207

A design approach for selecting the optimum

water cover depth for subaqueous disposal of
sulfide mine tailings
Mustafa A. Samad and Ernest K. Yanful

Abstract: The use of shallow water covers to flood reactive mine tailings is one of the most effective and common
methods of managing sulfide-rich reactive mine tailings in temperate climates. One of the aspects critical to the success
of subaqueous tailings disposal is the water depth required in the pond to maintain desirable water quality. Wind waves
and associated pressure-driven currents could resuspend the tailings, which might result in increased oxidation and
compromise the quality of the water cover. Although existing methodologies for water cover design are based on elimi-
nating tailings resuspension, sediment-trap data from several sites in Canada still indicate resuspension in most of the
ponds. In the present paper, a design methodology is proposed for optimizing the water cover depth, allowing sediment
resuspension within regulatory limits. The method uses linear wave theory and countercurrent flow profiles to obtain
the total bottom shear stress, which is then compared with the critical shear stress of the tailings to predict the onset of
erosion and resuspension and to compute the resulting mass of suspended tailings. Application of the methodology to a
tailings pond in British Columbia, Canada, indicates that although a maximum water cover depth of 2.5 m is necessary
to eliminate tailings resuspension, a maximum depth of 1.5 m could still be used, as the resulting concentration of sus-
pended tailings remains within the regulatory limit. The methodology also provides an estimate of the impact of
resuspension-induced oxidation on the quality of the water cover above the tailings, such as sulfate production.
Key words: mine tailings, water cover, wind waves, countercurrent flows, shear stress, resuspension.

Résumé : L’utilisation d’un mince couvert d’eau pour inonder les stériles miniers réactifs est une des méthodes les
plus courantes et effectives pour gérer les stériles miniers riches en sulfure réactif dans les climats tempérés. Un des
aspects critiques pour le succès de l’entreposage de stériles submergés est la profondeur d’eau requise dans le bassin
pour maintenir une qualité désirable de l’eau. Les vagues dues au vent et les courants qui résultent de la pression du
vent peuvent remettre en suspension les stériles, ce qui pourrait résulter en un accroissement de l’oxydation et compro-
mettre la qualité du couvert d’eau. Quoique les méthodologies existantes pour la conception de couvert d’eau sont
basées sur l’élimination des stériles en suspension, les trappes de sédiments de plusieurs sites au Canada indiquent tou-
jours une suspension dans la plupart des bassins. Dans le présent article, on propose une méthodologie de conception
pour optimiser la profondeur du couvert d’eau, permettant de rencontrer les limites réglementaires de remise en suspen-
sion des sédiments. La méthode utilise la théorie d’ondes linéaires et les profils d’écoulement à contre-courant pour ob-
tenir la contrainte de cisaillement totale au fond, qui est alors comparée à la contrainte de cisaillement critique des
stériles pour prédire le début de l’érosion et de la remise en suspension des sédiments, et pour calculer la masse résul-
tante des stériles en suspension. L’application de cette méthodologie à un bassin de stériles en Colombie Britannique,
Canada, indique que, quoiqu’une épaisseur maximale de couvert d’eau de 2,5 m est nécessaire pour éliminer la remise
en suspension des stériles, june profondeur maximale de 1,5 m pourrait toujours être utilisée pour que la concentration
résultante de stériles en suspension demeure à l’intérieur de la limite réglementaire. La méthodologie fournit également
une estimation de l’impact de l’oxydation induite par la remise en suspension sur la qualité de l’eau du couvert au-
dessus des stériles, tel que la production de sulfate.

Mots clés : stériles miniers, couvert d’eau, vagues dues au vent, écoulements à contre-courant, contrainte de cisaille-
ment, remise en suspension.

[Traduit par la Rédaction] Samad and Yanful 228

Received 30 April 2003. Accepted 30 August 2004. Published on the NRC Research Press Web site at http://cgj.nrc.ca on 8 March
2005.
M.A. Samad and E.K. Yanful.1 Geotechnical Research Centre, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The
University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B9, Canada.
1
Corresponding author (e-mail: eyanful@eng.uwo.ca).

Can. Geotech. J. 42: 207–228 (2005) doi: 10.1139/T04-094 © 2005 NRC Canada
208
Introduction
Natural oxidation of sulfide-rich reactive mine tailings
produces acid drainage that is potentially hazardous to the
environment. Flooding of the tailings with shallow water
cover in engineered impoundments, such as with dams and
dykes, substantially reduces the amount of oxygen available
to the sulfide minerals in the tailings. The method relies on
low oxygen solubility (8.6 g·m–3 at 25 °C) and diffusivity
(2 × 10–9 m2·s–1) in water, compared with that in air
(285 g·m–3 and 1.78 × 10–5 m2·s–1, respectively), which
makes it one of the most effective methods for environmen-
tal management of the tailings. Tailings disposal under shal-
low water cover reduces sulfide oxidation and subsequently
minimizes the release of sulfates, acids, and heavy metals to
the environment (Pederson et al. 1997; Yanful and Verma
1999; Yanful and Catalan 2002).
Depending on the location, size, and geometry of the tail-
ings pond, wind action at the surface of the water cover may
generate large waves and produce a shear-induced surface
drift current in the direction of the wind. The latter could
produce pressure-driven reverse or countercurrent flow
(CCF) at the bottom (Tsanis and Leutheusser 1987; Yang
2001). Combined bottom shear stress from waves and CCF
could be large enough to erode, resuspend, and transport the
tailings in tailings ponds (Adu-Wusu et al. 2001; Yanful and
Catalan 2002).
Resuspension of tailings can increase effluent turbidity
and compromise its quality. Because oxygen concentration
in shallow ponds remains close to the saturation level
(Vigneault et al. 2001), increased resuspension enhances ox-
idation of resuspended tailings (Catalan and Yanful 2002).
Increased oxidation may result in considerable release of
sulfates, acids, and heavy metals, as has been observed both
in the laboratory and in the field (Yanful et al. 2000; Catalan
and Yanful 2002).
In a number of tailings pond sites in Canada and Scandi-
navia, high wind speed and shallow water depths have occa-
sionally resulted in cover water quality that has raised some
concern. Peacey and Yanful (2003) reported that the effluent
from the Heath Steele mine tailings area (lower cell), New
Brunswick, Canada, exceeded the regulatory levels for total
suspended solids (TSS) concentration when the hourly aver-
age wind speed was >8 m·s–1. Water quality monitoring data
from the Equity Silver tailings pond, British Columbia, Can-
ada, and the Heath Steele lower cell have shown a gradual
decrease in the pH of the water cover over the past 10 years
(Mian 2004). Recent data at both sites show pH values
reaching close to 6, down from about 8 at Equity and 10 at
Heath Steele in 1992. The federal regulatory pH limit for
mine effluent in Canada ranges between 6.0 and 9.5. The
Løkken tailings pond site in Norway (Mian 2004) has shown
slightly elevated concentrations of Zn (~3 mg·L–1) and Cu
(~0.6 mg·L–1) and low pH values (~3.5), which were also at-
tributed to oxidation of resuspended tailings. In all these
sites, additional remedial measures have had to be taken to
address the wind-induced water quality concerns. For exam-
ple, at Heath Steele, the tailings under shallow water cover
were dredged and moved to deeper areas as part of the final
closure measures.
Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 42, 2005
The selection of appropriate water depth for subaqueous
tailings disposal is therefore one of the critical aspects of
maintaining desirable pond water quality. From the perspec-
tive of wind-driven flow, water cover depths designed to
eliminate tailings resuspension for the design wind condi-
tions would be the most desirable, as this would also elimi-
nate water quality concerns. However, meeting such depth
requirements may become economically unfeasible, requir-
ing higher and more costly water-retaining structures and the
maintenance of a large volume of water in the pond. Higher
water depth may also hinder the growth of vegetation that
provides improved biota in tailings ponds (St-Germain et al.
1997). Significantly reduced water cover depth, on the other
hand, would cause tailings resuspension that could result in
higher oxidation.
Fundamental work on the depth and water quality aspects
of flooded mine tailings is limited. Most published work on
water cover designs for reactive sulfide-rich tailings is based
on empirical predictive methods focusing mainly on the sta-
bility of the tailings bed. The methodologies assume that
maintaining the wind-wave-induced near-bottom velocity be-
low the threshold velocity for erosion would eliminate tail-
ings resuspension (Lawrence et al. 1991; Mohamed et al.
1996; Atkins et al. 1997). The threshold velocity is either
obtained experimentally or estimated from empirical meth-
ods.
Although these design methods estimate water cover
depths intended to eliminate tailings resuspension, field-
measured data at several sites in Canada (Adu-Wusu et al.
2001; Bennett and Yanful 2001; Catalan and Yanful 2002)
have shown that water covers do not always eliminate
resuspension. In many cases, sediment-trap data have indi-
cated some resuspension, even in areas where the water
cover is close to 2 m deep. This, to some extent, points to
possible inadequacy of existing methods for designing water
covers.
Recently, Yanful and Catalan (2002) used the small-
amplitude wave theory and quadratic friction law to estimate
bottom shear stress due to wind-induced waves. By compar-
ing the bottom shear stress with the critical bottom shear
stress of the tailings obtained experimentally in a rotating
circular flume (RCF), these authors proposed conditions for
resuspension in various wind wave environments. Although
this work did not explicitly address the issue of water cover
design and concentrated mainly on interpreting field-
measured sediment-trap data, the experimental data on
tailings erosion provided important insight into the resus-
pension character of the tailings.
From the design perspective, resuspension in a tailings
pond may still be allowed, provided sediment and other
metal concentrations remain within regulatory limits. This
would allow optimizing of the water depth, taking into
account the mass of the suspended tailings and the overall
water quality.
The main difficulty in adopting such a design approach
lies in the fact that quantitative prediction of sediment
resuspension and oxidation products in tailings ponds is still
in the preliminary stages of research. As indicated in the
present study and the work by Yanful and Samad (2003),
most base metal and uranium mine tailings are predomi-
© 2005 NRC Canada
Samad and Yanful
Fig. 1. The Premier Gold Project tailings storage facility site and surrounding area in British Columbia, Canada.
nantly cohesive in character. Although several methods have
been proposed for predicting natural cohesive sediment ero-
sion (Lick 1982; Parchure and Mehta 1986; Mehta 1988),
their applicability is yet to be tested for mine tailings. On the
other hand, although several models are available for esti-
mating oxidation products for subaqueous stationary tailings
beds (Morin 1993; Lapakko 1994; Li et al. 1997; Fenemore
et al. 1998), literature on the oxidation of resuspended tail-
ings is very scarce.
In the present paper, a design methodology for selecting
the optimum water cover depth in tailings ponds is proposed
that considers tailings resuspension and sulfate release due
to sulfide oxidation. Wind-induced waves and CCF are con-
sidered the primary mechanisms for tailings resuspension,
whereas cohesive properties of the tailings are taken into
account in describing the erosion process. Additionally, oxi-
dation of both bed and resuspended tailings is considered in
obtaining sulfate concentration in the water cover. The
method uses input information, such as measured wind
speed and direction, pond geometry, tailings properties and
critical shear stress, to provide maps of required water cover
depth and suspended tailings and sulfate concentrations. The
computations are performed within the pond boundary at lo-
cations with selected square grid spacing. While the method-
ology was being developed, predicted wave heights, surface
drift velocities, and concentration of resuspended tailings
were validated against field data, and the sulfate production
rate was compared with independent sets of laboratory test
results. All these comparisons generally showed very good
agreement with measured values. The capabilities of the
methodology and the computational procedures were dem-
onstrated with a tailings pond located in British Columbia,
Canada. The results indicate that flexibility in designing the
water cover depth to allow tailings resuspension within regu-
209
latory limits can considerably reduce water depth
requirements in a tailings pond.
Materials and data requirement
Study sites and tailings characteristics
Field data from a number of Canadian tailings pond loca-
tions were used in this study for model validation and (or)
application. The sites were Heath Steele upper and lower
cells, New Brunswick; Quirck cell 14, Elliot Lake, Ontario;
Falconbridge new tailings area, Sudbury, Ontario; and Pre-
mier Gold Project tailings storage facility (PGP–TSF), Brit-
ish Columbia. However, to demonstrate the computational
procedure using the proposed methodology, data from the
PGP–TSF site were used. The main reason for using the
PGP–TSF site for the example calculation was the availabil-
ity of a complete set of input data required for the model
application. As the water cover at this site is still being de-
signed and has, therefore, not yet been implemented, the
computations presented in this paper are only a demonstra-
tion of the capabilities of the model and not those of the
envisaged design for the site. For the same reason, field per-
formance data for the PGP–TSF site are not yet available to
validate the model. Instead, the model has been validated
in different aspects, including wave measurements, surface
drift currents, and TSS concentrations (with data from the
various sites previously mentioned), and laboratory sulfate
concentrations.
However, to emphasize the importance of key parameters
in the application of the model, such as the direction of the
dominant winds and the orientation of the tailings pond, a
map of the PGP–TSF site and surrounding areas is presented
in Fig. 1.
© 2005 NRC Canada
210
Particle size distribution
Particle size distribution of final mill tailings from the
PGP–TSF site was obtained with a Malvern particle size an-
alyzer (Malvern Instruments Ltd., Worcestershire, UK). The
distribution indicates that the PGP mine tailings fall predom-
inantly within the fine-silt range: about 97% of the particles
are finer than silt (<0.063 mm), and the clay (<0.002 mm)
and sand (>0.063 mm) fractions are about 7% and 3%, re-
spectively (Fig. 2).
Soulsby (1997) noted that cohesion in natural marine sedi-
ments becomes important when more than 10% of the sedi-
ment particles are finer than silt. As the mineralogical
composition of mine tailings is different from that of natural
sediments, the two may have different cohesion characteris-
tics. However, the predominance of the fine-silt fraction in
the tailings is a strong indicator of cohesive behavior in the
mine tailings.
Measurement of critical shear stress and tailings
cohesive properties
Experiments were performed to determine the critical
shear stress for erosion of the tailings from the PGP–TSF
site. The experiments were conducted in the RCF at the Na-
tional Water Research Institute in Burlington, Ontario, Can-
ada. The RCF consists of a circular flume 5.0 m in mean
diameter, 0.30 m wide, and 0.30 m deep that rests on a rotat-
ing platform 7.0 m in diameter. Experimental and theoretical
studies (Krishnappan 1993; Petersen and Krishnappan 1994)
have shown that the flow field generated in the flume is two-
dimensional, with nearly constant bed shear stress across the
width of the flume. Details of the experimental facility can
be found elsewhere, for example, in Krishnappan (1993) and
Yanful and Catalan (2002).
During preparation of the experiments, about 90 kg of the
tailings, shipped in sealed containers from the site, was com-
pletely mixed with 500 L of tap water. The slurry was then
poured into the RCF and allowed to deposit uniformly over
the entire flume bed for a certain consolidation time. During
the experiments, the RCF was set in motion, and the speeds
were increased in steps to increase the bottom shear stress.
Each step was maintained for at least 30 min. During each
step, water samples were collected and analyzed for tailings
concentration (mg·L–1). A sudden increase in concentration
indicated the onset of tailings erosion, and the corresponding
shear stress was taken as the critical shear stress (τc ) for ero-
sion of the top layer of the tailings bed.
After completion of the experiment, the tailings bed was
removed by mechanical means, and the sample was again
prepared for an experiment with a different consolidation
time. Tests were performed at three different consolidation
times: 96, 48, and 24 h.
Figure 3a shows the variation of tailings concentration in
the water column and the applied shear stress as functions of
time for the three different consolidation cases. The figure
shows that after the initiation of tailings erosion, tailings
concentration increases with bed shear stress. The critical
bed shear stress that corresponds to the onset of erosion can
be obtained from the variation of erosion rate calculated
from the concentration data (Fig. 3b). The erosion rate
peaked at the start of each stress level and subsequently
Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 42, 2005
Fig. 2. Particle size distribution of tailings from the Premier
Gold Project tailings storage facility site.
dropped to nearly zero. The first such peak in Fig. 3b indi-
cates the onset of erosion of the tailings (indicated by arrows
in the figure). The corresponding applied bed shear stress,
0.09 Pa, was considered the critical bed shear stress for ero-
sion in the present study. This critical shear stress is repre-
sentative of the steady unidirectional flow field generated in
the flume.
The small value of the critical shear stress obtained indi-
cates high erodibility of the tailings. Erosion test results
from other tailings management facilities in Canada show
similar values for critical shear stress against erosion, for
example, ~0.12 Pa for the Heath Steele upper cell, New
Brunswick (Yanful and Catalan 2002); and ~0.09 Pa for the
Falconbridge new tailings area, Ontario (Bennett 2002).
Figure 3a shows that the sediment concentration at a par-
ticular applied shear stress has a tendency to level off and
attain a steady-state value. This behavior is a typical charac-
teristic of cohesive sediments and has been observed by
other researchers (Lick 1982; Parchure and Mehta 1986;
Partheniades 1986; Krishnappan and Marsalek 2002).
Parchure and Mehta (1986) and Partheniades (1986) argued
that the attainment of steady-state concentration during the
erosion process is due to a reduction in the rate of erosion of
the sediment with time and not to the balance of erosion and
deposition rates. They also noted that cohesive sediments do
not deposit while being eroded at a constant shear stress.
These findings are consistent with those of Krishnappan and
Marsalek (2002), who found that the critical shear stress for
erosion was higher than for deposition.
The RCF results also indicate that the concentration for
the 96 h consolidation time was lower than for the 24 h con-
solidation time for shear stresses between 0.09 and 0.21 Pa.
This reflects a reduction in bed erosion at smaller stress lev-
els for longer consolidation periods as a result of the gain
in shear strength. However, with the applied shear stress
of 0.21–0.32 Pa, the concentration of suspended tailings
reached nearly the same value, irrespective of the consolida-
tion time. This indicates that although the gain in strength
© 2005 NRC Canada
Samad and Yanful
Fig. 3. Variation of (a) suspended tailings concentration and (b) corresponding erosion rate, with applied shear stress for different con-
solidation periods as obtained from the erosion tests in the rotating circular flume. First trace of erosion is observed at the applied
shear stress of 0.09 N·m–2 as indicated by arrows in (b).
was achieved near the tailings surface, shear resistance did
not increase beneath the surface layer with an increase in the
consolidation time. This small variation in concentration for
different consolidation times may also represent a weak co-
hesive bonding in the tailings, unlike in natural sediments.
Wind data
Wind data were collected from the weather station in-
stalled at the PGP–TSF site and from Stewart Airport, lo-
cated about 22 km southeast of the project site. The data for
the Environment Canada wind station at Stewart Airport
consist of hourly wind speed and direction, taken as the
mean over 2 min periods on the hour. The PGP–TSF
weather station data, in contrast, had hourly maximum wind
speeds obtained from data with 5 s intervals, along with the
average wind direction over the hour. For both stations, the
data corresponded to an elevation of 10 m from the ground.
The PGP–TSF weather station had records from Novem-
ber 2001 onwards, whereas the Stewart Airport station had
wind records from 1975. For statistical analysis, wind data
from the PGP–TSF weather station were not sufficient be-
cause of the short period of availability; therefore, wind data
from Stewart were used in the analysis. To establish a corre-
lation between the data from the two stations, equivalent
hourly average wind speeds were calculated and compared,
according to the procedure described in the Coastal Engi-
neering Manual (CEM) of the U.S. Army Coastal Engi-
211
neering Research Center (CERC 2002). The comparison
showed nearly identical average hourly wind speeds from
the two stations. It was, therefore, concluded that the long-
term data from Stewart Airport could be used in the analy-
sis. The wind direction data, however, were taken directly
from the PGP–TSF station.
The wind speeds for different return periods were esti-
mated by using the annual maximum hourly average wind
speeds and by applying four probability density functions:
(i) normal; (ii) log-normal; (iii) exponential; and
(iv) Gumbel distributions. The selection of distribution func-
tion was based on the goodness-of-fit values, tested by ap-
plying chi-square and Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests (Table 1).
The test values measure the goodness-of-fit of a distribution
compared with a critical value at a given confidence level.
When the test value from a distribution is smaller than the
critical value, the distribution is considered acceptable. The
greater the difference between the test value and the critical
value is, the better the distribution will be. Also, the distribu-
tion that gives the lowest test value is considered the most
suitable. In addition, the closer the observed data are to the
95% confidence limits, the better the distribution will be.
With these criteria (Table 1 and Fig. 4), it is clear that the
normal distribution is superior to the others. Accordingly,
an hourly average design wind speed of 16 m·s–1 was ob-
tained by using a normal distribution for a 100 year return
period.
© 2005 NRC Canada
212 Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 42, 2005

Fig. 4. Comparison of predicted wind speed with measured data (envelope of ±95% confidence interval is also shown): (a) normal,
(b) log-normal, (c) exponential, and (d) Gumbel distribution.

Table 1. Results of goodness-of-fit tests for wind data with dif- detached eddies form near the ends, the bottom shear stress
ferent probability density functions. produced is unidirectional, against the direction of the wind.
Kolmogorov–Smirnov Wind-induced waves
Chi-square values values
Significant wave height and period
Distribution Criticala Computed Criticala Computed
Significant wave height and period can be conveniently
Normal 19.68 18.28 0.250 0.143 computed with the Sverdrup, Munk, and Bretschneider
Log-normal 19.68 18.28 0.250 0.167 (SMB) method as given in the Shore Protection Manual of
Exponential 19.68 20.85 0.250 0.131 the U.S Army Coastal Engineering Research Center (CERC
Gumbel 19.68 31.14 0.250 0.298 1984). The method provides wave properties separately for
a
At 95% confidence level. deep, shallow, and intermediate water depths; these proper-
ties are given for deep-water waves (h/L > 0.5) by

FUa2
[1] Hs = 0.0016
Design methodology g

Wind-generated flow and bottom shear stress

FUa
Two aspects of fluid motion govern the flow field gener- [2] Ts = 0.2714 3
ated by wind in closed water bodies such as mine tailings g2
ponds: (i) waves and (ii) surface drift and associated return
currents. Waves and drift currents are generated at the water and for shallow- and intermediate-water waves (h/L < 0.5)
surface. The positive pressure gradient developed by the sur- by
face drift currents results in a circulatory CCF at the bottom
(Hellström 1941), which essentially provides a mass balance ⎡ ⎛ gh ⎞ ⎤
3/ 4
Ua2
across a vertical section in the pond. Resuspension of tail- [3] Hs = 0.283 ⎢
tanh 0.530 ⎜ 2 ⎟ ⎥
g ⎢ ⎝ Ua ⎠ ⎥
ings could be expected to occur when the combined bottom ⎣ ⎦
shear stress from waves and CCF exceeds the critical bottom
shear stress for erosion. Waves and CCF are generated from ⎧ 1/ 2
⎫
⎪ ⎛ gF ⎞ ⎪
the persistent winds blowing over the tailings water cover.
⎪ 0.00565 ⎜ 2 ⎟ ⎪
Estimation of the mass of suspended tailings therefore re- ⎪ ⎝ Ua ⎠ ⎪
quires determination of wind-induced waves and drift cur- × tanh ⎨ ⎬
⎪ ⎡ ⎛ gh ⎞ ⎤ ⎪
3 / 4

⎪ tanh ⎢ 0.530 ⎜ 2 ⎟ ⎥ ⎪
rents and resulting bottom shear stresses.
The waves produce a predominantly oscillatory bottom ⎪ ⎢ ⎝ Ua ⎠ ⎥ ⎪
shear stress variation over a wave period. For CCF, unless ⎩ ⎣ ⎦⎭
© 2005 NRC Canada
Samad and Yanful 213

⎡ ⎛ gh ⎞ ⎤
3/ 8
u*a 2
[4] Ts = 7.54
Ua ⎢
tanh 0.833 ⎜ 2 ⎟ ⎥ [8] CD =
⎢ U2
g ⎝ Ua ⎠ ⎥
⎣ ⎦ C D = 0.001(1.1 + 0.035U )
⎧ 1/ 3
⎫ where CD is the drag coefficient.
⎪ ⎛ gF ⎞ ⎪ The SMB and CEM methods for determining the signifi-
⎪ 0.0379 ⎜ 2 ⎟ ⎪
⎪ ⎝ Ua ⎠ ⎪ cant wave height and period are both included in the present
× tanh ⎨ ⎬ analysis. However, for application in shallow water cover,
⎪ ⎡ ⎛ gh ⎞
3/ 8 ⎤
⎪ the SMB equations have been used mostly (Lawrence et al.
⎪ tanh ⎢ 0.833 ⎜ 2 ⎟ ⎥ ⎪
⎪ ⎢ ⎝ Ua ⎠ ⎥ ⎪ 1991; Yanful and Catalan 2002).
⎩ ⎣ ⎦⎭
Wavelength
where h is the water depth (m); L is the wave length (m); Hs The wavelength, L (m), can be calculated iteratively by
is the significant wave height (average height of the highest the following equation:
one-third of waves in a wave train (m)); F is the fetch length gTs2 ⎛ 2π h ⎞
over which wind blows (m); Ua is the wind stress factor [9] L= tanh ⎜ ⎟
2π ⎝ L ⎠
(m·s–1) (= 0.71U1.23, where U is the wind speed (m·s–1) at
10 m elevation); g is the acceleration due to gravity (m·s–2);
and Ts is the significant wave period (s). Particle velocity amplitude and displacement length near the
Recent methods of wave prediction proposed in the CEM bottom
(CERC 2002) use a wave growth law based on wave spec- The small-amplitude (linear) wave theory can be applied
trum densities. Wave spectra proposed in the Joint North Sea to determine near-bottom velocity amplitude, U1m (m·s–1),
Wave Project (Hasselmann et al. 1973) can be combined and particle displacement length, am (m), corresponding to
with a description of fully developed wave frequency, to the significant wave height and period. These can be ob-
obtain a simplified wave prediction formulation. The wave tained as
growth with fetch is given (CERC 2002) by π Hs 1
[10] U1m =
Ts sinh(kh)
u*a 2 ⎛ gF ⎞
[5] H0m = 0.0413 ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟
U1m
g ⎝ u*a 2 ⎠ [11] am =
ωs

where k is the wave number (= 2π/L); and ω s is the wave

u*a ⎛ gF ⎞
3 ⎜
[6] Tp = 0.651 ⎜ *2 ⎟⎟
g ⎝ ua ⎠
where H0m is the energy-based significant wave height (m)
(= Hs); u*a is the shear velocity in the atmospheric boundary
layer (ABL) (m·s–1); and Tp is the wave period correspond-
ing to the spectral peak frequency (s) (≈ Ts).
This analysis (CERC 2002) also defines the persistent
time required for achieving the fetch-limited wave condition
for a given fetch length and wind velocity. Also, it was re-
ported (CERC 2002) that the fetch-limited growth in shal-
low-water waves appears to follow nearly the same growth
law as that of deep-water waves for the same wind speed.
However, the wave period in shallow-water waves cannot
grow past a limiting value (Vincent 1985). The wind dura-
tion to achieve fetch-limited condition, tF,U (s), is given
(CERC 2002) by
F 0.67
[7] t F ,U = 77.23 0.34 0.33
U g
Application of eqs. [5] and [6] requires the assessment of
atmospheric shear velocity (u*a ), which can be obtained by
considering, for example, the logarithmic velocity profile in
the ABL, taking into consideration the atmospheric stability
conditions, or by using drag laws, as proposed by CERC
(2002):
frequency (s–1) corresponding to the significant wave period
(= 2π/Ts).
Although wave characteristics, such as shape, height, and
period, are modified in the shallow-water zones as a result of
nonlinear interactions caused by the changing depth, Dean
and Perlin (1986) reported that linear theory generally is suf-
ficient for the prediction of near-bottom kinematics under
waves. For nonbreaking waves, application of linear wave
theory slightly overestimates U1m (Fredsøe and Diegaard
1992) and therefore remains safe for design considerations.
Wave Reynolds number and roughness parameter
The state of flow regime under waves, laminar or turbu-
lent, is defined by a wave Reynolds number (Rew) proposed
by Jonsson (1966):
U1m a m
[12] Rew =
υ
where υ is the kinematic viscosity of the water (m2·s–1).
The onset of turbulence in the wave boundary layer has
been studied by many researchers (Jonsson 1966; Sleath
1974; Kamphuis 1975; Jensen et al. 1989). For smooth bed
conditions the transition from a laminar regime to a turbu-
lent one starts with Rew ~ 105, whereas for rough bottom
conditions Rew varies over a wide range (~103–105), depend-
ing on the relative roughness of the bed. The relative rough-
ness is defined through a roughness parameter, a m /ks, where
ks is the Nikuradse effective bed roughness height (m) given
© 2005 NRC Canada
214
by 3d90, with d90 being the 90th percentile fraction of the
grain size of bed materials (m).
Wave-induced bottom shear stress
Maximum bed shear stress, τ0w (N·m–2), developed by os-
cillatory motion at the free surface, can be described by ap-
plying the quadratic friction law (Jonsson 1966). This is
given by
ρ
[13] τ0w = w fw U1m
2 depth z; u*s is the shear velocity at the water surface (m·s–1);
2 zb and zs are the characteristic lengths at the bottom and sur-
where ρw is the density of water (kg·m–3); and fw is the wave
friction factor, which is dependent on the turbulent dissipa-
tion process at the bottom. For laminar motion, the friction
factor can be obtained analytically as shown by Jonsson
(1966):
2 from laboratory experiments and were given as 0.00014,
[14] fw =
Rew
The typical flow regime in mine tailings ponds shows
mainly laminar behavior, as has been calculated from mea-
sured wave records (reported in a later section). Under a tur-
bulent regime, the friction factor is dependent on the bed
roughness parameter (am/ks) and the magnitude of the wave
Reynolds number. For plane and rough bed conditions, the
friction factor can be obtained by following the methods of
Fredsøe and Diegaard (1992) and Kamphuis (1975).
The critical shear stress for erosion as obtained from the
RCF experiments was representative of the steady unidirec-
tional flow field generated in the flume. For comparison of
the contribution from the waves to tailings erosion, a repre-
sentative time-averaged bottom shear stress was necessary.
The time-averaged value of the bottom shear stress was ob-
tained by averaging the variation of bottom shear stress over
one-half wave period, given by τ0w /2, as suggested by vari-
ous researchers, for example, Larsen et al. (1981) and van
Rijn (1993).
Countercurrent flow
Wind interaction at the water surface also results in a sur-
face drift current in the direction of the wind. In a closed
water body the drift current is balanced by a return current
near the bed (CCF), thereby forming a large circulatory mo-
tion along the pond axis. For tailings ponds, where the as-
pect ratio (h/w, where h is the water cover depth (m); and w
is the pond length in the direction of wind (m)) is very small
(much less than unity), it is assumed that the magnitude of
CCF is small, contributing only about 10% to the total shear
stress (Lawrence et al. 1991; Yanful and Catalan 2002).
However, for higher wind speeds and water depths, this
study indicated that CCF contribution could often exceed
20% of the total bed shear stress.
Velocity profile and flow properties
Wind-induced surface drift current and CCF with low as-
pect ratio have been studied by several researchers (Tsanis
1989; Wu and Tsanis 1995; Yang 2001). Whereas the verti-
cal velocity distribution under laminar motion can be deter-
mined analytically, for turbulent flow Tsanis (1989) showed
Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 42, 2005
a double logarithmic behavior representative of CCF in the
fully developed region.
The velocity profile for turbulent flow (Yang 2001) is
given as
u(z) ⎛ z⎞ ⎛ z ⎞
[15] = A ln ⎜1 + ⎟ + B ln ⎜1 − ⎟
u*s ⎝ z b⎠ ⎝ z s + h⎠
where u(z) is the time-averaged horizontal velocity (m·s–1) at
face defining viscous sublayer (m); z is the vertical distance
from the bottom (m); and A and B are parameters, given by
A = q2/(p1q2 + p2q1) and B = –q1/(p1q2 + p2q1) with p1 =
λzsh; p2 = λ(1 + zbh); q1 = (1 + z bh) ln[1 + (1/z bh)] − 1; and q2 =
zsh ln[1 + (1/zsh)] – 1, where zbh = zb/h; zsh = zs/h; and λ is a
coefficient. The parameters were obtained by Yang (2001)
0.01, and 0.45, respectively.
The Reynolds number in CCF, Rec, is defined as
Ush
[16] Rec =
υ
where Us is the magnitude of the surface drift velocity (m·s–1).
Initiation of turbulence in the CCF with plain bed conditions
starts at an Rec of 6000–8000 (Koseff and Street 1984).
The surface drift velocity, Us, has components from both
wind-induced surface drift (Usc) and generated wind waves
(Usw) and can be obtained following Wu (1975) and Fredsøe
and Diegaard (1992), respectively. The shear velocity at the
water surface can be calculated by considering that the
tangential stress is continuous at the air–water interface
(Spillane and Hess 1978), such that
ρ
[17] u*s = u*a a
ρw
where u*s is the shear velocity at the water surface (m·s–1);
and ρa is the air density (kg·m–3).
CCF-induced bottom shear stress
Bed shear stress for CCF, τ0c (N·m–2), can be calculated
from the gradient of velocity distribution near the bottom.
By definition, the bottom shear stress is given by
du (z)
[18] τ0c = (ρwυ) at z=0
dz
For laminar flow, the bottom shear stress can also be cal-
culated by using the quadratic friction law, where the fric-
tion factor for CCF can be obtained analytically. Turbulent
bottom shear stress under CCF can be obtained by applying
eq. [18], along with the vertical velocity distribution,
eq. [15], and an appropriate description of turbulent eddy
viscosity, υ t . For turbulent flow, the turbulent eddy viscosity
is much greater than the kinematic viscosity of water and the
kinematic viscosity term in eq. [18] is replaced by υ t , a sim-
ple description of which is given by Wu and Tsanis (1995)
as υ t = (λu*s /h)(z + zb)(zs + h – z). Now applying the equa-
tions at the bottom, at z = 0, a description of the bottom
shear stress was obtained for the present study as
© 2005 NRC Canada
Samad and Yanful
⎛ A B ⎞
[19] τ0c = ρwu*s 2 λ z bh(zsh + 1) ⎜ − ⎟
⎝ z bh zsh + 1⎠
Yang (2001) suggested that the coefficients zbh, zsh, and λ,
used to describe the vertical velocity profiles, which are ob-
tained from experimental data, are generally representative
of low-aspect-ratio CCF. A sensitivity study of the coeffi-
cients indicated that the variation in the coefficients affects
the flow profile mainly near the water surface, and the bot-
tom shear stress is least affected by the choice of the coeffi-
cient values.
Total bottom shear stress
The time-averaged total bottom shear stress can now be
determined by numerically summing the parts from waves
and the CCF:
[20] τ0 = τ0w / 2 + τ0c
This would contribute to tailings erosion at the bottom.
Equation [20] neglects the influence of wave–current inter-
action. Lodahl et al. (1998) pointed out that the nonlinear
interaction between waves and currents depends on their
relative strengths and that the bed shear stress averaged
over one wave period might increase, remain constant, or
even decrease with respect to its steady-current values.
Equation [20], therefore, provides a maximum limit for the
magnitude of combined bottom shear stress. A similar
computation by van Rijn (1989) using eq. [20] provided a
somewhat larger magnitude of total bed shear stress over
sand beds than the corresponding experimental values. In a
tailings pond, this interaction might be further complicated
by the presence of an inflection point in the vertical current
profile.
Sediment resuspension and erosion rate
Assuming that the depth of erosion is small and that the
critical bed shear stress for erosion does not vary with depth,
the erosion rate of tailings in suspension can be computed
following an Ariathurai–Partheniades-type erosion equation
(Partheniades 1986) for cohesive materials:
n rate law on the basis of experimental results obtained from a
⎛ τ − τc ⎞
[21] E = M⎜ 0 ⎟
⎝ τc ⎠
where E is the erosion rate (kg·m–2); τ0 is the total bed shear
stress (N·m–2); τc is the critical bed shear stress for erosion
(N·m–2); n is an exponent; and M is a coefficient in appropri-
ate dimensions. The values of the coefficients in the general
erosion equation, eq. [21], are typically obtained from labo-
ratory erosion tests, in situ erosion tests, or large-scale ob-
servational data (see, for example, Lick 1982; Partheniades
1986; Pickens and Lick 1992). However, interpretation of
the data is often subjective, for example, in the assessment
of critical shear stress or in the selection of a particular ex-
perimental procedure. In the present study, the exponent and
the coefficients were obtained from the erosion test data, as
further discussed in a later section.
215
Tailings oxidation and resulting sulfate concentration
Oxidation in a tailings pond occurs as dissolved oxygen in
water comes in contact with mine tailings. Whereas resus-
pended tailings oxidize because of freely available oxygen in
water (Hustwit et al. 1992), oxidation of the tailings at the
bottom of the pond requires diffusion of oxygen through the
overlaying water (Morin 1993; Lapakko 1994). These two
differing processes of oxidation need to be modeled with
different approaches.
Estimation of sulfate concentration as an oxidation prod-
uct is based on a principle similar to that of a batch reactor,
where the rate of loss of oxygen for oxidation is set equal to
the rate of accumulation of the oxidation product.
Oxygen consumption for oxidation of the tailings at the
bed can be determined by the diffusion law. The concentra-
tion of dissolved oxygen in a completely mixed water
column without advection or sediment resuspension can be
represented as
∂C ∂ 2C
[22] = D* − K* C
∂t ∂z 2
where C is the oxygen concentration (kg·m–3); t is time (s);
D* is the effective diffusion coefficient of oxygen in tailings
(m2·s–1); z is the depth of water in the water column (m); and
K* is the oxidation reaction rate (s–1).
The steady-state solution of eq. [22] at the tailings–water
interface can be obtained for oxygen mass flux, O2 flux
(kg·m–2·s–1), as
∂m
[23] O2 flux = = CO D* K *
∂t
where ∂m/∂t is the oxygen mass flux into the water
(kg·m–2·s –1); and C O is the oxygen concentration at the
air–water interface (kg·m –3). The oxygen flux can then
be converted to the rate of sulfate production by using
the rate law and reaction rate constant.
Information on the oxidation of resuspended tailings in a
tailings pond is very scarce, mainly because of the uncer-
tainties in predicting tailings resuspension. Li et al. (1997)
proposed a sulfate release model, in which they assumed
that 2 mm of a tailings bed is continually resuspended.
Gautam and Yanful (2001) proposed a sulfate production
shake flask. Gautam and Yanful (2001) placed a sample of
unoxidized tailings from Heath Steele mine, New Bruns-
wick, Canada, under water in a shake flask and continuously
aerated it to ensure oxygen saturation. Sulfate production
was estimated using the principle of the batch reactor and
the volume of tailings resuspension. The rate of sulfate pro-
duction, SO4–2 flux (kg·m–2·s–1), was given by Gautam and
Yanful (2001) as
∂m s
[24] SO4−2 flux = = sE
∂t
where ∂ms /∂t is the sulfate mass flux (kg·m–2·s–1); s is the
sulfate production rate from the shake flask (kg[SO−42 ]·kg[−1
tailings]·
s −1); and E is the tailings erosion rate (kg·m–2). Gautam and
Yanful (2001) obtained a value for s of 1.88 mg·L[−SO1 –1
− 2 ·day ·
] 4
© 2005 NRC Canada
216
g−1·L[−1
tailings] for the tailings, which contained about 60% py-
rite, 25% quartz, and 8% kaolinite as the main mineral con-
stituents. The experiments were performed at a controlled
temperature of 20 °C to represent the likely temperature of
the tailings pond during summer.
Computational framework
The proposed design methodology accounts for the options
both of eliminating tailings resuspension and of optimizing
resuspension to maintain the pond water quality at a desired
level. The distribution of required depths in the pond is ob-
tained by dividing the pond into a number of grids with suit-
able square grid spacing, and the computations are performed
at each grid cell. Measured wind data are used to compute the
design wind speed and directional distribution for a given re-
turn period. Fetch lengths at each grid point are then calcu-
lated according to the directional wind distribution.
Determination of required minimum water depth in the
tailings ponds is based on the condition that wind-induced
bottom shear stress would not exceed the critical shear stress
for tailings erosion. During the first cycle of computations,
wind data, along with measured critical shear stress of the
tailings, are used to calculate the minimum water depth
needed to completely eliminate resuspension of the tailings.
The resulting depths are then presented in depth contour
maps. In the second computational cycle, restrictions on the
minimum required water depth are introduced such that
partial tailings resuspension is allowed, in exchange for a
reduced depth requirement. Corresponding resuspended tail-
ings and sulfate concentrations are then computed and pre-
sented as distribution maps along with the depth contours.
At every step of the computation, possible alternative
options and controlling sequences are included to provide
wider applicability to the scenarios that may arise in practi-
cal situations. For example, different methods of wind-wave
computation, options for atmospheric stability effects on
wave growth, and selection of an appropriate friction factor
description are included in the computational procedure. A
schematic description of the computation procedure is pre-
sented in Fig. 5.
Model validation
Prediction of wind-induced wave heights
Mian and Yanful (2003) reported wave measurements per-
formed in two tailings pond sites at Heath Steele (upper
cell), New Brunswick, and at Quirke cell 14, Elliot Lake,
Ontario, Canada. The measurements were conducted during
the periods 28 July – 26 August 1999 and 26 October –
26 November 2000, respectively.
Significant wave heights and periods were calculated with
both the SMB and the CEM methods for the given wind
speeds, fetch lengths in the direction of the wind, and water
depths at the stations. The time required to achieve the fetch-
limited condition in the pond was also checked (by using
eq. [7]) prior to the calculation of significant wave proper-
ties. Figure 6 presents predicted and measured wave heights.
As indicated, the predictions from both methods generally
show very good agreement with measured data, although the
Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 42, 2005
SMB method slightly overestimates the wave height, com-
pared with the CEM method.
Comparison of surface drift currents and CCF
contribution to bottom shear stress
The magnitude of surface drift currents (Us) in the pond
can be calculated from the CCF and wave components of the
surface drift current. CCF-induced surface drift was obtained
by using the formulation suggested by Wu (1975), Usc =
0.53u*a , whereas wave drift was calculated by using the for-
mulation proposed by Fredsøe and Diegaard (1992). The cal-
culations for Us were performed for various wind speeds, a
fetch length of 1000 m, and a water depth of 2.0 m. The
computed value for Us and those measured in two natural
shallow lakes are shown in Fig. 7. Equation [15] suggests
that the magnitude of CCF-induced surface drift (at z = h) is
independent of water depth (as zbh and zsh are universal con-
stants). Also, calculations have shown that wave drift is very
weakly dependent on water depth and fetch length. As a re-
sult, the surface drift velocity presented in Fig. 7 is expected
to be representative over a range of water depths and fetch
lengths. The magnitude of Us is similar to those observed in
natural shallow lakes, as shown in the figure. Wang et al.
(2003) reported measured water particle velocities 30 cm be-
low the water surface in Lake Okeechobee, central Florida,
United States, as being in the range of 4–20 cm·s–1, with
wind speeds ranging from 3 to 15 m·s–1 at one station. Cor-
responding surface velocities were obtained by applying
eq. [15] and are also shown in the figure. The field-
measured velocities show very good agreement with pre-
dicted values. Lake Okeechobee has an average depth of
2.7 m and an area (1750 km2) about three orders of magni-
tude greater than that of a typical tailings pond. Rueda et
al. (2003) used drogue tracking to measure surface veloci-
ties in Clear Lake, California, United States. The measured
surface velocities show slightly smaller values than pre-
dicted values. Clear Lake has a mean depth of 8.0 m and an
area of 176 km2.
The present analysis examines the contribution from CCF
to sediment resuspension by quantifying the bed shear stress
due to CCF. Unlike other approaches that assumed that the
CCF contribution to the total shear stress either is very
small or about 10% (Lawrence et al. 1991; Yanful and
Catalan 2002), the present analysis shows that the bottom
shear stress derived from CCF could be quite large, de-
pending on generated significant wave height (affected by
the wind speed and fetch length) and water depth in the
pond. For a very low aspect ratio (<<1), the magnitude of
CCF-induced bottom shear stress (τ0c ) is dependent only on
the wind speed (as shown in eq. [19]). For greater water
depths, where the wave-induced bottom shear stress (τ0w) is
small, τ0c could be even higher than τ0w. The variations of
τ0w and τ0c with wind speed and water depth are shown in
Fig. 8 for a fetch length of 1000 m. This fetch length was
assumed to be representative of the maximum fetch length
in a typical tailings pond. The figure also shows the percen-
tile contribution of τ0c to the total bed shear stress (τ0, ob-
tained from eq. [20]). The figure shows that although for
shallow water depths (depths less than ~1.5 m) τ0w contrib-
utes the most toward the total bed shear stress, for higher
wind speeds (as in the case of design events) the contribu-
© 2005 NRC Canada
Samad and Yanful
Fig. 5. Schematic computational flowchart where RT is the wind stability factor and hl is the maximum allowable depth in the pond.
All other symbols are defined in the text.
tion from τ0c becomes predominant and can no longer be
ignored.
Erosion equation and suspended sediment
concentration
Development of a generalized erosion equation for mine
tailings
Estimation of the critical bed shear stress for erosion (τc )
is necessary for obtaining the amount of tailings re-
suspension. As already mentioned, although the particle
sizes of the PGP–TSF tailings were very fine, the increase in
217
shear resistance to erosion over time and hence over bed
depth was minimal. This lends support to the assumption
made in the development of the erosion equation (eq. [21])
that the critical shear stress remains constant over the depth
of erosion. For validation of this assumption, erosion rates
for tailings from three other sites were calculated from ero-
sion test data. The three sites were the Falconbridge new
tailings area, Sudbury, Ontario (Bennett 2002), with d50 ~
0.11 mm; the Heath Steele upper cell, New Brunswick
(Yanful and Catalan 2002), with d50 ~ 0.01 mm; and Heath
Steele lower cell sludge (Peacey and Yanful 2003), with
d50 ~ 0.01 mm. The parameter d50 is the particle size below
© 2005 NRC Canada
218
Fig. 6. Comparison of measured and predicted wave heights as
determined by Sverdrup, Munk, and Bretschneider and Coastal
Engineering Manual formulations (wave measurements at Heath
Steele, New Brunswick, 1999, and at Quirke cell 14, Elliot Lake,
Ontario, 2000).
which 50% of the material is finer. The variation of erosion
rate with the applied dimensionless excess bed shear stress,
(τ0 − τc )/τc , is shown in Fig. 9. Although materials from the
various sites had different critical bed shear stress (τc was
~0.09 N·m–2 for Falconbridge tailings, ~0.12 N·m–2 for
Heath Steele upper cell tailings, and ~0.058 N·m–2 for Heath
Steele lower cell sludge), the plot in Fig. 9 suggests general-
ized erosion behavior for the tailings and sludge. Conse-
quently, a generalized erosion equation for mine tailings can
be proposed as
4/ 3
1 ⎛ τ0 − τc ⎞
[25] E= ⎜ ⎟
6 ⎝ τc ⎠
with M = 1/6 and n = 4/3.
Comparison of predicted and measured suspended
sediment concentrations
Peacey and Yanful (2003) reported occasional high con-
centrations of suspended sediment in the Heath Steele lower
cell tailing ponds, New Brunswick. Comparing the proper-
ties of bed and suspended tailings collected from 13 differ-
ent locations, at depths ranging from 0.48 m to more than
4.0 m, they showed that the materials in suspension were
mainly fine sludge that had been deposited over tailings.
They observed that suspended sediment concentrations
(SSCs) in grab samples taken at the pond outflow location
were as high as 93.0 mg·L–1 on May 13 1996. The maxi-
mum SSC allowable in effluent at such sites is 30 mg·L–1,
according to the federal guidelines for mining effluent. Cor-
responding wind data collected from a nearby Environment
Canada station showed a storm event with consistently high
wind speeds over a 2 day period. Measured SSC and the
wind speed are shown in Fig. 10.
Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 42, 2005
The proposed methodology was applied to compute the
increase in SSC due to wind-induced flows, and the results
are also shown in Fig. 10. Instantaneous SSC was computed
at 13 stations identified by Peacey and Yanful (2003) where
water depth data were available. The average concentration
(ca) over the pond, which was assumed to be the same as the
concentration at the outflow location, was calculated as the
depth-weighted average from all stations (defined as ca =
Σ(hici)/Σhi, where ci is the local concentration and hi is the
local water depth). The SSC was obtained from the mass
of eroded tailings (kg·m–2) computed with eq. [25], with a
value of τc equal to 0.058 N·m–2, as determined by Peacey
and Yanful (2003). The SSC was then calculated with the as-
sumption that the eroded materials were evenly suspended
over the water depth (i.e., ci = Ei/hi). A time lag between the
wind speed and the erosion rate required to achieve steady
erosion behavior was assumed to be 1 h, and the SSC data
are, accordingly, shifted in the figure.
Calculations showed that although no erosion occurred in
the pond for water depths of >2.6 m, the maximum instanta-
neous SSC was in excess of 600 mg·L–1 at locations that had
a water depth of 0.5 m and a fetch of more than 600 m. The
estimated maximum weighted average SSC for the pond was
~36 mg·L–1. Because of persistent high wind speeds, erosion
of the bed (sludge) continued to occur in shallower areas and
increased the SSC in the pond. This increasing concentration
is represented by the cumulative SSC values in the figure,
which assumes that once resuspended the tailings remained
in suspension because of the higher wind speeds. For peri-
ods with missing wind data, indicated by arrows in Fig. 10,
trends of lower wind speed can clearly be observed. As a re-
sult, some amount of deposition of resuspended tailings was
assumed, which resulted in a reduced SSC at the beginning
of the next day. This assumption is reasonable, as the wind
speed variation over the day typically shows a peak in the
afternoon and a minimum value early in the morning. The
cumulative SSC values thus obtained show reasonably good
agreement with measured SSC values.
The present methodology is based on a steady-state
description of physical processes, which is necessary for
design problems. However, it can be modified to describe
transient variation of the parameters based on a quasi-steady
assumption; this work is currently under way. Such a quasi-
steady model could be used to resolve day-to-day manage-
ment issues in tailings areas.
Sulfate production model
The model proposed for sulfide oxidation of suspended
tailings is based on experiments performed in a controlled
laboratory environment and therefore provides only a pre-
liminary description of the process. However, Gautam and
Yanful (2001) validated the model against independent sets
of experimental data obtained from a wave tank where the
tailings were placed under continuous wave motion and
from a still water tank with submerged tailings. The mea-
sured sulfate concentration obtained from the tanks showed
very good agreement with those predicted by eqs. [23] and
[24], as shown in Fig. 11. The suspended tailings oxidation
model, eq. [24], provides the oxidation rate expected at the
beginning of the resuspension of unoxidized tailings. The
rate would eventually attain a steady-state value. Such a
© 2005 NRC Canada
Samad and Yanful 219

Fig. 7. Comparison of calculated surface drift velocity with field measurements. Wang et al. (2003) used an acoustic Doppler current
profiler to measure currents 30 cm below the water surface. Corresponding surface currents were calculated using eq. [15]. Rueda et
al. (2003) used rouge tracking to measure surface velocities.

Fig. 8. Variation of wave- and countercurrent flow (CCF)-induced bottom shear stresses (τ0w, τ0c) and the ratio of CCF bottom shear
stress to the total bottom shear stress (τ0) versus wind speed and water depth for a fetch of 1000 m. The total bed shear stress is cal-
culated using eq. [20].

steady value could not be attained, even after running the
wave tank experiment for 3 months.
Model application
Design scenarios
The methodology was applied to calculate the water depth
requirement and the effect of restricted water depths in terms
of sediment resuspension and sulfate concentration in the
PGP–TSF pond. The calculations were performed for design
winds with a 100 year return period and relied on the SMB
method for wind-wave generation.
The directional distribution of maximum wind speeds was
obtained from the wind data at the PGP–TSF site. The stron-
gest wind speeds at this station were recorded from north-
northwest to northwest (297.5°–315°), along the Salmon
Glacier valley (see Fig. 1). This direction did not coincide
with the longest axis of the pond and was therefore consid-
ered favorable from the design point of view. However, the
effect of having the longest pond axis coincide with the di-
© 2005 NRC Canada
220 Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 42, 2005

Fig. 9. Assessment of parameters for a generalized erosion equation on the basis of erosion test data for materials from four different
locations with varying particle size distribution and critical shear stress for erosion. Erosion rate equation obtained from the best fit of
the data is also shown, along with the R2 value.

Fig. 10. Comparison of predicted depth-weighted average instantaneous and cumulative suspended sediment concentrations with mea-
sured data from Heath Steele lower cell (Peacey and Yanful 2003). Corresponding wind speeds are also shown.

rection of the maximum wind speed was also investigated to
take account of the most severe scenario. A summary of the
computation options is presented in Table 2.
Calculation grids and fetch lengths within the PGP–TSF
pond
The PGP–TSF pond was divided into a number of square
grid cells, and water depth at each cell was computed to ob-
tain required depth contours. For the present study, a grid
spacing of 50 m was used. The grid locations, along with the
pond boundary, are shown in Fig. 12.
Fetch lengths for each computational cell depend on the
location of the cell within the pond and on the direction of
wind. At a grid cell, the fetch length was calculated in the
direction of the incoming wind, from the upstream pond
boundary to the center of the grid cell, so that at every grid
cell fetch lengths from 16 different directions were obtained.
The maximum of the 16 was then considered in preparing
the envelope of the fetch length contour (Fig. 13). In the fig-
ure it can be seen that the maximum fetch lengths are greater
in the northern and southern ends of the pond along the lon-
gest axis and that the fetch lengths are relatively small in the
middle.
Using fetch length distribution for the pond has advan-
tages over using the single maximum fetch for the entire
pond, as has been used by nearly all researchers in the de-
sign of tailings ponds (Lawrence et al. 1991; Mohamed et al.
1996; Atkins et al. 1997). The latter methodology would
overestimate wind-induced wave growth at places where the
fetch length is shorter than the maximum. Despite using the
© 2005 NRC Canada
Samad and Yanful
Fig. 11. Comparison of predicted sulfate concentration with experimental values (adapted from Gautam and Yanful 2001).
Table 2. Summary of computation options.
Maximum wind Resuspension
Case speed (m/s) condition
1 16.0 Not allowed
2 16.0 Not allowed
3 16.0 Allowed
4 16.0 Allowed
5 16.0 Allowed
Note: PGP–TSF, Premier Gold Project tailings storage facility.
maximum fetch, however, existing methods still did not
eliminate tailings resuspension in a number of tailings
ponds, as mentioned previously. The main reasons for this
are probably the assumptions made in describing different
physical processes, such as the assumption that the contribu-
tion of countercurrents to resuspension can be ignored. Con-
sideration of fetch length distribution would also provide a
more representative water depth distribution over the pond
and underscore the importance of predominant wind speed
and direction in resuspension.
It should be noted that water depth at a grid cell required
to eliminate resuspension is dependent on the wind speed, as
well as on the fetch length. High wind speed in a direction
with small fetch length can still generate high waves. When
the direction of the longest fetch coincides with the direction
of the maximum wind speed, the resulting wave heights may
become considerably large.
Results and discussion
Water depths required to eliminate resuspension
The water depth required to eliminate tailings re-
suspension at each computational grid was obtained through
iteration (by comparing the total shear stress at the grid as
221
Maximum allowable
water depth (m) Remarks
Wind distribution from PGP–TSF site
Direction of maximum wind speed
coinciding with longest pond axis
1.5 Winds same as for case 1
2.0 Winds same as for case 1
1.5 Winds same as for case 2
calculated by eq. [20] with the measured critical shear stress
of the material). Wind speed, wind direction, and corre-
sponding fetch lengths were primarily considered as input
data at each grid point. To represent the same distribution
of measured winds in the computation, the maximum wind
speed from a given wind direction was increased (or de-
creased) by using the ratio of statistically obtained wind
speed to the maximum observed wind speed.
Figures 14a and 14b show the contours of water depths
required to eliminate tailings resuspension for two different
cases, with wind speeds of the 100 year return period. The
wind distribution in case 1 reflects measured data at the
PGP–TSF site; for case 2 the direction of the maximum
wind speed is assumed to coincide with the longest axis of
the pond. The required depth in the pond varies between 0.8
and 2.5 m for case 1, whereas for case 2 it varies between
0.8 and 4.4 m. For both cases, the maximum depth occurs in
the southern end of the pond. The requirement of a water
cover that deep in these cases is due mainly to the very low
shear resistance of the tailings to erosion (i.e., critical shear
stress of only 0.09 N·m–2) and the high wind speeds ob-
tained from the statistical distribution. Although increased
water depth decreases wave-induced bottom shear stress, the
CCF-induced shear stress remains unchanged for a given
© 2005 NRC Canada
222
Fig. 12. Premier Gold Project tailings storage facility pond
boundary and location of computational grid cells.
wind speed, indicating that additional depth would be re-
quired to offset excess shear stress of even a small magni-
tude. A deeper water cover raises other issues, including
those of geotechnical stability and cost.
Case 2 is considered the most adverse scenario possible in
a tailings pond in terms of wind-induced wave height and bot-
tom shear stress. It represents the simultaneous occurrence of
the maximum wind speed and the longest possible fetch
lengths that resulted in the required maximum depth of 4.4 m.
Consequence of applying a limit on the depth
requirement
The requirement of a deep water cover to avoid tailings
resuspension could be minimized if some of the tailings are
allowed to resuspend (resuspension was calculated with
eq. [25]). Figures 15a and 15b show depth contours with a
maximum allowable water depth of 1.5 m and the resulting
distribution of tailings concentration (case 3), respectively.
The concentrations were computed again with a maximum
allowable water depth of 2.0 m (case 4) and are shown in
Fig. 16. Maps of sulfate production rate due to oxidation of
resuspended and bed tailings for the two cases are shown in
Fig. 17.
Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 42, 2005
Fig. 13. Contour (intervals in metres) of maximum fetch lengths
within the pond area.
The results show that imposing depth restrictions in-
creases tailings resuspension. As expected, the suspended
tailings concentrations are high in areas where deep water is
required. The maximum local tailings concentration com-
puted with a 1.5 m maximum allowable depth (case 3) was
43 mg·L–1. When the maximum allowable depth was
changed to 2.0 m (case 4), the corresponding maximum con-
centration reduced considerably, to 9 mg·L–1 (see Fig. 16b).
The rate of sulfate production is also reduced when the max-
imum allowable water depth in the pond is increased. The
maximum sulfate concentration rate was 9.8 mg·L–1·day–1
for case 3, but it was only about 2.8 mg·L–1·day–1 for case 4.
Tailings oxidation occurs from both bed and suspended
tailings that contribute to sulfate production in the pond.
Sulfate production due to the oxidation of bed tailings
increases in shallow waters (eq. [23]), whereas increased
resuspension increases sulfate production from the resus-
pended tailings (eq. [24]). The sulfate maps (Figs. 13a and
13b) therefore show two areas with higher sulfate production
rates, corresponding to shallow depths and high concentra-
tions of suspended tailings.
© 2005 NRC Canada
Samad and Yanful 223

Fig. 14. Contours (intervals in metres) of required water depths without allowing tailings resuspension, corresponding to (a) case 1
(maximum wind speed of 16 m·s–1) and (b) case 2 (maximum wind speed of 16 m·s–1, with the direction coinciding with the longest
axis of the pond).

Fig. 15. (a) Depth contours (intervals in metres) with 1.5 m maximum allowable water depth and (b) resulting concentration of tailings
resuspension (in mg·L–1) for case 3.

© 2005 NRC Canada

224 Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 42, 2005

Fig. 16. (a) Depth contours (intervals in metres) with 2.0 m maximum allowable depth and (b) resulting concentration of tailings
resuspension (in mg·L–1) for case 4.

Fig. 17. Contour of sulfate production rate (intervals in mg·L–1·day–1); (a) case 3 with 1.5 m maximum allowable water depth and
(b) case 4 with 2.0 m maximum allowable water depth.

© 2005 NRC Canada

Samad and Yanful 225

Fig. 18. (a) Depth contours (intervals in metres) with 1.5 m maximum allowable depth, given coincidence of the maximum wind speed
with the maximum axis of the pond; (b) resulting concentration of tailings resuspension (intervals in mg·L–1) for case 5; and (c) con-
tour of sulfate production rate (intervals in mg·L–1·day–1) with 1.5 m maximum allowable depth, given coincidence of the maximum
wind speed with the maximum axis of the pond.

The distributions of water depths, suspended tailings, and
sulfate production rate computed for case 5 (with a maxi-
mum allowable water depth of 1.5 m) are shown in Fig. 18.
The maximum local tailings concentration and sulfate pro-
duction rate obtained are 175 mg·L–1 and 35.9 mg·L–1·day–1,
respectively. Both suspended tailings concentration and sul-
fate production rate show a considerable increase when the
direction of the maximum wind coincides with the longest
direction of the tailings pond.
Depth-weighted average tailings concentration and sulfate
production rate were computed to derive representative val-
ues for the entire pond. The maximum and depth-weighted
average tailings concentrations and sulfate production rates
are presented in Table 3 for the different cases. Although the
local maximum concentrations of suspended tailings are
higher at locations with higher required water depths, except
for case 5 the weighted average concentration remains below
15 mg·L–1, the federal regulatory limit for monthly average
effluent discharge in Canada.
Implications of design water depth selections
The analysis has indicated the need for water cover depths
in the range of 0.8–2.5 m to eliminate tailings resuspension
in the PGP–TSF pond for a design wind speed with a
100 year return period. These water depths are required
mainly because of the very low shear resistance of the tail-
ings to erosion as obtained from the erosion test data and the
very high wind speed obtained from statistical analysis.
When the water depth in the pond was limited to a maxi-
mum allowable value, the resulting additional shear stress
initiated tailings resuspension and increased the rate of sul-
fate production in the pond.
Wind distribution at the PGP–TSF site indicated that the
direction of the strongest wind did not coincide with the lon-
gest axis of the pond (case 1) and, therefore, provided an
advantage from the design point of view. In contrast, the co-
incidence of the longest axis of the pond with the direction
of the strongest wind (cases 2 and 5) required very high wa-
ter depths. The methodology, therefore, also provides op-
tions for investigating the orientation of the pond, along with
the pertinent winds at the site. This could be integrated with
the topography of the area, as in the PGP–TSF site, where
the northerly winds are confined within the valley along
Cascade Creek (see Fig. 1).
The differences in the local maximum and weighted av-
erage concentration of resuspended tailings and the sulfate

© 2005 NRC Canada

226
Table 3. Required and allowable water depths, along with corresponding tailings concentrations and sulfate produc-
tion rate for different cases.
Maximum
Minimum Maximum Allowable concentrationd
Case deptha (m) depthb (m) depthc (m) (mg·L–1)
1 0.8 2.5 — —
2 0.8 4.4 — —
3 0.8 2.5 1.5 43
4 0.8 2.5 2.0 9 1
5 0.8 4.4 1.5 175
Note: —, resuspension not allowed.
a
Computed minimum water cover depth required to eliminate resuspension.
b
Computed maximum water cover depth required to eliminate resuspension.
c
Allowable water depth after restriction.
d
Maximum local concentration of resuspended tailings.
e
Depth-weighted average tailings concentration over the entire pond.
f
Maximum local sulfate production rate in the pond.
g
Depth-weighted average sulfate production rate in the pond.
rate could help pinpoint the best locations for pond outflow
points. The contour maps could be used to select the most
suitable outflow location to ensure effluent water quality
within regulatory limits, although local water quality
within the pond may temporarily deteriorate beyond the
limit.
The present study and other published and ongoing stud-
ies have shown that most base metal and uranium mine tail-
ings are cohesive. This characteristic has complicated the
design procedure, and a simple cohesive sediment transport
model is proposed to account for resuspension of the tail-
ings. As mentioned earlier, field data from different sites in
Canada have indicated resuspension, even in areas where the
water cover is close to 2 m deep. The water cover depth
required at the PGP–TSF site essentially shows that
resuspension actually is very likely, depending on the loca-
tion and wind distribution of the site.
The methodology proposed in this paper is used to com-
pute tailings concentrations that represent maximum values
at each computational point corresponding to onsite wind
data. Therefore, the methodology gives the upper limit of
concentration at all grid points as required for design prob-
lems, which will not necessarily occur simultaneously. Sedi-
ment diffusion and redistribution due to the circulating flow
field can change the computed concentrations. These latter
aspects have not been considered in the present analysis.
Apart from the SSC, the rate of sulfate production due to
oxidation of mine tailings was only considered as a water
quality parameter in this paper. Estimation of the production
of other metals contained in the mine tailings requires as-
sessment of the reaction kinetics of the mineral. Further-
more, general water balance and seasonal fluctuations in
water volume in the tailings pond may contribute to the sea-
sonal occurrence of relatively severe periods of water quality
concerns.
Conclusions
A design approach is proposed in this paper for the selec-
tion of optimal water cover depth for subaqueous disposal
of reactive sulfide-rich mine tailings. The methodology is
based on the principle that the concentration of resuspended
Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 42, 2005
Avg. Maximum
concentratione sulfate f Avg. sulfate
(mg·L–1) (mg·L–1·day–1) (mg·L–1·day–1)g
— — —
— — —
8 9.78 2.94
2.77 1.10
52 35.92 11.60
tailings due to wind-induced waves and countercurrents,
along with the sulfate production resulting from the oxida-
tion of sulfide tailings, must be kept within environmental
regulatory limits.
The computational procedure requires the measured wind
speed and direction, the return period of wind data, a de-
scription of the pond boundary, and the tailings critical shear
stress as input. The method is used to calculate the design
wind speed for the given return period and provides contours
of the water depths required to eliminate resuspension. The
effect of restricting water depths, in terms of maps of result-
ing tailings resuspension and sulfate production rates, is also
computed. The calculations are performed at grid cells
within the pond by using prescribed square grid sizes.
The methodology was illustrated with data from a tailings
pond located in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. The
results indicated that although elimination of resuspension in
the pond required a maximum water depth of 2.5 m, a re-
stricted maximum water depth of 1.5 m could still be used,
as the resulting suspended solids concentration would not
exceed the Canadian regulatory limit of 15 mg·L–1. The
methodology also provides flexibility for investigating prob-
able extreme scenarios in terms of the geometry and orienta-
tion of the pond and the wind distribution.
Acknowledgements
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
of Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Energy, Science and
Technology provided funding for the research.
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