Mine closure plan development for active mine South America (undisclosed client)

About This Project

This project consisted of the development of a comprehensive closure plan for a large scale surface copper mine operation with nominal capacity over 150 ktpd. The Closure Plan was robust and included: risk assessments for closure to identify options and prioritize key mitigation measures and solutions, understand the site environmental commitments and how these commitments affect long term performance, develop closure measures based on risks identified, and benchmark closure costs against similar sized operations in the area and calculate closure and post-closure costs.
This project presented many key challenges, including: high altitude mine location in the Andes mountains, investigation and closure of both active and inactive tailings storage facilities, relocation of waste dumps; sensitive protected ecosystem encroaching on property area to be closed; and the long term surface and groundwater water management meeting company commitments to local and regional stakeholders (potential for treatment in perpetuity).