A practical approach to testing for acid mine drainage in the mine planning and approval process
Acid mine drainage is one of the biggest environmental issues facing mining companies today. Government agencies, the general public and mine owners require that potential for acid generation can be predicted and controlled with a high degree of confidence. Failure to satisfy these concerns about...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2009
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/2429/12689 |
| Summary: | Acid mine drainage is one of the biggest environmental issues facing mining companies today. Government
agencies, the general public and mine owners require that potential for acid generation can be predicted and
controlled with a high degree of confidence. Failure to satisfy these concerns about acid mine drainage can
slow the approval and permitting process delaying the start of production at the mine and considerably adding
to the cost of mine development. These costs can be reduced by selection of predictive testing procedures
appropriate to the level of mine development which will answer immediate environmental concerns in the
context of the mine plan and indicate whether further testing is required.
We present a procedure for the prediction of acid generation which integrates the stages of deposit
exploration and approval for mine development with suitable predictive testwork to determine the potential
for acid generation, the rate of acid production and suitable acid control techniques. |
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