Mount Isa Mines Rehabilitation Materials Sampling and Analysis
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Mount Isa Mines Rehabilitation Material Sampling and Analysis Program for Closure Planning Matt Landers1, Greg Maddocks1, Candice Nucifora2, Kristian Mandaran2, Jason Jones2, Amanda Forbes3, Ward Wilson4, Steven Newman5 1RGS Environmental Pty Ltd, PO Box 3091, Sunnybank South, Queensland, Australia, 4109, [email protected] 2Mount Isa Mines, Glencore Pty Ltd, Australia 3Deswik Mining Consultants Pty Ltd, Level 22, Riparian Plaza, 71 Eagle St, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia 4Unsaturated Soils Engineering Ltd., 960 Massey Court NW, Edmonton, AB, Canada, T6R 3S8 5Newman Engineering Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia Abstract Glencore’s Mount Isa Mines Limited (MIM) has completed the second phase of the rehabilitation materials sampling and analysis plan (RMSaAP) to identify and quan- tify potential materials that can be used to rehabilitate the large tailings storage facility (TSF) with an earthen cover system sourced from adjoining hills. Samples, collected from a test pit/ drilling program, were analysed to evaluate chemical/ physical proper- ties of regolith within major rock/ soil types. Results were used with Deswik so ware to develop a stratigraphic 3-D overburden model to delineate rehabilitation borrow sourc- es and schedule the TSF cover placement, and to undertake unsaturated zone modelling to evaluate the cover performance. Keywords: Soil Cover | Deswik | Mount Isa Mines | Rehabilitation | TSF | AMD | Mine planning Introduction period of weathering, as ANC is depleted, the Glencore’s Mount Isa Mines Limited (MIM) neutral pH drainage may contain elevated operates the Mount Isa open cut and under- concentrations of some elements including ground copper (Cu) and zinc-lead (Zn/Pb) sulfate, manganese and zinc. Only when the mines near Mount Isa in Queensland, Aus- ANC is depleted would the tailings then be- tralia. Tailings from processed Cu and Zn-Pb gin to produce acid drainage. ore is contained in a 1,315 ha shallow (< 35 e main environmental risks posed by m deep) multi-cell valley ll tailings storage the tailings are the potential for (i) the physi- facility (TSF). cal movement of tailings or sur cial e ores- Static geochemical testing conducted by cent salts by aeolian processes, and (ii) the MIM over the life of mine (LoM) veri es that release of acid, major ions, metals and metal- the Cu, and Zn-Pb tailings have variable sul- loids from the tailings solids and the perco- de content and diverse mineralogy with sig- lation of these elements in solution into and ni cant acid neutralising capacity (ANC) in through the surrounding regolith, and to a some samples. e tailings are predominantly lesser degree through the tailings that may re- classi ed as potentially acid forming (PAF) sult in surface seeps, percolation to basement using static analytical methods. Kinetic leach regolith below the TSF and/or deeper perco- testing using free draining columns and hu- lation to bedrock. It is assumed tailings solids midity cell tests simulating tailings placed on and solutes would not be released from the the surface of the TSF suggest that the tailings TSF in surface water as the TSF is designed samples are likely to remain non-acid form- with su cient storage capacity. ing (NAF) for ≈7 years under aerial exposure, e overall management goal for the TSF and much longer than this under anoxic satu- is to maintain ongoing tailings deposition on rated conditions within the TSF. During this the tailings beach and then implement reha- Wolkersdorfer, Ch.; Sartz, L.; Weber, A.; Burgess, J.; Tremblay, G. (Editors) 21 01_Mining for closure BOOK.indb 21 9/3/18 10:22 AM 11th ICARD | IMWA | MWD Conference – “Risk to Opportunity” bilitation strategies a er the nal placement A soil horizons for each test pit, and select in- of tailings before sur cial ANC is depleted tervals from the core. in the tailings. is management approach e geochemical analytical methods in- should ensure that potential adverse envi- cluded continual downhole hyperspectral ronmental impacts are minimised as the PAF mineralogy by HyLoggerTM, pH/ EC, NAPP, tailings will continue to produce neutral pH CEC/ ESP, metal(loid)s analysis and nutrient drainage. In practice the decommissioning and organic carbon content. Physical analyti- and rehabilitation of the TSF will occur pro- cal methods included texture, porosity, den- gressively as TSF cells reach maximum design sity, particle-size-distribution (PSD), point storage capacity. load and abrasion testing, Emerson aggregate erefore, the current rehabilitation ob- analysis, Atterberg limits, hydraulic conduc- jectives for the TSF are to cover the tailings tivity and soil water characteristic curves. with an earthen cover system which is (i) safe e results from physical testing (parti- to humans and wildlife (ii) non-polluting (iii) cle-size-distribution, soil water characteris- stable, and (iv) able to sustain native vegeta- tic curves [SWCC] and saturated hydraulic tion. e earthen cover system design cur- conductivity) for the material types within rently proposed for the TSF comprise the the borrow areas were used to undertake - placement of a 1.5 m thick geochemically in- niteelement unsaturated ow modelling us- ert borrow material layer directly on the tail- ing SEEP/W (formerly VADOSE/W) (GEO- ings with a 0.5 m growth media layer overly- SLOPE International, 2016; GEO-SLOPE ing the borrow material. International, 2008a, b). e SWCC used in the modelling were corrected for particle Methods size according to the Bouwer-Rice correc- To achieve the rehabilitation objectives, MIM tion procedure (Bouwer and Rice, 1984) and is implementing a progressive RMSaAP. e tted with the equation by Van Genuchten work described in this study (Phase 2 of the (1980). e hydraulic conductivity function RMSaAP) aims to identify and quantify the (suction [kPa] versus hydraulic conductivity potential materials that can be used for re- [m/s]) was estimated using the measured ksat habilitation and landform design at MIM: and extrapolated using the Fredlund method at a broad scale within the project area. e (Fredlund et al., 1994). A two-dimensional earthen cover system requires soil and rego- (2-D) slice through the TSF with overlying lith to be sourced from adjoining hills that cover system, including growth medium (Fig. include volcanic, sedimentary and metamor- 1), was simulated under transient conditions. phic units overlain by ferrosol, rudosol and e models comprise a climatic ux-bound- chromosol soil pro les. A test pit and drilling ary on the surface which allows true climatic program was undertaken to collect samples conditions to be applied (rainfall, evapora- to (i) evaluate the variability of the chemical tion and evapotranspiration), with several and physical properties of the regolith within ux boundaries within each cover layer (and the major rock and soil types, and (ii) estab- within the tailings) to determine in ltration lish the depth and degree of weathering in (and capillary rise) rates. Since the tailings the hills (iii) used as input to numerical un- are de-watered there is no water table within saturated zone modelling to evaluate prob- the TSF; therefore, the lower boundary con- able cover performance (iv) map-out poten- dition of the models was simulated with unit tial borrow areas (shallow areas to strip soil) hydraulic gradient. Similarly, lateral inter ow and borrow pits to mine deeper regolith, and of water above the tailings was allowed to exit (v) to schedule the movement of the soil and the model via seepage face. As part of the as- regolith onto the TSF. sessment, the cover material thickness and e drilling and test pit program included texture were varied, and runo and in ltra- 30 test pits and ve PQ diamond core drill tion values provided as performance indica- holes placed within each of the major mate- tors. rial types or potential borrow areas. Samples Deswik.CAD so ware (Deswik.CAD were collected (nominally) from the O, E and v2017.2) was used to develop a concept level 22 Wolkersdorfer, Ch.; Sartz, L.; Weber, A.; Burgess, J.; Tremblay, G. (Editors) 01_Mining for closure BOOK.indb 22 9/3/18 10:22 AM 11th ICARD | IMWA | MWD Conference – “Risk to Opportunity” rial for rehabilitation, and no substantial dif- ferences in the pH, EC, NAPP or metal(loid) content in topsoil (0 to 0.5 m bgl), subsoil (0.5 to 2.0 m bgl) or deeper soil and regolith below 2.0 m. ere may be issues in the soil cover sys- tem relating to chemical imbalances (e.g. CEC) and biological aspects such as nutrient de ciencies, particularly if the upper topsoil layer is diluted with subsoil. Samples that were composited prior to analysis had the fol- lowing results: • Soil from 0.to 0.5 m bgl had the follow- ing averages pH 6, EC 45 µS/cm, CEC 5.4 meq/100g, ESP 0.5%, TKN 197 mg/kg, Bray P 2.2 mg/kg and TOC 1,283 mg/kg. • Soil from 0.5 m to 3 m bgl had the follow- ing averages pH 7.5, EC 62 µS/cm, CEC 4.9 meq/100g, ESP 0.3%, TKN 78 mg/kg, Bray P 0.8 mg/kg and TOC 766 mg/kg. • Regolith > 3 m bgl had the following averages pH 8.3, EC 53 µS/cm, CEC 1.3 meq/100g, ESP 0% (n=7) and 25% (n=1), TKN was BDL, Bray P was BDL and TOC Figure 1 VADOSE/W model geometry and mesh. was BDL (n=7) and 400 mg/kg (n=1). From the perspective of the physical material stratigraphic 3-D overburden model incor- properties, the surface material in all borrow porating a 2 m deep soil pro le and underly- areas is mostly non-dispersive and is domi- ing regolith. Mining of soil and regolith from nated by material with low clay content.