Dewatering system benefits Mali mine
In a first-phase dewatering project, completed on the AngloGold–IAMGold Yatela gold-mine in western Mali, a dewatering system was designed, sited and installed by SRK Consulting and West African Drilling Services.
The system was tested to deliver a sustainable supply of 290 m3/h from five boreholes drilled into saprolite and weathered sandstone, with individual boreholes yielding up to 90 m3/h.
SRK principal hydrogeologist Gordon Maclear reports that the system was designed first of all to dewater the pit, but also to provide a medium-term source of water to fulfil the mine's requirements for processing, heap leaching, cooling and washing, dust suppression and domestic consumption purposes.
"The fact that the groundwater's quality was within the South African Bureau of Standards' recommended limit for drinking water was an added bonus, and reduced the cost of raw-water treatment on site," he explains.
Since a 46-km pipeline to the main line supplying the neighbouring Sadiola mine from the Senegal river was unnecessary, the system resulted in a capital cost saving to the Yatela project of about $3-million.
Further benefits of a successful project such as this include increased life of mine, greater mining depth and cost savings on conjunctive water use.
SRK, which provides a range of services to the natural resource industries, has been involved in numerous open-pit mine-dewatering projects for companies such as AngloGold in Mali and Namibia, Ashanti Goldfields in Guinea and Rio Tinto in Zimbabwe.
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