Solving water management problems in the environment is a complex task. Rarely is the solution found in one set of skills.
In tackling this challenge, Ecometrix has developed a comprehensive approach to addressing all aspects of the source, nature, quantity, and quality of water in the natural environment.
Our Integrated Water Services approach utilizes Environmental Intelligence™ and the four principles of TASC (Thought, Application, Solution and Communication) to help our clients make better informed water management, design, and operational decisions.
One way we recently put that into practice was with the re-opening of an open pit mine.
A critical mining site
The site, a former gold mine, had operated in various forms for several decades, most recently as an open pit. The mine ceased operations in the 1990s, site infrastructure was decommissioned, and the open pit allowed to fill.
When the client decided to restart operations, they asked Ecometrix to work with them to develop the various permit and approval applications, gather the required supporting information, design new water management infrastructure, and develop operational and environmental plans, all under an updated regulatory framework.
Accepting the challenge with an integrated approach
There were some immediate challenges related to restarting mining operations that had to be addressed.
- How do we devise and implement a strategy to dewater the open pit?
- How do we develop the predictive modelling framework to establish the quantity and quality of contact water that needs to be managed?
- How do we integrate the new water management infrastructure and systems needed to safely collect and convey site contact water into the existing site configuration?
- How do we develop a monitoring program to test the performance of the site-wide management systems and the associated adaptive management framework to respond to changing site conditions over the life of the mining operation?
These were just some of the questions the Ecometrix team was tasked with answering.
Brian Fraser, Principal and Senior Consultant, says the solution was focused largely on developing overarching strategies for management of mine wastes and water and determining all the work that was needed to bring those management concepts to life. It took the collaboration of several Ecometrix experts to accomplish this.
Sarah Barabash, Director of Mining Services, led the development of geochemical source terms and predictive water balance and quality modelling that considered the transition of the site from existing conditions through its new operating period and into closure.
“This was a key initial step in the process,” Brian says. “We developed the predictive water quantity and quality model in MineMod™, our in-house software platform, to confirm proposed mine waste and water management concepts, including establishing the design basis for effluent treatment needs.”
Robert Whyte and Maria Yun Sang, senior water resource engineers, led the design of water management infrastructure (pipelines, ditching, ponds, and pumps) to move the water around the site.
Jason Dietrich, Direct of Monitoring, led the evaluation of the potential effects of the planned re-establishment of the open pit mining operation on the natural environment.
An evolving partnership
We started working on this project in 2020, and we’ve come a long way since. We completed the predictive water modeling, permits are in place, and a new treatment plan has been built. The mine is well on its way to re-opening.
As with many environmental challenges, answers aren’t always clear-cut, and the needs of the project evolved over time, revealing new questions that needed answers.
For example, as work scope at the mine site wound down, Ecometrix turned its attention to developing the permitting and approvals packages for the mill site, where the ore would be processed.
This involved many of the same work elements that had been completed for the mine site: evaluating geochemical source terms, developing predictive models of surface and ground water, designing aquatic and riparian zone habitat offsets, and applying for approvals under the Fisheries Act.
“The design for creation of aquatic and riparian zone habitat offsets as required by the Fisheries Act was an exciting aspect of the project.” Brian says.
“It drew upon the expertise of many of our team to integrate civil and landscape design with river hydrology and hydraulics and fisheries ecology to ensure the proposed habitats would provide high value to the resident fishery. Ecometrix has finalized the designs for a series of off-channel ponds and riparian zone enhancement features that met with regulatory approval and will be constructed in the near future.
"Another element that came into play concerned endangered species. A rigorous process of investigation and mitigation has been implemented to ensure protection of endangered species that may be found locally,” Brian says.
An integrated approach
In the last four years, the project has “touched the hands of half the company.” The work scope spanned the full range of our water related services – geochemical source term development, predictive modelling of surface water and groundwater quantity and quality, water management infrastructure design, toxicology, fisheries expertise, endangered species, and new aquatic and riparian habitat creation, highlighting the importance of an integrated approach to mine water management.
“The integrated approach provides continuity of service,” Brian says. “We can look at things through that multi-disciplinary lens to provide a seamless approach to problem solving.”
As with every project Ecometrix completes, Environmental Intelligence™ was another key driver. By applying Thought, Application, Solution, and Communication — the four principles of TASC — the team was able to not just navigate the shifting challenges that emerged as they dug deeper into the project but deliver outstanding environmental results.
Want to hear more about our Integrated Water Services approach? Sign up to our quarterly Insights newsletter.
Discover our modelling solutions
MineMod™, an ever-evolving water body solution that simulates the entire lifecycle of a mine, was a key tool that the team used for this project.
As a powerful mine water management software platform created to support the decision-making process throughout the life of a mine, it's just one way we help combine technology with Environmental Intelligence™.
