Appendix E1 – TSF Management Plan

7.4.4 The site water balance indicates that the Water Management Dam (WMD) requires a capacity of
2,500 Ml
An emergency spillway will be provided. It will be designed to accommodate at least a 1:500 year
event.

7.4.5 Maintaining a large enough decant pond to enable sufficient residence time for the settlement of
suspended solids prior to recovery.
Maintaining an appropriate tailings deposition regime so that the potential for tailings to oxidise and
release oxidation products is limited. Levels of saturation/moisture within the beach will be defined
and maintained to inhibit oxidation. This practice will significantly reduce the dusting potential of the
tailings

7.4.7 The design objective of the TSF will be to prevent seepage from occurring. On the basis of ANCOLD
(1999), the following design objectives have been adopted for seepage at the new TSF:
• Surface expression of seepage discharge downstream of the TSF should not occur
• No significant impact should occur on the environmental quality of receiving waters
• The potential beneficial uses of surface and ground water downstream of the TSF should
not be compromised.
Water from recovery bores will be pumped to the concentrator for reuse.

7.2 Supplement to Draft EIS December 2005

The water management system will be designed such that spillway discharge from the TSF will be extremely
unlikely ( 1 in 500 year probability) which is more stringent than ANCOLD guideline requirements which
require containment for 1 in 200 year wet season rainfall. The possibility of discharges from the TSF to
Surprise Creek will be extremely rare and in excess of the 1 in 500 year probability.

7.3 Public Environmental Report July 2006

7.3.1 Section 7.0 Tailings Storage Facility

7.3.1.1 Summary

The overall strategy to manage the risk of environmental harm from the TSF, in particular seepage, comprises
a multiple lines of defence strategy that has been developed for the three key stages of the life of the TSF as
follows:

1. Design Stage
• Decommission the existing Cell 1
• Incorporate seepage control measures in the design of the perimeter TSF embankment, including a
compacted low permeability clay cut-off into the foundation and a low permeability clay core to the
embankment.
• Incorporating additional seepage control measures, including a low permeability geopolymer cut-off
wall below the embankment to the eastern wall downgradient of the regional groundwater flow, as
well as recovery bores downstream of the embankment for the full perimeter of the TSF, to intersect
and capture seepage flows.

• Modify the current tailings and water management practices to keep ponded water away from the
perimeter embankment.

McArthur River Mine Phase 3 Development Project

Draft Environmental Impact Statement E1-46