Bunkers Hill Pit, The Granites

The Bunkers Hill Pit is a mined-out pit located at the Granites Gold Mine, approximately 550 km northwest of Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia. Active mining is not currently occurring on site, however, ore from a nearby satellite site continues to be processed at the Granites mill and the tailings stored on site. In 2006, Newmont Tanami Pty. Ltd. identified the need for a new tailings storage facility as the existing facility was nearing capacity.

RGC, having previously conducted a hydrogeological review of the site and a groundwater field investigation in December 2005, was retained by Newmont to evaluate different options for additional tailings storage. Following the resulting recommendations, RGC designed a seepage pumpback system for the mined out Bunkers Hill Pit. In August 2006, RGC carried out a preliminary field program which included the drilling and installation of several pumping bores. The field program also included the supervision of pump tests on the newly installed pumping bores, to constrain the hydraulic parameters of the host rock and determine the efficiency of the bores. Based on these test results, recommendations were provided on pump size, accessories, pumping rates and discharge system.

Tailings discharge at the Bunkers Hill Pit was slated to begin in early 2007, during which RGC continued to assist in implementation of the recovery system and operation and groundwater monitoring on the site, to ensure compliance of the new tailings storage facility with performance criteria.

• Hydrogeological review and assessment;
• Design of a seepage interception system;
• Supervise drilling and installation of pumping bores;
• Assistance in groundwater monitoring.

Newmont Australia

Water Management