Prevention and intervention strategies for the mitigation of fugitive dust emission from mining residues storage sites

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The prediction, control and mitigation of fugitive dust emissions from mine tailing requires important resources and entails significant management costs. In boreal contexts, these issues become acute during Winter conditions where mineral dust scatters over the snowpack in neighboring urban communities. In this collaborative project with the Centre de Recherche et Développement Arvida (CRDA), Usine Vaudreuil and the Site de Disposition des Résidus de Bauxite (SDRB) of Rio Tinto - Aluminium (RTA), we build on preliminary exploratory investigations and prior development of appropriate tools and protocols for laboratory and field studies of the spectroscopic and remote sensing determination of humidity levels and drying kinetics of bauxite residues. Following a survey of historical records of the meteorological conditions that led to fugitive dust emissions, along with modeling of wind speed distributions and erosion rates spatial profiles obtained from LIDAR altimetry data of the disposal site topography, a network of autonomous sensors will be deployed at strategic locations of the SDRB. Web-based management tools and detailed risk assessment protocols will be elaborated based on laboratory and field investigations of the drying rates as a function of the most critical environmental parameters, along with their continuous in situ monitoring. Finally, liquid dust suppressant applications will be automated with, for ultimate objective, the total control of dust emissions from the SDRB. Improved dust suppression strategies will be developed and tailored to support mitigation efforts at RTA Vaudreuil plant thereby reducing the environmental impact and costs of bauxite residues management, improving social acceptance in a concerted effort to impact positively mining industries' right to operate. The deliverables of this project will also permit straightforward extensions to a broad array of industrial activities facing fugitive dust emissions challenges.