A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO TESTING FOR ACID MINE DRAINAGE IN THE MINE PLANNING AND APPROVAL PROCESS

Acid mine drainage is one of the biggest environmental issues facing mining companies today. Government agencies, the general public and mine owners require that potential for acid generation can be predicted and controlled with a high degree of confidence. Failure to satisfy these concerns about acid mine drainage can slow the approval and permitting process delaying the start of production at the mine and considerably adding to the cost of mine development. These costs can be reduced by selection of predictive testing procedures appropriate to the level of mine development which will answer immediate environmental concerns in the context of the mine plan and indicate whether further testing is required. We present a procedure for the prediction of acid generation which integrates the stages of deposit exploration and approval for mine development with suitable predictive testwork to determine the potential for acid generation, the rate of acid production and suitable acid control techniques