Mining Projects

Bisha Project, Eritrea
Nevsun Resources Corp
AMEC provided environmental, geotechnical and water resources services for a social and environmental impact assessment and feasibility study of the Bisha Project, a proposed open pit gold, copper and zinc mine in western Eritrea. We carried out site investigations for baseline environmental and socio-economic studies, geotechnical and hydrological aspects. Feasibility designs were prepared for tailings disposal, waste dumps, geotechnical design and water management. AMEC also prepared community consultation and capacity building plans.

Kemess South Copper/Gold Mine, British Columbia
Northgate Minerals
AMEC has been providing comprehensive geotechnical, materials, and water resources design and testing services for the Kemess Open Pit Mine since the beginning of project development in 1997. AMEC’s involvement began with feasibility design of the open pit slopes in 1997. Our major role has been engineering and construction monitoring of the tailings dam. We began construction monitoring of the Stage 2 tailings dam, and has continued with detailed design and raises for subsequent stages of the Tailings Dam. When completed, the tailings dam will be about 125 m high, and will be one of the largest tailings dams in British Columbia. We also prepared a closure plan update and closure cost estimate for the mine.

Kupol Gold Project, Russia
Kinross Gold Corporation (formerly Bema Gold)
AMEC is providing geotechnical and water management services for this 3,000 tpd open-pit and underground gold mine in the Russian Far East, north of the Arctic Circle. AMEC has been the geotechnical consultant since the beginning of project development in 2003. We undertook site selection and preliminary designs for the project’s economic assessment and subsequent feasibility study, and are now responsible for detailed engineering and site construction monitoring of the tailings dam and mine waste dumps; hydrology and water supply; ARD assessment and control; and site water management planning.

Pogo Gold Mine, Alaska
Teck Cominco
AMEC worked in close partnership with Teck Cominco and Sumitomo on this Greenfield underground mine and processing facility from scope definition and concept, environmental assessment through to engineering, procurement and construction management. AMEC was involved with all aspects of the environmental assessment, engineering of the water management and waste management plans, all earthworks and surficial rock mechanics designs and geotechnical & hydrological construction supervision.

Red Chris EIS, N.W. British Columbia
Imperial Metals (formerly bcMetals)
Imperial Metals is developing an open pit copper gold mine in northwest British Columbia. AMEC was engaged to provide environmental services and mine design. The project involves a 27,000 tonne per day open pit mine and conventional SAG flotation mill to produce copper and gold concentrates. AMEC provided bcMetals with a bankable feasibility and coordinated environmental studies as well as writing the environmental assessment report and providing government liaison. The project was approved by the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office. Assistance with permitting will be provided following project approval.

Young-Davidson Mine Prefeasibility Environmental Studies, Ontario
Northgate Minerals
Northgate Minerals in 2007 awarded AMEC the prefeasibility and environmental studies for a proposed gold mine project approximately 60 km west of Kirkland Lake in Ontario, Canada. AMEC will be responsible for process plant design; cost estimation; financial analysis; tailings; water and waste management design; environmental field studies and preparation of the environmental assessment.

Dundee Precious Metals Inc.
AMEC was retained by Dundee Precious Metals (DPM) to lead and assist with the establishment of the Environmental Baseline Monitoring Program (EBMP) for the Crni Vrh copper-gold exploration project. DPM was particularly interested to ensure that the baseline study would be started as early as possible as part of the exploration program. AMEC will work with local consultants, the client and environmental authorities to establish helpful new EU benchmarks.

Doris North Project, Nunavut
Miramar Hope Bay Ltd.
AMEC provided services to Miramar Hope Bay Ltd. for preparation of its EIS for the proposed Doris North project, a new underground gold mine located 160 km southwest of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. AMEC coordinated subconsultants and the writing of the EIS as well as public and government consultation. The EIS detailed the Doris North Project and included the project description, environmental baseline studies, impact assessments, socio-economic considerations, environmental management plans and reclamation and closure plans which respond to Nunavut Impact Review Board guidelines.

Krumovgrad Gold Project, SEIA, Bulgaria
Dundee Precious Metals
AMEC was retained by Dundee Precious Metals to lead the Social and Environmental Impact Assessment for the proposed Krumovgrad Gold Project in south eastern Bulgaria. The Krumovgrad Project is one of the first new private sector mining projects to be developed in Bulgaria. AMEC worked with local consultants, the client and environmental authorities to established helpful new EU benchmarks.

Mining Property Assessment, Spain
Iberian Mining Limited
AMEC was commissioned to undertake an evaluation of multiple mining properties in north western Spain as part of an acquisition of the properties by Iberian Mining.An initial assessment determined that only two properties had any real mining potential and further work was commissioned to determine the potential ore resource available within the properties and the potential opportunities/liabilities involved in developing a mining operation. The Azaba group of properties included La Insuperable Tin/Ilmenite mine which has operated for around 10 years producing tin and ilmenite concentrates. Work undertaken included the review of geology and resources, design and supervision of exploration campaigns, assessment of environmental liabilities, preparation of mine waste management plans and marketing studies for the proposed concentrate production.

Mt. Milligan Project EIA, British Columbia
Terrane Metals Inc.
AMEC is managing all aspects of the environmental technical studies, baseline environmental work, impact analysis and permitting for the Mt. Milligan project a 60,000 tons per day gold/copper project. AMEC is also providing advisory and consultant support for First Nations and local communities.

Rosia Montana Gold Project, Romania
Gabriel Resources
AMEC was commissioned by Gabriel Resources/Rosia Montana Gold Corporation in November 2005 to assist prepare the EIA report and conduct public consultation for the 14 Mtpa Rosia Montana Gold Project in western Romania. This involved integration of an AMEC team into a large EIA study group comprising leading Romanian and international experts. AMEC took the role of deputy alongside the Romanian EIA team leader and provided specialists in social studies, hydrology and hydrogeology, soils, ecology, geochemistry and mining waste management.

Victor Diamond Project, Northern Ontario
De Beers Canada Mining Inc.
AMEC is leading the environmental assessment and permitting/approvals processes for De Beers Canada Inc., and liaised extensively with government agencies and First Nations. AMEC began working on the project in 1999 and continues to be involved, now as part of an integrated team providing EPCM services in addition to environmental consulting. Services to date include baseline studies, advanced exploration permits, pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, geotechnical engineering, environmental assessments and approvals for construction and operation; and environmental management system preparation/implementation.

Aurora Mine, Alberta
Syncrude Oil Sands Mine
AMEC designed the Aurora tailings facility, which has a footprint covering approximately 10 km2, a perimeter length of approximately 12 km, a maximum height of 55 m, and a total storage volume of 428 Mm3. Built from overburden stripped from mining operations and tailings sand, the structure combines both upstream and centreline construction methods. A large portion of the perimeter dyke was constructed on a highly compressible organic foundation, which required the implementation of staged construction to maintain material strengths.

Long Harbour Residue Study, Newfoundland
CVRD Inco
AMEC has been retained by CVRD INCO Limited, through its subsidiary Voisey’s Bay Nickel Company (VBNC) to conduct a pre-feasibility level design study for the Residue Handling and Storage Project for their Commercial Nickel Processing Plant on the Avalon Peninsula, near Long Harbour, Newfoundland. The primary study tasks are: review of the geochemical and geotechnical properties of the residue; develop and undertake hydrogeologic and geotechnical field investigation programs; geochemical evaluation of the residue properties, groundwater and surface water quality models; hydrogeochemical modeling, water balance and water quality assessments; preliminary residue deposition plan and pre feasibility designs for the residue storage facility, water management system and pumping and pipeline systems.

Pamour Pit Expansion, Timmins
Porcupine Joint Venture (PJV)
The overall open pit gold mine expansion is a major undertaking that involves a 6 km highway realignment; relocation of old tailings facilities; removal and restoration of a 14 ha lake basin and 2.5 km creek; and construction of a new 13 km haul road. Since 2002, AMEC has been undertaking baseline studies, environmental assessment work, detailed design of environmental mitigation measures, assisting with the permits and approvals process, as well as the follow-up monitoring programs.

Raglan Nickel Mine, Northern Quebec
Xstrata Nickel
AMEC is the engineer of record for the tailings disposal facility at Raglan. We are responsible for the design of the tailings disposal facility, including on-going verification of the design parameters and assumptions. Another AMEC project at Raglan comprises developing designs for the management of acid generating waste rock deposits and contaminated water management for all future open pit and underground mines. We have also developed designs for the closure of open pits and acid generating waste rock deposits at Raglan. AMEC also provides construction supervision services for the construction of the tailings stack cover.

Tailings Dam Projects, Bolivia
Sinchi Wayra (Glencore)
AMEC has been assisting Sinchi Wayra (formally known as COMSUR) for the past 10 years on rehabilitating their existing and closed tailings dam facilities, providing engineering and construction supervision for new tailings dam facilities, and water management systems for new and existing tailings impoundments.

Tailings Dyke Designs, Alberta
Suncor Oil Sands Mine
AMEC has been Suncor’s primary consultant on geotechnical design of tailings dykes since inception of the mine in the 1960’s. AMEC has carried out extensive site investigations, and provided design and ongoing engineering support for over 10 major tailings dykes. The projects have included the pioneering Tar Island Dyke, numerous dykes at the Suncor base mine and dykes serving the Steepbank and Millennium Mines. AMEC worked with Suncor in pioneering many of the dyke construction procedures used in the oil sands industry.

Voisey’s Bay Nickel
CVRD Inco
AMEC and our partners provided the following services at the Voisey’s Bay site for the mine/mill operations: part of the material testing team; design for the two dams on Headwater Pond for tailings containment; construction inspection services for the dam construction on Headwater Pond; construction support to develop as built documents for the dams; technical support to install piezometers in the dams; and plans and schedules for disposal of tailings over a 14 year span. In addition AMEC has completed about 25 projects with VBNC at their mine site over the years, mostly biological with some meteorological. This year we have 8 projects ongoing at their Processing Plant site in long Harbour.

Angovia Gold Mining Project, Cote D’Ivoire
Cluff Gold (WA) Cote D’Ivoire
AMEC provided detailed design of the heap leach system for the Angovia Gold Mining project. The design includes the geotechnical assessment of the heap leach pads, construction specification and construction management for the pads and the solution management system.

Cortez Gold Mine and Cortez Hills Projects, Nevada
Barrick Gold Corporation
AMEC has been continuously involved with projects at this mill and heap leach complex over the last 15 years, providing services including geotechnical engineering, site selection studies, preliminary and final design, environmental permitting, and construction quality assurance (CQA) testing and inspection. Our work has included lined heap leach pads and tailings impoundments, water reservoir, waste dumps, plant foundations, stormwater management and closure planning.

Kalsaka Gold Mining Project, Burkina Faso
Kalsaka Mining (Cluff Gold plc)
AMEC provided detailed design of the heap leach system for the Kalsaka Gold Mining project. The design includes the geotechnical assessment of the heap leach pads, construction specification and construction management for the pads and the solution management system.

Trekkopje Uranium Project, Namibia
Uramin
AMEC provided detailed design of the heap leach system for the Trekkopje Uranium project. The design includes the geotechnical assessment of the heap leach pads, construction specification for the pads and the solution management system, initially for a trial pad system leading to the development of a full scale heap leach operation.

A21 Kimberlite Dike Feasibility Study, Northwest Territories, Canada
Diavik Diamond Mines Inc.
AMEC carried out a feasibility study for the proposed A21 water-retaining dike at the Diavik Diamond Mine. The A21 kimberlite is proposed as the third open pit developed at the site, following the A154 pit and the A418 pit. Open pit mining of kimberlite pipes at Diavik necessitates construction of water-retaining dikes to isolate the pipes and allow dewatering of the areas enclosed by the dikes to facilitate mining. For the A21 dike, AMEC proposed cost-saving measures to achieve an economically feasible design. Our work included engineering studies and detailed cost estimates.

Lockerby Mine, Ontario
First Nickel Inc.
Since the acquisition of Lockerby Mine in June 2005, AMEC has provided First Nickel Inc. with licensed and qualified staff to operate water treatment infrastructure including a drinking water plant, sewage treatment plant and effluent treatment plant. In addition to routine operations work and 24/7 on-call support, AMEC staff coordinate the sampling program with on-site staff and complete the regulatory reporting requirements such as MISA/MIDES (provincial), MMER/RISS (federal) and the National Pollutant Release Inventory (federal). During the course of field work and through ongoing mining sector work, AMEC staff remain current with applicable legislation, audit the operation on an on-going basis and address permit requirements as needed.

Totten Mine Project, Sudbury
CVRD Inco
CVRD Inco has reopened a previously suspended mine facility in Worthington, Ontario (near Sudbury). AMEC has been involved with the design and construction of the water treatment plant, pump stations, surge pond, polishing pond, sludge cells and necessary appurtenances including dams, berms and ditches. In addition, AMEC completed a subsurface soils investigation and provided quality assurance and control during construction activities.