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The Mt Polley Domino Theory
Last night we played dominos. Somebody remarked that the failure of the Mt Polley tailings facility was like a line of dominos standing on end and all lined up: push the first one over and it topples...
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Where to aim the Mt Polley loaded gun?
Just seen Minister Bennett say the Mt Polley loaded gun was underground and the trigger was the steep slope. He could have added that the excess water in the reservoir was the bullet the gun fired....
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Comic Relief: Opera Snakeoil Salesmens and MEMorable Lawyers
A friend accused me of being too serious of late on this blog. So some comic relief. Last week I was updating a client’s tailings facility emergency response plan. The Canadian Mining Association...
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Mt Polley Warrants and Cherry-Picking
As we emerged from the elevators this evening, we were confronted by a phalanx of reporters and photographers. Luckily they did not recognize a notorious blogger or my companion, a famous tailings...
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Mt Polley Tailings Deposition Resumption
Over coffee today I was asked: “Can they ever deposit tailings in the breached tailings facility again?” For an investor this is a key question, for if the answer is yes, the mine can resume full...
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Mt Polley Implications for World-Wide Mining
The blogger muse prompted by opera & brandy demands release of mental pressure. Thus a second posting on Mt Polley in one day. This afternoon, I was asked what the implications of Mt Polley were...
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Peter Byrne Receives the RF Legget Medal
This week we to the dinner given in honor of Dr. Peter Byrne and his receiving the RF Legget Medal. RF Leggett was a distinguished Canadian geologist. And the award honors his works. The Medal is one...
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1980s Technical Papers on Risk and Geochemistry in Mining
This week I had reason to go back and re-read three papers I co-authored in the early 1980s. It is surprising how far advanced we were then, and how little things have changed, or how little of what...
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Introducción al modelamiento de aguas subterráneas para minas y la minería
EduMine has just posted at this link, a Spanish version of our (Bernard Brixel and my) course Introduction to Groundwater Modelling for Mines & Mining. The English version has proven popular since...
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SME Denver Mining
The snow blanketed us today as the Denver Society of Mining Engineers convention begun. Yet it is warm enough to walk through the snow in shirt sleeves. Typical Denver in winter/spring. Yesterday I...
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US Army Corp of Engineers Dam Risk Assessment–Applicable to Tailings Dams?
Here are links to a few of many publications and presentations for the USACE of the topic of risk assessment of dams and levees. Katrina forced them to think hard and deep. This is a snapshot of the...
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SME – Evaporative Solutions-Managing Mine Waters
Walked around the exhibit hall at the Denver SME convention. Chatted to old friends and met new people–and learnt of new products. Suddenly my mind was cast back to my days as a kid on the East...
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Duke Energy Dan River Spill Fine could reach $100 million
UtilityDIVE reports at this link as follows: Duke Energy reported its Q4 2014 earnings this week and company officials say it is preparing to pay a $100 million fine to settle the ongoing investigation...
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Mine Waste Rock Dump Factor of Safety and Probability of Failure
Last week I needed to brush up on stability analysis of waste rock dumps or embankments as they are sometimes called. I went to the obvious sources: EduMine. I opened the course Design and Operation...
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The Los Pelambres Tailings Wall “Removal”
There are so many obvious comments on this story, that I refrain from comment. The story tells its own story and carries it own implications loud enough. I refer to the story at many links. This one...
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Oil Sands Tailings Management Framework
Here is the link to the new report Lower Athabasca Region Tailings Management Framework for the Mineable Athabasca Oil Sands. In some fifty pages it sets out a new way of dealings with oil sands...
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Mining Association of Canada tackles Mount Polley
The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) has announced that they are convening a panel to ” review its tailings management requirements to ensure failures, such as the one registered at Imperial...
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Yukon Zinc’s Wolverine Mine Closure to be paid for by the Taxpayer
Another sad story of underfunded mine closure. According to this report, Yukon Zinc owes the territorial government $3 million in environmental security. Now the company is bankrupt and also owing...
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Mine Water Management & Treatment: Extreme Solutions
Next week in Vancouver is the InfoMine conference on Mine Water Solutions in Extreme Environments. I have read most of the papers as a reviewer and as an interested observer. Most are fascinating...
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Best Practice (Best Available Technology) for Wet Tailings Management
Here is a challenge written up in a recent comment on a previous blog posting: I would love to see someone write a paper on the merits of a wet tailings pond. Today’s lovechild seems to be the...
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