- Library Home /
- Search Collections /
- Open Collections /
- Browse Collections /
- UBC Theses and Dissertations /
- Water and material balance at mine tailings impoundments...
Open Collections
UBC Theses and Dissertations
UBC Theses and Dissertations
Water and material balance at mine tailings impoundments : software program development and risk analysis Estergaard, Andrea Holly
Abstract
Tailings impoundments are commonly used in the mining industry for the disposal and storage of mine wastes including tailings, waste rock and process water. The impoundments often require engineered embankment dams to facilitate containment. Failure of impoundment dams can lead to serious effects downstream due to the release of significant amounts of water and solids. Inadequate water management has been recognized as the primary cause of such failures. Tailings impoundment dam design involves estimating the site water and material balance to design appropriate impoundment structures and material management facilities. The balances are usually conducted using monthly average hydrologic values and output from the balance are the required dam crest elevations during the life of the mine. The "models" that are employed by industry and their consultants to complete these hydrologic budgets are simple and spreadsheet based, using average hydrologic values to predict required monthly dam crest elevations. The lack of flexibility and transparency in these spreadsheet balances has been identified as a problem by mining engineers. A Microsoft Windows based software program written in Visual Basic, Visual Balance, was developed as part of this study. Visual Balance is a fast, simple method of modelling the water and material balance in a single impoundment tailings disposal system and predicting required dam crest elevations. Visual Balance also includes a risk analysis module which predicts probable impoundment operation and closure conditions based on a Monte Carlo simulation of expected precipitation and surface runoff values. Water management problems identified by Visual Balance include insufficient free pond water available for reclaim, inadequate freeboard, uncontrolled release requirements, or tailings solids exposure. Knowledge and anticipation of these challenges could influence tailings impoundment site selection, design, or mine operating conditions. Planning for these conditions in impoundment and facility design could save companies considerable cost and aggravation. The results of the five Case Studies conducted as part of this study emphasized the predictive capabilities of Visual Balance. Monthly dam crest elevations similar to those previously predicted by spreadsheet based balances were modelled for the five Case Studies by Visual Balance. In the two Case Studies where actual operating conditions were available for comparison, insufficient free pond water availability and excess water leading to low freeboards experienced at each site were successfully predicted by Visual Balance.
Item Metadata
Title |
Water and material balance at mine tailings impoundments : software program development and risk analysis
|
Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
|
Date Issued |
1999
|
Description |
Tailings impoundments are commonly used in the mining industry for the disposal and storage
of mine wastes including tailings, waste rock and process water. The impoundments often
require engineered embankment dams to facilitate containment. Failure of impoundment dams
can lead to serious effects downstream due to the release of significant amounts of water and
solids. Inadequate water management has been recognized as the primary cause of such failures.
Tailings impoundment dam design involves estimating the site water and material balance to
design appropriate impoundment structures and material management facilities. The balances
are usually conducted using monthly average hydrologic values and output from the balance are
the required dam crest elevations during the life of the mine.
The "models" that are employed by industry and their consultants to complete these hydrologic
budgets are simple and spreadsheet based, using average hydrologic values to predict required
monthly dam crest elevations. The lack of flexibility and transparency in these spreadsheet
balances has been identified as a problem by mining engineers.
A Microsoft Windows based software program written in Visual Basic, Visual Balance, was
developed as part of this study. Visual Balance is a fast, simple method of modelling the water
and material balance in a single impoundment tailings disposal system and predicting required
dam crest elevations. Visual Balance also includes a risk analysis module which predicts probable impoundment operation and closure conditions based on a Monte Carlo simulation of
expected precipitation and surface runoff values.
Water management problems identified by Visual Balance include insufficient free pond water
available for reclaim, inadequate freeboard, uncontrolled release requirements, or tailings solids
exposure. Knowledge and anticipation of these challenges could influence tailings impoundment
site selection, design, or mine operating conditions. Planning for these conditions in
impoundment and facility design could save companies considerable cost and aggravation.
The results of the five Case Studies conducted as part of this study emphasized the predictive
capabilities of Visual Balance. Monthly dam crest elevations similar to those previously
predicted by spreadsheet based balances were modelled for the five Case Studies by Visual
Balance. In the two Case Studies where actual operating conditions were available for
comparison, insufficient free pond water availability and excess water leading to low freeboards
experienced at each site were successfully predicted by Visual Balance.
|
Extent |
23903426 bytes
|
Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
|
Language |
eng
|
Date Available |
2009-06-15
|
Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
|
Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
|
DOI |
10.14288/1.0050155
|
URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
|
Graduation Date |
1999-05
|
Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
|
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
|
Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.