British Columbia Mine Reclamation Symposium

Sullivan Mine waste dump characterization, part 1 Dawson, Bruce B.; Kuit, Walter J.; Phillip, Mark; Thomson, David

Abstract

The control of respiration by air temperature at the No. 1 Waste Dump at the Teck Cominco Sullivan Mine near Kimberley, British Columbia, Canada has been extensively documented. Respiration flow reverses, with pore gas exiting along the dump toe whenever the atmospheric air temperature is above approximately 12°C. A respiration flow reversal has not been observed at the nearby North Dump. To investigate the respiration differences, push-in piezometers and automated water content and soil temperature sensors have been installed at both waste rock dumps. In addition, both sites were examined with geophysical resistivity surveys, which showed the No.1 Dump to be very heterogeneous. Additional characterization of the No. 1 Dump was conducted in May 2008 to understand the heterogeneities and how they may influence dump respiration: an additional fourteen boreholes were drilled and instrumented and five additional push-in piezometers were installed in the No. 1 Dump. This paper summarizes data to compare the No.1 and North Dumps. Furthermore, the results of the No. 1 Dump characterization program will be analyzed and discussed, which reveal a dump of material segregated by pore size that in its entirety is highly permeable and facilitates respiration air flow. Key words: waste dump, respiration, differential pressure, pore gas

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