Geotechnical Review of Waste Dumps at the Gamsberg Zinc Project in South Africa | LTMS

Project Title

Location

Northern Cape, South Africa

Client

Vedanta Zinc International

Date

March 2018 – July 2018

Business Sectors

Mineral Resources

Services (Technical Disciplines)

Technical Services Consulting
Operations & Training – Mine, Technical & Maintenance
Safety, Environmental and Mine Closure
Metallurgy & Minerals Processing

Project Objectives/ Outcomes

The waste dumps at the new Gamsberg project had been experiencing tensile cracks on all four waste dumps. The cracks were occurring up to 20m back from the face and for 40-50m along the face. The waste dumps are currently between 150-210m high.

The purpose of the visit was to advise on dump stability and the impact of crest subsidence, review existing tipping procedures, assess the risk of dump failure and make recommendations.

Our Role

An LTMS Geotechnical Engineer reviewed the waste dumps, focusing on the following areas: Foundations, Rock Slope, Construction, Waste Rock Material, Hydrology, Seismicity, Failure Mechanism and Risk Assessment.

A very thorough risk assessment using the British Columbia Mine Waste Rock Pile Research Committee (BCMWRPRC) better known as DSR91 was used to rate the stability risk of the WRDs. This gave a moderate risk rating of 700 triggering some responses and actions.

A series of recommendations were made including guidelines for management and monitoring.

Geoscience Ireland Contact

Brendan Morris – b.morris@ltms.ie