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British Columbia Mine Reclamation Symposium

Measurements and model predictions of the rate of drying with time at the surface of a waste-rock pile after heavy rainfall events Kabwe, Louis Katele; Wilson, G. W.

Abstract

Measurements and model predictions of changes of water contents at the surfaces of waste-rock piles are needed in the development of a long-term management plan for waste-rock piles. This study investigated a short-term multi-day [July 28 to August 4, 2002] rate of drying with time at the near-surface of the Deilmann north waste-rock pile (DNWR) at the Key Lake uranium mine, northern Saskatchewan, following the cessation of 75.9 mm rainfall over the initial 48-h period. The water content was determined using the gravimetric method. The initial measured water content profile data were used with SoilCover numerical model to predict changes in water content profiles with time at the near-surface of the DNWR. Results of both the measurements and numerical predictions showed that the impact of heavy rainfall events on waste-rock surface water content at the DNWR is of relatively short duration. The waste-rock surface (0 m) water content was very sensitive to changes in climatic conditions after precipitation, exhibiting a power decrease with time. The drying rates at greater depths (>0.05 m) decreased slowly with time. This behavior was attributed to hydraulic properties of the waste-rock pile. These data can be of value in the long-term development of a plan for mine waste management.

Item Metadata

Title
Measurements and model predictions of the rate of drying with time at the surface of a waste-rock pile after heavy rainfall events
Creator
Kabwe, Louis Katele; Wilson, G. W.
Contributor
British Columbia Mine Reclamation Symposium; University of British Columbia. Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering
Date Issued
2005
Description
Measurements and model predictions of changes of water contents at the surfaces of waste-rock piles are needed in the development of a long-term management plan for waste-rock piles. This study investigated a short-term multi-day [July 28 to August 4, 2002] rate of drying with time at the near-surface of the Deilmann north waste-rock pile (DNWR) at the Key Lake uranium mine, northern Saskatchewan, following the cessation of 75.9 mm rainfall over the initial 48-h period. The water content was determined using the gravimetric method. The initial measured water content profile data were used with SoilCover numerical model to predict changes in water content profiles with time at the near-surface of the DNWR. Results of both the measurements and numerical predictions showed that the impact of heavy rainfall events on waste-rock surface water content at the DNWR is of relatively short duration. The waste-rock surface (0 m) water content was very sensitive to changes in climatic conditions after precipitation, exhibiting a power decrease with time. The drying rates at greater depths (>0.05 m) decreased slowly with time. This behavior was attributed to hydraulic properties of the waste-rock pile. These data can be of value in the long-term development of a plan for mine waste management.
Extent
283480 bytes
Genre
Conference Paper
Type
Text
File Format
application/pdf
Language
eng
Date Available
2009-06-08
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI
10.14288/1.0042471
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/8856
Affiliation
Applied Science, Faculty of; Mining Engineering, Keevil Institute of
Peer Review Status
Unreviewed
Scholarly Level
Other
Copyright Holder
British Columbia Technical and Research Committee on Reclamation
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International