Design of the Eldorado Gold Efemçukuru filtered tailings facility

Tailings and Mine Waste Conference

Design of the Eldorado Gold Efemçukuru filtered tailings facility Kwan, Karvin; Dawson, Richard; Boese, Calvin; Churcher, Dale

Abstract

Eldorado’s Efemçukuru Project incorporates the design of a filtered tailings facility to store 1 million cubic metres of dry stack filtered tailings in a high seismicity region of Western Turkey. Compared to conventional tailings technologies, dry stack filtered tailings have many advantages in terms of lowering long-term environmental liability/impacts (for example through decreased potential seepage, minimized storage footprints, and ease of progressive reclamation). An important design feature of this project is the incorporation of a fullylined base (HDPE/GCL double-liner) coupled with an underdrain system for seepage control at the base of the facility, as the tailings are potentially acid-generating. Increased structural integrity is achieved through compaction of tailings filter cake material in lifts, the construction of rock toe berms on the downstream side of the pile, and selection of a double-liner system that will provide sufficient frictional strength in this high seismic zone. The use of a filtered tailings and liner system in the Eldorado Gold Efemçukuru project provides added protection of groundwater resources and represents another step in tailings waste management and environmental stewardship in the industry.[All papers were considered for technical and language appropriateness by the organizing committee.]

Item Metadata

Title	Design of the Eldorado Gold Efemçukuru filtered tailings facility
Creator	Kwan, Karvin; Dawson, Richard; Boese, Calvin; Churcher, Dale
Contributor	Tailings and Mine Waste Conference (2011 : Vancouver, B.C.); University of British Columbia. Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering
Date Issued	2011-11
Description	Eldorado’s Efemçukuru Project incorporates the design of a filtered tailings facility to store 1 million cubic metres of dry stack filtered tailings in a high seismicity region of Western Turkey. Compared to conventional tailings technologies, dry stack filtered tailings have many advantages in terms of lowering long-term environmental liability/impacts (for example through decreased potential seepage, minimized storage footprints, and ease of progressive reclamation). An important design feature of this project is the incorporation of a fullylined base (HDPE/GCL double-liner) coupled with an underdrain system for seepage control at the base of the facility, as the tailings are potentially acid-generating. Increased structural integrity is achieved through compaction of tailings filter cake material in lifts, the construction of rock toe berms on the downstream side of the pile, and selection of a double-liner system that will provide sufficient frictional strength in this high seismic zone. The use of a filtered tailings and liner system in the Eldorado Gold Efemçukuru project provides added protection of groundwater resources and represents another step in tailings waste management and environmental stewardship in the industry.[All papers were considered for technical and language appropriateness by the organizing committee.]
Genre	Conference Paper
Type	Text
Language	eng
Date Available	2011-11-02
Provider	Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights	Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI	10.14288/1.0107743
URI	http://hdl.handle.net/2429/38653
Affiliation	Non UBC
Peer Review Status	Unreviewed
Scholarly Level	Other
Rights URI	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository	DSpace

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