Design, construction and operation of a centerline rockfill tailing dam with low permeability core zone

Gold Fields La Cima (GFLC) owns the Cerro Corona gold and copper mine in the Cajamarca district of Peru, which has gold-equivalent Mineral Reserves of 5.5 million ounces and has been in production since 2008. It produces about 400,000 gold-equivalent ounces a year. MWH Global has been providing design and construction support services to GFLC since 2006. The Tailing Storage Facility (TSF) includes a rockfill centerline constructed dam with a low permeability core zone. The dam is currently at a height of approximately 100 meters and has a planned ultimate height of 160 meters. The mine is located in a seismically active zone within Peru that has a history of significant earthquake events. In the design of the dam, special consideration was given to maintaining the integrity of the core zone during operations and under earthquake loading. This paper presents a summary of the facility design and the approach adopted for the limit equilibrium slope stability analyses that were performed to evaluate both upstream and downstream failure modes. The results of field investigations of the tailing beach materials and the properties adopted to characterize the tailing materials are also included. In addition to design considerations, the paper discusses the construction and operation of the facility and presents the results of field monitoring of the facility to date.[All papers were considered for technical and language appropriateness by the organizing committee.]Non UBCUnreviewedOthe