Building durable legacies: a holistic approach to closure design for mining landforms

Authors: Mackenzie, S; Smedley, E Download Paper Open access courtesy of:

DOI https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_repo/2415_03

Cite As:
Mackenzie, S & Smedley, E 2024, 'Building durable legacies: a holistic approach to closure design for mining landforms', in AB Fourie, M Tibbett & G Boggs (eds), Mine Closure 2024: Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Mine Closure, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp. 71-84, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_repo/2415_03



Abstract:
Rehabilitating a mining landform necessitates the development of a closure design, setting the parameters for effective implementation. Commonly, however, an arbitrary design is adopted during the planning phase without adequate consideration of crucial design inputs such as the erosional stability properties of waste rock, relative proportions of different waste types, regional climate, design criteria, spatial constraints, constructability and risk. This arbitrary approach fails to develop a tailored design solution that responds to the key drivers for longterm performance and is unlikely to consider opportunities to incorporate integrated closure planning. An effective design can only be developed in response to these design inputs, rather than trying to force these inputs to function in a pre-defined design. For instance, the closure design for a mining landform where most of the waste rock is forecast to have durable/high-stability should be different than for a landform where most of the waste rock is predicted to have low stability. Likewise, the design should be different when considering a tropical climate as opposed to an arid setting. The same design should not arbitrarily be adopted for both; rather, the design should respond to the site-specific materials and the constraints of the mine plan. Once the key inputs are understood, risks and opportunities can be developed to inform the identification and evaluation of design options. Such a design approach is essential for building durable legacies for future generations. This paper explores current design approaches and highlights key inputs that influence long-term closure performance, providing practical examples to illustrate effective design strategies.

Keywords: closure design, landform design, mining landforms, rehabilitation design

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