Roy Hill waste landform design and construction process

Authors: de San Miguel, V; Stone, T; Braimbridge, M; Mackenzie, S Download Paper Open access courtesy of:

DOI https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_rep/1915_33_Braimbridge

Cite As:
de San Miguel, V, Stone, T, Braimbridge, M & Mackenzie, S 2019, 'Roy Hill waste landform design and construction process', in AB Fourie & M Tibbett (eds), Mine Closure 2019: Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Mine Closure, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp. 407-418, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_rep/1915_33_Braimbridge



Abstract:
The Roy Hill iron ore mine is located approximately 115 km north of Newman in the Pilbara region of Western Australia and produces 55 million tonnes of iron ore per annum. Waste rock landform (WRL) construction and progressive rehabilitation is in the early stages at Roy Hill. Given the scale of the operation however, implementing a practical and effective compliance to design process is critical in achieving high quality rehabilitation outcomes. Conceptual closure designs are developed with the intent of achieving high quality outcomes, but achieving the intended outcome is dependent on multiple factors. These include: ongoing changes to the mine plan; conformance to construction specifications and tolerances; machine accuracy, operator skill and effective supervision; survey controls; the nature of the mine waste and rehabilitation materials; and the surrounding landscape. This paper details the process that has been refined and implemented at Roy Hill, to facilitate compliance to design during waste landform construction and progressive rehabilitation, to ensure that high quality rehabilitation outcomes are achieved.

Keywords: rehabilitation earthworks, landform design, landform construction, compliance to design