January 16, 2013

Estudio de la Fusión de la Nieve y el Aspecto Físico en la Simulación de los Resultados de Recubrimiento

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Amy L. Hudson, REM,  Marybeth Dowell,  y Pete Kowalewski,  P.E.

Tetra Tech, Littleton, Massachusetts, USA, [email protected]

Tierra Group International, Ltd., Elko, Nevada, USA, [email protected]

Tierra Group International, Ltd., Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, [email protected]

 

AbstractIt has become common practice to consider soil covers when developing closure strategies for the prevention  of acid rock drainage, with the optimized design of closure covers often developed through predictive modeling.  However, using monitored field conditions of a closure cover constructed based on a modeled design, there is evidence that not all areas of the facility realize the same level of protection and may require increased evaluation.  For the facility that is the basis of this case study, the north facing slope of the closed heap leach does not receive as much radiation from the sun and is moderately protected from the wind, allowing significant snow accumulation  during the winter.  In order to evaluate the influence of the accumulated snow, a simple numerical modeling exercise was completed to consider the average climatic conditions, and a simulated snow storm and thaw period to represent the worst case infiltration  along the north facing slope.  The modeling suggests that during the excess snow accumulation  and subsequent thawing event, infiltration increases significantly beneath the northern slope compared  to the average conditions  and other areas of the heap.  The results of this study suggest that soil cover modeling requires separate consideration  of areas potentially subject to increased infiltration, such as a north facing slope.Download pdf file: ICARD 2012 - Aspect on Cover Performance - Hudson Dowell Kowalewski

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