Determining Evaporative Fluxes for Improving the Water Balance at Mine Waste Repositories

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Successful operation and closure of mine waste repositories require accurate quantification of the surface water budget that controls the infiltration of meteoric water into the waste profile. The rate of net surface infiltration ultimately generates internal seepage with the release of potential leachates that may threaten downstream receptors. Recent field scale observations at both active and reclaimed mine sites in Canada, as well as international sites operated by Canadian companies, have shown current predictive models used to calculate infiltration rates for mine waste deposits such as waste rock dumps and tailings impoundments, such as the main waste rock dump at Equity Silver Mine, BC, are unacceptable. The global objective of the research program proposed here is to investigate the reasons for these errors and to improve the existing soil-atmosphere methods currently available for estimating surface flux boundary conditions at mine waste repositories. All of the research I have carried out over the course of my career has been in the area of mine waste management. The objective of my research programs has been to develop new technologies for improved mine waste management, mine closure and the reduction of long-term environmental liabilities. These objectives have been achieved through the training and innovation of highly qualified personnel. The chief short-term objective of the proposed research program will be directed at the development of accurate instrumentation to measure true field evaporation and evapotranspiration on uncovered and covered mine waste deposits for direct comparison with values predicted by theoretical models. The long-term objective of the research program will be to improve the capacity of researchers and engineers to design mine waste deposits that reduce environmental liabilities associated with mine tailings and waste rock. In addition, the long-standing objective will be the enduring training of highly qualified personnel (HQP), dissemination research results in high-quality journals and conference proceedings, and finally to assist with the implementation of the research results into practice. The training of 1 PhD and 1 MSc student along with 2 postdoctoral fellows is proposed. It is anticipated that the research program will result in the development of techniques to enhance the environmental monitoring of mining sites and optimize the performance of mine reclamation efforts. It is envisioned that the fundamental knowledge and developed techniques will be used by researchers and practicing engineers in the oil sands industry as well as the base and precious metal mining industry to enhance the design of mine waste systems for oil sands and metal mines at Canadian owned and/or operated mine sites worldwide.