LRE Water Newsletter - MAKING WAVES: Mine Water Management

SERVICE SPOTLIGHT: MINE WATER MANAGEMENT

At LRE Water, we're dedicated to providing innovative solutions to address water-related challenges in mining operations. Leveraging our expertise in hydrogeology, geochemistry, water management, and mine waste management, we offer pragmatic and cost-effective strategies tailored to meet the specific needs of our clients. 

Here's a glimpse into our Mine Water Management services:

Hydrogeological Services

LRE Water has successfully supported mining and industrial clients worldwide on a variety of hydrogeological issues. We have extensive life-of-mine and post-closure experience in all climatic conditions, from tropical rain zones to high deserts, to northern latitudes and high alpine terrains, and everything in between. Aside from utilizing a full range of industry-standard hydrogeological tools, our team can custom-build software and techniques to meet the site's particular needs.

Mine Water Management

With pressure on mine operators to demonstrate responsible and sustainable water management practices, analysis and decision-making tools are invaluable. LRE Water develops robust water and chemical modeling tools focusing on key site-specific issues. Our team can also develop and customize tools to meet the needs of the client and site by using software that supports decision making and risk analysis. By developing model-specific coding we can simulate site-specific water flow and reactive geochemistry.

Mine Waste Management

LRE Water’s mine closure and mine waste management services focus on applying global standards when performing material and waste characterization and developing waste management options. Our team designs and implements mine waste management programs for tailings, waste rock, pit lakes, spent ore, solid/municipal waste, treatment residuals and sludges, impacted water, and other chemicals, materials, and wastes. We strive to identify low-risk and robust solutions that minimize management and closure costs, maximize the opportunities already present at the site, and move quickly through the permitting process. 

Geochemical Services

LRE Water’s geochemists and hydrologists regularly design, implement, analyze, and develop reporting for water quality and materials characterization studies. Our geochemists are experts in supporting mine operations and closure, including designing and implementing mine waste management programs. In cases where industry-standard laboratory and field geochemical test protocols are not appropriate, we deliver specialized test designs to provide the most valuable data for the project. Modeling is used to help assess risk by predicting the water quality of runoff or seepage. This helps to screen out high-risk and/or high-cost options early in the planning process.

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

Corvus North Bullfrog

LRE Water developed a full geochemical and hydrogeology baseline study for Federal and State permitting. We developed a regional groundwater flow model to support mine dewatering, impact assessment, and closure planning. A geochemical model was also developed to simulate pit backfill and the resulting potential impacts on water quality around the backfilled pits. 

LRE Water's team executed the seep and spring survey, designed the water supply well field, installed numerous monitoring wells, vibrating wire piezometers, and production wells, conducted pumping tests and interpreted the data, and wrote baseline reports in support of operations and permitting.

Compliance Data Management and Reporting 

LRE Water managed compliance data and prepared quarterly and annual reports for five mining water pollution control permits and three rapid infiltration basin permits held at four mine properties in Humboldt, Elko, and Eureka Counties, Nevada. 

LRE Water received field-data sheets, notes, and electronic data files provided by site environmental personnel and developed an efficient workflow to compile the written reports, manage the data, and ensure that all compliance obligations were met. Reporting included preparation of written reports and exporting data in the appropriate format for Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) Bureau of Mining Regulation and Reclamation (BMRR) electronic submittals.