Geotechnical stability of mine waste structures, pit walls, and underground workings is critical to project success. Our associates have completed numerous designs for these facilities from conceptual level through detailed engineering and construction using advanced state-of-the-art characterization and analysis methods. Projects include: waste rock facilities, tailings dams, tailings dry stacks, co-disposal facilities, and heap leach pads.
Our team members have completed numerous heap leach pad and waste rock dump designs throughout the world including locations such as Alaska, Nevada, Mexico, Arizona, Turkey, Armenia, and Peru. On a notable project, our associates completed the design and construction oversight for the tailings dam at Gold Corp’s Marlin Mine in Guatemala. The project involved a 75-meter high tailings dam with 14 million cubic meters of storage in an earthquake-prone region. Our associates also designed an instrumentation system at the site to monitor for settlement, excess pore pressure, and seismic activity. The tailings facility was used as both a tailings storage impoundment and a water reservoir to provide make-up water for the process plant.
Geotechnical Engineering services include:
- Geotechnical Stability Analysis
- Heap Leach Pad Design
- Underground Rock Mechanics – Field Investigations and Modeling
- Pit Slope Stability – Field Investigations and Modeling
- Waste Dump Design & Stability Analysis
- Geotechnical Instrumentation
- Seismic Hazard Evaluation
- Tailings and Mine Waste Co-Disposal Design
- Seismic Monitoring Stations
- Rockfill and Slope Stability Assessment and Mitigation
- Retaining Systems, Tie Back and Soil Nail Wall Design