Mining Project Profiles

Closure

Environmental and Engineering Reclamation Services

Black Cloud Mine, Leadville, Colorado

Engineering Analytics provides environmental and engineering reclamation services for Resurrection Mining Company's (RMC) Black Cloud Mine, located in Lake County, Colorado near the town of Leadville.  Reclamation of the legacy lead-zinc mine site is conducted under a CERCLA Consent Decree, as administered by the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (CDRMS).  Major reclaimed features included a 20-acre milling/processing site and the associated 40-acre tailings impoundment, as well as numerous appurtenant satellite mine sites.  EA's reclamation engineering services include mine tailings and waste rock management (including acid-generating material), water management (tailings area surface, seepage collection and treatment, and non-contact diversion), and contractor procurement and construction oversight.  Additionally, Engineering Analytics provides environmental assessment, remedial design, and reclamation design consisting of building demolition, removal of chemicals and waste, hauling and placement of waste rock on to the tailings, regrading of the tailing, placement of growth media, revegetation, and design and installation of diversion channels.  The ongoing project was awarded the 2015 Excellence in Hard Rock Reclamation Award from the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board.

Tailings Dam Raise and Reclamation Plan

Umetco Minerals Corporation, Hot Springs, Arkansas

Engineering Analytics designed and supervised construction of an embankment raise of the 125-foot-high tailings dam and developed a reclamation plan to be implemented during continued operation of the tailings impoundment. The raise and reclamation work improved the existing drainage system and overall stability of the impoundment. The project included subsurface investigation and piezometer installation,  flood routing and spillway design, seepage analyses and blanket design, cover design, stability analyses, liquefaction analyses, and construction oversight.

Comprehensive Reclamation and Closure Plan

Umetco Minerals Corporation, East Gas Hills, Wyoming

Engineering Analytics designed reclamation plans for an above-grade uranium tailings impoundment, a below-grade tailings impoundment, evaporation ponds, and mined pits. EA staff performed site-wide hydrology, characterization of the groundwater and geochemistry, risk assessment for clean-up of radiological contaminants, seepage analyses, stability analyses, and radon attenuation analyses. The reclamation plans were approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Mine Superfund Site

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, RI/FS Summitville Mine, Colorado

Engineering Analytics staff served as the Project Manager for the site-wide (OU5) RI/FS on this former open pit, heap leach gold mine in southern Colorado. Work included evaluation of mine pool management options, reactive transport modeling, and evaluation of traditional and passive water treatment technologies. EA staff prepared a Use Attainability Analyses (UAA) to support the revision of aluminum water quality standards to seasonal, ambient standards based on natural conditions, irreversible human-induced sources, and technology-based limitations.

Heap Leach Pad Drain Down and Rinse

Minera Yanacocha/ Newmont, Cajamarca, Peru

Engineering Analytics completed unsaturated flow modeling and geochemical analyses for the drain down and rinse of a heap leach pad for final closure at the Yanacocha Mine. The project consisted of modeling the projected discharge rate from the pad during and after closure. The geochemical properties of the discharge solution from the heap leach pad during and after the proposed progressive closure were also modeled to determine the projected duration of longterm monitoring program and potential water treatment requirements.

Reclamation Site Services and Water Management

Idarado Mining Company, Telluride, Colorado

Engineering Analytics staff provide services for the Idarado Mining Company, a subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corporation, at their facilities in the Red Mountain Mining District (Ouray County).  Services provided by EA staff have included collection and disposal of tailings from impacted sites, stream stabilization, maintenance facility design, activities associated with preservation of the historic Pandora Mill building, and water management for the historic Bridal Veil Power System.  Water management activities for the Bridal Veil hydroelectric system include EPCM services for rehabilitation and maintenance of nearly 4 miles of historic pipelines supplying water to the Bridal Veil Powerhouse for generation of utility-grade electricity.  The facility, operated under FERC permit exemption, provides power to the Town of Telluride and the San Miguel Power Association.  EA provides project management and engineering services for rehabilitation and maintenance of the 100-year old pipelines that supply water to the powerhouse, including dam safety programs for the two high-mountain storage reservoirs that supply water to the project.  EA project manager coordinate with Newmont, Telluride, San Miguel County and FERC managers, and Colorado Dam Safety officials to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the system.