Associated Event
29th International Conference on Paste, Thickened and Filtered Tailings
31 May–2 June 2027 | Quebec City, Quebec, Cana
Filtered Tailings Workshop
3 June 2027 | Quebec City, Canada
Stay tuned for more information on this associated event.
Backfill has evolved considerably over the last century, particularly with the introduction of cemented paste backfill (CPF) over three decades ago. During this time, CPF has become the most widely utilised type of backfill. It has many advantages, ranging from its speed of delivery and engineered strength to environmental advantages due to placing tailings underground and reducing the size of surface tailings storage facilities.
This seminar will start by introducing how CPF fits within the both the mining and tailings cycles. From there it will focus on more operationally driven topics, dealing with how to monitor and document a backfill system, how to update a system due to operational changes, as well as analysing case studies on how operations have dealt with these operational changes.
The objective of this ACG seminar, facilitated by Dr Ryan Veenstra, Newmont Australia, is to bring together backfill specialists, leaders, and operators from around the globe to present a comprehensive learning experience.
| Time | Seminar Program* |
|---|---|
|
07:30 |
REGISTRATION |
|
08:00 |
Welcome and introduction Dr Ryan Veenstra, Newmont |
|
08:10 |
Backfill within the mining cycle Dr Will Bawden, Canada (remote presenter) |
|
08:55 |
Backfill within the tailings cycle Kim Morrison, Newmont, USA (remote presenter) |
|
09:40 |
Dealing with tailings changes Dr Ryan Veenstra |
|
10:00 |
MORNING BREAK |
|
10:15 |
Types of backfill and their uses Tony Grice, AMC Consultants, Canada |
|
11:00 |
Seismics in relation to backfill Dr Matt Helinski, Minefill Services |
|
12:00 |
LUNCH |
|
13:00 |
The backfill quality control system Dr Ryan Veenstra |
|
13:50 |
Using as-built data Dr Ryan Veenstra |
|
14:10 |
Impact of cemented paste fill quality on an operation’s quality control program Ben Barsanti, Operational Geotechs |
|
14:30 |
AFTERNOON BREAK |
|
14:50 |
Upgrading an operating underground distribution system Leslie Correia, Paterson & Cooke |
|
15:40 |
Pipeline wear monitoring Glenn MacGregor, ArmorPIPE |
|
16:00 |
Panel discussion |
|
16:30 |
SEMINAR CLOSE |
*Program subject to change.
Facilitators include:
Colleen Crystal
Associate
WSP, USA
Colleen is a principal geotechnical engineer with over 25 years’ experience in geotechnical engineering and seismic analysis and design for mine-waste tailings and waste rock facilities, filtered tailings facilities, earthen embankments, landfills and water retention dams. She previously served as engineer of record during planning, design, construction and implementation of several filter-pressed dry-stack tailings facilities. Colleen has broad-based experience in geotechnical engineering and mine-waste geotechnics including static and seismic design, ground motion studies, liquefaction evaluations, dam safety, and risk evaluations for both conventional and non-conventional (including filtered) tailings storage facilities. She is currently the technical lead on several large-scale non-conventional filtered tailings storage facility projects in planning phases. She is also serving on a filtered tailings task force, steering committees and has (or is currently) serving as third party independent reviewer and ITRB panel member for several planned large-scale filtered tailings projects in Colombia, Chile, Europe and Australia. Colleen holds a masters degree in geotechnical and seismic engineering from the University of Southern California. She is a licensed civil and geotechnical engineer in California.
Raul Norambuena Mardones
Consultant
SRK Consulting, Canada
Raul is a civil engineer with 15 years’ experience in geotechnical and civil engineering. His main area of expertise is in the design of mine waste management facilities (tailings and waste rock) and includes conceptual to detailed engineering design, construction supervision and operation. He has also been part of the review (DSR and DSI) of the design, construction and operation of various tailings storage facilities. He has experience developing risk assessments by evaluating hazard potential and consequence classification (dam breach analyses). Raul is also experienced in site investigation planning and coordination, instrumentation and monitoring design and set-up, and has some knowledge of seismicity and hydrotechnical disciplines such as hydrogeology and hydrology.