Current trends in assessment, management and prevention of AMD

Time: 9.00am - 4.30pm (registrations from 8.30am)

Includes breaks for morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea

Room: OM 14

Acid and Metalliferous Drainage (AMD) or Acid Rock Drainage (ARD) continues to be the single biggest environmental problem facing the mining sector worldwide. The fundamental issue that prevents or complicates mine closure is water quality – and by far the most common, complicated and long-lived water quality issue at operating, closed and legacy mine sites is AMD. Controlling the oxidation of sulfidic materials at source is the most logical, sensible and cost-effective approach to controlling and preventing AMD. Unfortunately, the range of potential sources is many and varied, leading to the need for a myriad of solutions.

Queensland University has been actively involved in the design and organisation of the Australian AMD Workshops for more than 30 years. This forum is designed to bring together mine planners, mining engineers, environmental specialists from mining companies, mining regulators, geochemical and geotechnical specialists, researchers and graduate students. Together, as stakeholders, we need to develop, propose, discuss, design, test, demonstrate, implement and document viable approaches that can provide sustainable environmental solutions for the mining industry. Our focus includes greenfield, operating and legacy mine sites across the world.

The Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI) has been providing an AMD Shortcourse the day preceding the Australian AMD Workshops for many years. This highly technical forum brings together international AMD specialists from across the world to share leading practice strategies, tools and emerging concepts on the characterisation, classification, management, monitoring and treatment of AMD. This shortcourse is designed to introduce leading edge thinking to help consolidate existing technical knowledge for experienced environmental professionals, as well as commencing the training and recruitment of new members to this important technical cohort. Participants can expect to come away with a significantly improved understanding of their options for assessing, managing or preventing AMD risk.

The key AMD sources at mine sites typically include waste rock piles, tailings storage facilities, heap leach pads, ore stockpiles, concentrate stockpiles, opencuts (walls and floors) and underground mine voids. For all of these domains, it is now clear that the source control of AMD is essentially a sophisticated exercise in controlling air-entry into sulfidic materials.

The Shortcourse is designed to introduce participants to all of the key steps required to understand, characterise, classify, monitor, manage, prevent or treat AMD. It is presented by several internationally recognised AMD specialists, geochemists, chemists and physicists, who have been working and publishing in the field for many years. Most are familiar with all aspects of AMD but have been asked to focus on one topic only for the course presentation. The Shortcourse aims to encourage active interaction – including questions and discussion in all sessions. Join us to both learn and pass on your experience and knowledge.

This course will be facilitated by Professor Mansour Edraki (SMI), Dr Paul Brown (Rio Tinto), Dr Marilena Stimpfl (BHP), Dr Claire Linklater (SRK), Dr Andrew Garvie (SRK), Dr Ashton Soltys (Earth Systems), Dr David Jones (Dr Jones Environmental Excellence) and Dr Jeff Taylor (Earth Systems).

Course outline

TIME	PRESENTER	TOPIC
8:30-9:00 am		Registration
9:00-9:10 am	Mansour Edraki	Introduction to Venue – safety, comfort and refreshments. Acknowledgement of Country. SMI’s role in AMD research and education.
9:10-9:20 am	Jeff Taylor	Introduction to Shortcourse. Shortcourse Resources (digital). AMD Resources (INAP, GARD Guide) (MEND). ICARD in Vancouver.
9:20-10:00 am	Paul Brown	An Introduction to AMD Chemistry and Mineralogy.
10:00-10:30 am	Marilena Stimpfl	Mine Material Characterisation and Classification (Static Geochemical Testwork Methods).
10:30-11:00 am	MORNING TEA
11:00-11:10 am	Marilena Stimpfl	Mine Material Characterisation and Classification (Static Geochemical Testwork Methods).
11:10-11:50 am	Claire Linklater	Clarifying the Geochemical Behaviour of Mine Materials over time (Kinetic Geochemical testwork Methods).
11:50-12:10 pm	Jeff Taylor	Developing and using AMD Risk Block Models.
12:10-12:30 pm	Jeff Taylor	Building Better Waste Rock Piles (AMD Management for mine waste rock).
12:30-1:30 pm	LUNCH
1:30-1:50 pm	Jeff Taylor	Building Better Waste Rock Piles (AMD Management for mine waste rock).
1:50-2:10 pm	Mansour Edraki	Lowering AMD generation from tailings materials (AMD Management for Tailings Storage Facilities).
2:10-2:30 pm	Ashton Soltys	Managing and Preventing AMD from underground mines.
2:30-2:45 pm	Ashton Soltys	Spontaneous Combustion.
2:45-3:00 pm	Andrew Garvie	Performance Monitoring.
3:00-3:30 pm	AFTERNOON TEA
3:30-3:55 pm	Andrew Garvie	Performance Monitoring
3:55-4:15 pm	David Jones	Passive Treatment Options for AMD.
4:15-4:30 pm	David Jones	Active Treatment Options for AMD.
Any remaining time	All	Open Forum Questions. Bring along some of your site issues and put some hard questions to the panel. See how the training can be implemented.