normal laboratory testing. There is also the issue of the appropriate density to use for determining design shear strengths. The procedure adopted involved the use of laboratory shear strengths of the fines component of the waste couple with back analysis of existing dump performance. Individual dump heights over 120m have been successfully operated.

The control of acid mine drainage is a substantial issue in many modern mining operations. At the Kelian Gold Mine in East Kalimantan, PSM was responsible for designing the Nakan dam which stores 40 million tonnes of potentially acid producing waste rock under water. The main embankment is 126m high and the saddle dam is 76m high. The facility had to be designed with a variable level decant structure so that the reservoir could be gradually filled with water to cover the rising level of waste. At the Cadia Mine in NSW, potentially acid generating waste is encapsulated in low permeability clay layers. PSM were responsible for developing method specifications for the clay encapsulation layers and for developing a field measurement procedure for assessing the permeabilities of these layers. This procedure made use of a Guelph Permeameter, which is now operated by the mine on a routine basis. The design and construction of mine haul roads is often left to mine personnel to develop on an ad hoc basis, sometimes successfully and sometimes not. Rio Tinto commissioned PSM to develop materials evaluation and pavement design procedures, and design guidelines for hydraulic structures such as drains and culverts. The project included climatic areas from frozen ground in Canada to swamp areas in Borneo. The final version of the new Rio Tinto Haul Road Manual was published in early 2003.

Good quality haul road - Hunter Valley Coal Operations, NSW

Lihir Kapit Pit Geotechnical Investigation

PSM provides ongoing specialist geotechnical advice to Newcrests Lihir Gold Mine in the New Ireland province of PNG. PSM is currently undertaking pit slope design studies for the expansion of mining into the Kapit ore body which is adjacent to the coast line in the mouth of the Louise Caldera. The studies are unusually challenging due to the coincidence of complex and variable volcanic geology, high pore pressures caused by a combination of groundwater and geothermal steam, a large landslide and seismicity. Added to this, a cofferdam is sited along the coastal side of the pit to retain the ocean. PSM employed a number of innovative technical approaches to deliver successful designs in these challenging conditions.