The Miduk Copper Project: Down-Valley Discharge of Paste Thickened Tailings, Design and Early Operating Experience

Williams, Mpa; Murphy, Steven; MacNamara, Liam; Khoshniaz, Norsat

doi:10.36487/acg_repo/663_11

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…The benefits provided by TT operations in this regard are compelling, and a grade of A is considered warranted. Reported savings in wall building costs have been reported by Jewell (2004) for the Peak gold mine, by , McPhail and Brent (2007) who noted a saving of A$ 2.5 m at the Osborne Mine, Williams et al (2006) for the proposed Miduk Copper Mine in Iran, and Cooling (2007) for Alcoa's operations in Western Australia. There are no reported cases of increased requirements for borrow material.…”

Section: Decreased Demand For Borrow Materials For Constructionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Williams and Seddon (2004) describe how highly erratic thickener behaviour resulted in a beach with slopes of only 0.3-0.4% initially, but after refinements to the operating procedures, a value of 1% at the head, to 0.5% at the toe, was achieved. Williams et al (2006) describe the Miduk copper TSF which was commissioned in 2005 to treat 15,000 tpd. The decision to choose a highly thickened tailings was based on the predicted beach slope of 4%; however, the actual slope was reported as being about 2.4%, with differences attributed to a lower than expected solids content and more fines in the feed.…”

Section: Other Key Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Perceived and realised benefits of paste and thickened tailings for surface deposition

Fourie¹

2012

Proceedings of the 15th International Seminar on Paste and Thickened Tailings

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Interest in the potential use of high density, thickened tailings has recently increased significantly. Reasons for considering this new technology vary across projects, but commonly include the need to conserve water, perceived lower risk of catastrophic failure, potential easier closure or even reduced overall costs. As with any new technology, there has been some tendency to overstate its potential benefits. This paper reflects on whether or not the potential benefits that have been attributed to paste and thickened tailings have been realised. Using a grading system, thirteen benefits that were ascribed to the new technology some years ago are evaluated. Data are taken from case studies, and it is suggested that the key proven benefits appear to be reduced operating costs in some cases, reduced wall-building costs and reductions in water consumption. One key potential benefit that has not been universally achieved is a reduction in the footprint of the tailings facility. Reports in the literature highlight the sometimes confusing nature of trade-off studies. Unless full life-of-mine costs are considered, these studies can be misleading and incorrect. The need to establish a consistent basis for comparative studies is discussed.

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Section: Decreased Demand For Borrow Materials For Constructionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Other Key Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived and realised benefits of paste and thickened tailings for surface deposition

Fourie¹

2012

Proceedings of the 15th International Seminar on Paste and Thickened Tailings

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“…In justifying that lower beach slope, it appeared prudent to consider the Miduk copper project in Iran for which the design prediction for supergene as listed by Williams et al (2006) was 3.5% and it was expected that the underflow percent solids and beach angle would increase slightly as the change to hypogene ore occurred. The 2006 paper indicates that the beach slopes measured during a survey in August 2005 were around 2.3 to 2.4% and the beach slope listed in the 2008 paper for the project was 2.5%.…”

Section: Beach Slope Prediction Experiencementioning

confidence: 99%

Putting beach slope prediction into perspective

Jewell

2012

Proceedings of the 15th International Seminar on Paste and Thickened Tailings

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The storage capacity of any given tailings storage facility (TSF) is a function of the volume available for the tailings for which the geometry of the final upper surface of the tailings is most important. One of the advantages that can be obtained from thickening tailings prior to discharge is that the tailings can be stacked at a steeper beach angle than is obtainable with conventional low density slurries. However, despite ongoing efforts by a number of parties, there is at present no universally accepted method available for the accurate prediction of tailings beach slopes. From an operating perspective, the tailings parameters relevant to the resulting beach slope can fluctuate significantly in the product delivered to the TSF and it is relatively well understood that the final beach slope can be manipulated by changes to disposal techniques. There are also newly emerging technologies that will enhance the dewatering of tailings at discharge and hence expedite the consolidation of the tailings that could well facilitate the development of steeper beach slopes. Hence, while the beach slope is an important parameter for the design of a TSF suitable to contain any given mass/volume of tailings, it may well be more important to understand the means by which the tailings parameters may be modified or the beach slope manipulated by the operators to achieve a reasonable design value than to develop a generic beach slope prediction model.

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“…For the Miduk copper project in Iran the design prediction for supergene as listed by Williams et al (2006) was 3.5% and it was expected that the underflow percent solids and beach angle would increase slightly as the change to hypogene ore occurred. The 2006 paper indicates that the beach slopes measured during a survey in August 2005 were around 2.3-2.4% and the beach slope listed in the 2008 paper for the project was 2.5%.…”

Section: Beach Slope Predictionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ensuring the credibility of thickening technology

Jewell¹

2010

Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Seminar on Paste and Thickened Tailings

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Advances in thickening technology over recent years have made possible the production of tailings at underflow densities that were previously unattainable. The potential in terms of increased water recovery within the plant and TSF storage efficiency in above ground storages is a major factor in the increasing interest by mine operators in adopting the technology in new operations as well as retrofitting existing operations. There are a number of practical issues related to being able to consistently achieve design underflow densities from the new generation of thickeners in particular. There is also evidence that in a number of cases the predictions of beach slopes for high yield stress tailings may be overly optimistic when compared with field observations. The extra costs involved in thickening tailings must be balanced against the benefits to be gained from the technology and it is necessary to ensure that the designed product can be produced consistently. The downside of not meeting design targets could significantly affect the credibility of the technology and delay ongoing implementation.

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The Miduk Copper Project: Down-Valley Discharge of Paste Thickened Tailings, Design and Early Operating Experience

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Perceived and realised benefits of paste and thickened tailings for surface deposition

Perceived and realised benefits of paste and thickened tailings for surface deposition

Putting beach slope prediction into perspective

Ensuring the credibility of thickening technology

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