British Columbia Mine Reclamation Symposium

Prediction of acid rock drainage : Red Mountain Project, northwestern British Columbia Frostad, Scott; Klein, Bern; Lawrence, Richard W.

Abstract

A kinetic ARD prediction program was conducted for the Red Mountain project, located in northwest British Columbia, to provide the operators with more precise prediction data and thereby allow for a more cost effective and confident development of the waste management plan. Kinetic tests such as humidity cells are widely used in an attempt to predict the rates of acid generation and neutralization, water quality and time to onset of acidity. Laboratory kinetic tests at the University of British Columbia evaluated the effects of testing under various conditions. The laboratory test results were compared to 20-tonne (field) test results to evaluate scaling up of laboratory data. Test results indicate that non-aerated cells provide rates of weathering that are similar to the standard humidity cell and that the results are more repeatable than humidity cell results. The laboratory rates of weathering could not be scaled up to predict field results with confidence. The inability to scale up the results is believed to be caused by inadequate hydrogeological assumptions and deficiencies in the experimental protocols.

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International