Realizing Beneficial End Uses from Abandoned Pit Lakes

McCullough, Cherie D.; Schultze, Martin; Vandenberg, Jerry

doi:10.3390/min10020133

Cited by 56 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 56 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Schultze et al (2013). Despite this, recreation and tourism are believed to have the highest social risk compared to other pit lake end uses due to increased human traffic (Hinwood et al 2012;McCullough et al 2018). Water quality is usually a concern for recreational use of pit lakes whereas the lake's physical characteristics (i.e.…”

Section: Recreational Usementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Modelling the long-term water balance of a pit lake with recreational end uses AM Carlino & CD McCullough water level will further expose steep pit walls, creating abrupt drop off points and limited shallow margins, increasing the risk for physical injuries, potential falls, or drownings and need to be rehabilitated to enable safe recreational use (McCullough et al 2009(McCullough et al , 2018Hinwood et al 2012). The exposed sandstone material of the pit walls is strong and a fall in water level of 3-4 m is understood to be unlikely to significantly alter the geotechnical integrity of the high walls.…”

Section: Future Management Options For Lake Stocktonmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Modelling the long-term water balance of a pit lake with recreational end uses

Carlino¹,

McCullough²

2019

Proceedings of the International Conference on Mine Closure

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Pit lakes can be used for recreation when water quality is suitable. However, when lake levels are too low, pit lakes may pose access and slope instability risks to recreational users. An essential tool to assist in managing these risks is a good understanding of the lake water balance. A groundwater model was developed to investigate whether impending cessation of mine water discharge into historic Lake Stockton (Collie, Western Australia) would result in reduced recreational values, e.g. for water skiing. Currently, the lake water level is kept reasonably constantly elevated with the addition of mine water from nearby dewatering at Ewington mine (Lanco, Griffin Coal) operations. Lake Stockton has a maximum depth of 30 m and groundwater flows through historic underground mine workings contribute largely to the overall pit inflow. A steady state groundwater model was used to emulate the regional groundwater flow in the Collie Coal Basin. The model gave estimates of groundwater fluxes and predictions of the future lake water level if mine discharges were to stop. Transient simulations forecast a 3.6-3.9 m decline in the long-term lake water level without mine water input, with non-mine groundwater inflow rates increasing from commensurately steeper hydraulic gradient from a declining lake level in steady state. As a result, although the water level of Lake Stockton would still be suitable for public recreation, the decline in the water level would expose steep pit walls and reduce the regulation recreational area by 17%. Consequently, rehabilitation planning for this lake should account for safe access if recreation is to be permitted when the predicted decline in water levels takes place. The study highlights the critical importance of understanding the hydrogeological setting and the controls over lake levels in-pit voids for maintenance of recreational end use values.

show abstract

Section: Recreational Usementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Future Management Options For Lake Stocktonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling the long-term water balance of a pit lake with recreational end uses

Carlino¹,

McCullough²

2019

Proceedings of the International Conference on Mine Closure

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Steep, eroding pit lake shorelines reduce end use opportunities and values (McCullough et al 2018) and present a significant risk (Ross & McCullough 2011). Shoreline erosion can also erode soil covers and backfill exposing potentially acid forming (PAF) waste materials and void shell exposures previously buried to prevent oxidation and acidity generation.…”

Section: Waves and Shoreline Erosionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Process-based erosion modelling for shoreline rehabilitation design of a coal mine pit lake

McCullough¹,

Rooijen²,

Maren³

2019

Proceedings of the International Conference on Mine Closure

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mine pit lakes are a common feature of open cut mine closures that extend below the local groundwater levels. Due to the relatively steep lake bottom profiles compared to natural lakes, shoreline stability remains a significant limitation for the long-term sustainability of many pit lakes, potentially impacting upon highwall geotechnical stability, revegetation success, water quality and proposed end uses including wildlife habitat, aesthetics and recreation. However, although a potential issue for long-term pit lake closure planning and management, there is currently very little information available on pit lakeshore erosion, including potential erosion rates and extent.The ENGIE Hazelwood Coal Mine project is located in the Latrobe Valley, Victoria. The site has ceased operations and is currently in closure work phase. With approximately 16 km of pit lake perimeter, the effect of the final pit lake shoreline design on wave-induced shoreline erosion was identified as a key area requiring further study.This innovative study used the process-based hydro-morphodynamic models Delft3D to predict final pit lake shoreline erosion at the Eastern Batter (EB) domain region of the pit void. Shoreline erosion modelling was undertaken for three erosion treatments over a total of 10 scenarios. Effect of sediment type (clays, sands and clay/sand mixtures).2. Effect of shore slope angle (design angle of 17° from horizontal, to a lower 12° and steeper 22°). The effect of prevailing winds compared to episodic storm winds.Pit lake shoreline erosion modelling was found to be a useful design tool for to study pit lake shoreline developments. Further model findings were that relatively gentle (12°) slopes did not show substantially decreased erosion rates compared to design (17°) slopes. However, relatively steep (22°) slopes showed substantially greater erosion.Erosion rates were strongly influenced by sediment properties, which constituted the biggest uncertainty in the modelling. Lowest erosion rates were for cohesive grey clays, highest erosion rates for sands and erosion rates of mixed sediments were in-between. Eroded sands were also deposited nearby at slightly deeper water, thereby reducing shoreline slopes over longer timescales. However, eroded clays were dispersed throughout the lake, preventing an erosion/deposition equilibrium being reached. Short-term storm events simply mimicked erosion patterns of longer duration prevailing wind events. Consequently, slope and sediment characteristic choices to mitigate prevailing wind effects may be similar to those used for mitigating event-driven erosion.

show abstract

“…This method is economically acceptable, taking into account the long-term benefits such as reintegration into the landscape, ecosystem recovery, and land reuse. The opportunities are widely dependent on safety issues, including here the water quality and stability conditions of the final slopes [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Suggested Methodology for Assessing the Failure Risk of the Final Slopes of Former Open-Pits in Case of Flooding

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Some valuable minerals, such as lignite, are extracted through open-pit mining works. After the cessation of mining activity, large-scale gaps result in the landscape. These gaps, also called “remaining gaps”, represent some of the roughest types of environmental impacts. After the cessation of mining activity, recovery and ecological restoration works are required. However, it is first necessary to carry out risk assessment studies considering the possible future influences on the final slopes. For this study, flooding of the remaining lignite open-pits gaps was considered as the ecological restoration option. The study was based on extensive research, including sampling, laboratory tests, statistical-mathematical processing, hypothesis formulation, evaluations, interpretations, and field observations, regarding the rock behavior and occurrence of negative geotechnical phenomena (geotechnical phenomena that have a negative impact and a risk on the integrity of the environment and local communities, such as landslides, rockfalls, liquefaction, suffosis) during the flooding process. This paper’s originality consists of combining the methods and methodologies developed with the help of classic methods (Fellenius, Janbu, and Bishop methods) and probabilistic ones (Rosenblueth method) existing in the specialized literature for solving the proposed problem and structuring the information similar to a guide.

show abstract

Realizing Beneficial End Uses from Abandoned Pit Lakes

Cited by 56 publications

References 56 publications

Modelling the long-term water balance of a pit lake with recreational end uses

Modelling the long-term water balance of a pit lake with recreational end uses

Process-based erosion modelling for shoreline rehabilitation design of a coal mine pit lake

A Suggested Methodology for Assessing the Failure Risk of the Final Slopes of Former Open-Pits in Case of Flooding

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About