MINE RECLAMATION AND
COVER SYSTEM DESIGN
GSA has conducted mine reclamation closure studies at over twenty sites ranging from the Great Basin and Southwestern deserts in the United States to the Andean mountains of South America to tropical Papua New Guinea. GSA utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to mine reclamation projects through our expertise in ecological restoration, reclamation cover systems, and groundwater hydrology. GSA is also unique in that we operate an unsaturated flow laboratory that specializes in characterizing mine waste, heap leach, and cover system materials. We have developed advanced laboratory, field and modeling methods to predict unsaturated flow behavior in these rocky materials and apply this expertise to determining flow in heap leach materials, the effect of sloping cover systems, and changes in cover system hydraulic properties over time.
- + Project Examples
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- Evapotranspirative Cover System Performance Evaluation, Nevada, Barrick Goldstrike Mining
- Reclamation of a Copper Heap Leach Facility, San Manuel, AZ, SRK Consulting, Inc, BHP Billiton
- Waste Rock and Leached Ore Cover System and Geochemical Evolution Monitoring, Nevada, Nevada Gold Mines, Phoenix Mine
- Acid Leach Pad Closure Planning, Nevada, Nevada Vanadium Company
- Closure of Miami 19-34-35 Dump, Arizona, Freeport-McMoRan
- Rock Armor Cover Pilot Project, USA
- Richmond Hill Mine Heap Leach Pad Cover System Evaluation, South Dakota, Barrick Gold Corporation
- Waste Rock Cover System Monitoring, Nevada, MWH Global/Round Mountain Gold Corporation
- Copper Tailings Reclamation Study, Morenci, Arizona
- Mine Tailings Reclamation Technical Support, Papua, New Guinea, Ok Tedi Mining Limited (OTML)
- Long-Term Reclamation Monitoring of Reclaimed Mine Waste Facilities, Arizona
- Closure of Large-scale Heap Leach Dump, Arizona
- Waste Rock Facility Closure Planning and Monitoring, Nevada, Barrick Goldstrike Mines
- Alternative Cover System Evaluation, Perú
- In-situ Monitoring of an Active Waste Rock Facility, Perú, Compañía Minera Antamina
- Closure of Mission Tailings Facility, Arizona, USA, Asarco Mission Trust Panel