Appendix E1 – TSF Management Plan

depth from approximately 2 m to as deep as 6 m in sections

• a shallow seepage cut off spoon drain was installed on the eastern side of Cell 2 from which water is
pumped back to the TSF
• the placement of the tailings was altered to a spigot outpour arrangement to minimise pooling of
water against the perimeter embankments of the TSF (see Section 3.2)
• recovery bore holes, drilled and located around Cell 1, are monitored for recovery rates weekly
• a project is currently being undertaken on further strategies to minimise or alleviate seepage issues
from the TSF. A combination of recovery bores, trenches and further geopolymer application may be
required
• the addition of further piezometers in Cell 1 and the perimeter wall as a result of both Independent
Auditor findings and the replacement of ones damaged during the rehabilitation of Cell 1.

The location of the geopolymer barrier at the TSF is shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6 Existing TSF with Geopolymer Barrier Placement

The primary purpose of the barrier wall is to provide an additional line of defence to cut-off seepage through
the upper sand and gravel soils, as well as the upper fractured zones of the dolomitic siltstone. Preliminary
observations showed that previously wet zones around the TSF and seepage to Surprise Creek have dried
out. Monitoring will continue to confirm the work was successful in the longer term.
Modelling of the seepage predicts that the cut-off barrier will reduce surface expression of seepage.
However, this modelling also indicates that an elevated groundwater mound would extend outside the
footprint of the TSF, which may, in the latter period of mine life (25 years), express in localised depressions
such as old borrow pits, drainage channels and creek systems (URS, 2006). The groundwater recovery bores
McArthur River Mine Phase 3 Development Project
Draft Environmental Impact Statement E1-29