A technical workshop on Best Practice in Hydrology & De-Watering Methods in Open Pits and Underground Mines was held on 14 June 2022 in English by The Transeuropean Centre Ltd. It was attended by hydrology engineers from Mexico, Chile, Peru, Brasil, USA, Canada, Greece, South Africa and Kazakhstan. They represented Agnico Eagle Mines Limited, BHP and BHP Chile, Newmont, Torex Gold Resources, CONSOL Energy, AuroraGeo, Kazminerals and other companies.

The workshop started with a presentation by Dr Kym Morton, Water Strategist and Consulting Mining Hydrologist, KLM Consulting Services Pty Ltd. She discussed methods of de-watering mines and hydrology of mining groundwater with case studies from around the world on design of de-watering systems for open pit and underground mines. Among the speakers were Justyna Blocka, Hydrogeologist, Itasca Consultants GmbH, Germany and Houmao Liu PhD, Hydrogeologist, Itasca Denver, General Manager who spoke on groundwater modelling software, simulation of open pit and zone of relaxation (zor), pore pressure for slope stability analysis. 

Last but not least was Michael Verreault, ing., M.Sc.A., Hydrogeologist – President, Hydro-Ressources Inc. Michael discussed mine dewatering using groundwater tracers.

In their feedback the attendees found the presentations thought provoking and highly relevant to their work. The presentation by Dr Kym L Morton was highly rated for its detailed case studies and their practical value.

“Perfect organization of the webinar” – this was the assessment given to the event by I. Prokofiev, Associate Professor of the Department of Mining, North-Eastern Federal University. The event featured a detailed discussion of new technologies for increasing the recovery factor for gold, copper, cobalt and other metals, in particular bioleaching. The speaker was David Lunt, process engineer and project manager for a number of benefication projects, in particular the BIOX complex at the Sansu mine, Ghana, and Kasese mine, Uganda. Seminar participants learned about technologies and solutions by Maelgwyn Mineral Services (Wales) for improved reactor flotation and accelerated cyanide neutralization.

The vice-president of the company Zhanara Amanzholova, vice-president, Altynalmas, and her colleagues spoke in detail about the implemented project of digitalization at the gold recovery plant of the Dolinnoye, Altynalmas using IoT, big data analysis and predictive analytics to optimize the operation of the milling equipment.

Andrew Bamber, Director of Bara Consulting, gave a detailed and systematic overview of the strategy for the formation of an ore stockpiles, ore sorting and blending – a very important and often overlooked component of the beneficiation process optimization. Grade analyzers at the excavator bucket and conveyor belts, which are now widely used at mining and processing enterprises in Australia, South America and Finland, were presented by I. Auranen, Director of the Finnish company IMA Engineering. Other innovations covered at the event include Concorde Cell technology by Metso Qutotec for the extraction of fine and ultrafine particles for the beneficiation of the complex and previously discarded to waste, ores and products by the Swedish company XORE for analyzing metal contents in liquid waste products at processing plants.

Overall assessment of the webinar – attendees were satisfied by 92 percent Mr Vladimir Shulgin, head of the grinding and flotation, KazZinc, when evaluating the webinar, suggested: “It is necessary to include more information of a commercial nature, economic indicators, payback periods, interviews of the workers who operate and provide maintenance newly implemented solutions”.

Mining practitioners from Australia, Canada, Germany, Britain, Scandinavia and the Russian Federation discussed the methods and practices of exploration, the problems of reconciliation and the use of geology information systems at the webinar attended by a large group of geologists from Russian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Ukrainian mining companies

Richard Burger of Mining Plus Australia shared his experience in analyzing the causes of unplanned dilution caused by the design process (mining or large block), incorrect assignment of bulk density or moisture, blasting methods (too large or small destruction or shear / swelling) or soil collapse.

Lyubov Egorova, Head of Geological Department, SRK Consulting (Russia) Ltd, used case studies to highlight the issue of comparing planned and actual indicators, which is relevant for many mining companies, and revealed in detail the methodology for constructing an operational model. Of particular interest to the webinar participants were the following sections of her report: general benchmarking of mining operations (ore reserves, volumes of declared ore reserves), comparison of indicators by tonnes, grade and metal from the forecast based on ore reserves, and actual development of balance ore reserves, as well as local comparative analysis (working areas: blocks, benches, mining areas, geological domains).

Latest geology information systems were discussed by Nornickel technical services, ESRI, Proxima, Sovzond and others.

Webinars on Mine Survey and Reconciliation and Exploration Geology for geologists will be held in the first quarter of 2022

14 mining experts and consultants from 10 countries discussed innovative solutions in the field of hydraulic engineering, hydrogeology at the webinar on Tailings Facilities Operation, Sludge transportation and Waste Management. This virtual seminar, hosted by the Transeuropean Centre Ltd on 21-22 December 2020 gave an opportunity to hydrogeologists, hydrotehnical engineers and processing plant managers from the leading mining companies in the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, listen to presentations on the pros and cons of the implemented technologies for wastewater treatment, their de-watering, sludge pumping, dry waste deposition using geo bags, etc.

Dr Kym Morton, speakers from MetsoOutotec, Coffey, TetraTech, Golder Associates, Bentley Systems, SRK Mining Canada, WEIR and Royal IHC answered numerous questions from the audience. Particular emphasis was placed on projects for the construction and operation of tailings dams in the harsh Arctic climate, implemented in Northern Canada and the United States. Water stewardship solutions at Neves Corvo mine, Portugal and Agas Tenidas mine, MATSA, Spain were also discussed in detail.

The virtual seminar on sustainability held in November this year was attended by the senior executives and sustainability officers at some of the leading mining and metallurgical companies in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. With great interest, competence and engagement the webinar participants had an overview of the International Council on Climate Disclosure Standards, worked together with Ms Tatiana Ridley (Instinctif Partners), Ms Yulia Cherepanova,

Robin Dean and Christine Blackmore (Wardell Armstrong) on ​​the study of sustainability reports of the world’s leading companies. They also had presentations on audit methodology under the Cyanide Code, on Industrial Safety and Environment. Talks on international standards for geochemistry and corporate water stewardship (SRK Consulting UK), the concept of a “green mine” and the possibility of generating energy from biooxidation (Сoffey, a Tetra Tech company) also featured at the webinar.

A webinar on HSE best practices, risk management and audit in mines in North Ontario (Canada) and other countries was attended by HSE practitioners from Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. The event featured presentations by HSE professionals from Australia, UK, USA and Workplace Safety (Canada). The attendees took great interest in the methods of correcting behavioral patterns, incentives for accident-free operation, new understanding of safety barriers, KPIs for preventing accidents and injuries. Many webinar participants expressed 100% satisfaction with this training course in their feedback forms.

Transeuropean is holding series of webinars for mining engineers and other industry professional on geology, resources reporting, processing, water and tailings management, safety in surface and underground mining operations and automation. This is an excellent opportunity to showcase one’s capability, networking and business development. If you are interested to present in Zoom to groups of 20-25 senior technical executives and engineers please get in touch with Natalia Kirsanova, director on 07768 081863 or office@transconf.com

A group of geologists, enrichment technologists and occupational safety and health specialists from Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine attended an intensive training seminar with technical visits to Helsinki and Talvivaara.

At the Terrafame open-cast polymetallic mine (formerly Talvivaara), the delegation studied the organization of mining operations and examined the heap bioleaching zone, where the gold extraction process takes place, even in severe frosts, at a temperature of 40-60C due to the exothermic reaction in the heap. The technological scheme and equipment of the crushing line was disclosed in detail in the reports of Sandvik and Outotec specialists. 

The delegates for the geological section from MMC Norilsk Nickel, Norilskgeology and AGD Diamonds examined issues of quality control of geological exploration and core samples (speaker Dr. Julia Cherepanova), studied the On-Line Mine technology of the Finnish company IMA Engineering – collection and analysis in real time data on the metal content during production activities from core, drilling waste and from ore on a conveyor belt and visited the Finland Geological Survey GTK, founded in 1885 by decree of Emperor Alexander III.

Lisbon – Neves Corvo – Aguas Tenidas – Seville (Portugal-Spain) September 16-21, 2019

The practical implementation of the most advanced technical solutions for tailings thickening and a compacting compact tailing dump was demonstrated to a delegation of leading experts and managers of mining companies of Russia and Kazakhstan in Portugal at the Neves-Corvo ore processing plant of the Canadian company Lundin.

The project and equipment were delivered by Outotec, a Finnish company, the world leader in tailings and water management. Thanks to this technology, the need for tailings areas is reduced significantly. Outotec’s head of hydrotechnical solutions and tailings utilization Arturo Gutierrez del Olmo spoke in detail and demonstrated the technologies introduced at the mine to eliminate the extension of the dam and tail slopes due to dewatering of tailings, and Outotec equipment for tailings thickening and filtering.

During the second technical visit to Spain, the seminar participants visited the ore processing plant of the Swiss-Abu Dhabi company MATSA, where they got acquainted in detail with the norms and regime of industrial safety, technical equipment and the operation of an ultramodern enrichment plant with its fully automated control room, sample preparation laboratory and organization work of a chemical analytical laboratory.

Among the participants of the event were specialists of Daltsvetmet, Eurochem-Usolsky Potash Plant, IMC Montan, AGD Diamonds, Uralkali, Sary-Kazna and Eurochem-Project. In the evening, free from work at the seminar, the participants took a swim in the Atlantic Ocean and got acquainted with the history of Lisbon and Seville.

A group of executives and specialists from leading Russian oil and gas companies, including Lukoil, Rosneft and Gazpromneft, studied the practical experience and economic effect of implementing solutions for digitizing and automating the drilling and production of hydrocarbons on the continental shelf of the North Sea. Baker Hughes General Electric, Cognite, Weatherford, Exebenus, FutureOn, Kongsberg Digital, Wellit, MHWirth, and others presented their innovative solutions for digitizing key production and business processes to Russian oil companies.

The workshop participants also visited the Norwegian Oil and Gas Research Center NORCE and the experimental Ullrig drilling rig (drilling depth 2.3 km), where robots are being introduced to fully automate the connection of pipes during descent.