Geosynthetics in mining works

The use of geosynthecs in mining operaons grows annually as mining companies focus on the technical and economic advantages of geosynthecs. In this regard, Naue can

· support the economic extracon of valuable resources in heap leaching,

· offer engineering soluons for mine waste and water management in tailings facilies,

· provide sealing, drainage, filtraon or separaon materials for all kinds of ponds or mine remediaon of old mining operaons,

· deliver reinforcement and stabilisaon products and systems for embankments, haul and access roads or steep slopes and walls.

This means that our polymeric materials enable more efficient barriers, stronger access roads, space-saving and safety-enhancing retaining structures and much more. But mining projects are oen sensive to the environment and are located in remote areas. Therefore, our geosynthecs can not only offer cost and me savings but also reduce the environmental impact (carbon footprint, energy consumpon) on most projects involving geotechnical work compared to convenonal methods.

® Our HDPE geomembranes Naue Carbofol are extremely durable with a great cost-benefit rao. And in parallel, they are an important line of defence to protect the environment. The applicaon of our reinforcement and stabilisaon

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® products Naue Secugrid and Naue Combigrid results in a reduced need for quality engineered fill material for sub-base reinforcement. Our ® geosynthec clay liner Naue Bentofix or mulcomponent GCL Bentofix X can replace clay

In both cases, the transport costs to the site will be reduced, and the speed of construcon will be increased. To sum up, the costs of construcon materials such as aggregates or concrete, construcon me and environmental impact will be reduced significantly

You can use our geosynthecs individually or combined as an intelligent system soluon. They are built to last for long-term usage when properly designed and installed. Naue can provide

· engineering, specificaon and design support,

· soware tools (for base courses, slopes and walls or working plaorms),

· tesng (e.g., shear box tesng, leachate tesng),

· training and supervision,

· installaon.

Design and specificaon of the soluon should be carried out as early as possible within the scheme's development and guided by appropriate ground invesgaon.

For example, heap leaching. Without queson, heap leach has become an enormous driver of the growth of mining operaons wordwide. 25 years ago, only about 3% of copper and gold supplies were produced through heap leaching. Today, the volume surpasses 30% annually. Valuable chalcopyrite copper, previously not considered economical in heap leach development, is now heap leached, as is nickel laterite, uranium, and even rare earths. Heap leach stacks can be up to 200m, as operaons look to prove site yield more quickly. Heap leaching accomplishes this – but only with the containment support of geosynthecs. Geomembranes and geosynthec clay liners (GCLs) are used in lining system soluons as heap leach pad liners, pregnant soluon trench liners, processing pits, onsite water storage, “raincoat” covers over ore stacks to shed stormwater – rather than dilute the leach heap soluon – and onsite wastewater management. Geomembranes are not all that mining sites require. Nonwoven geotexles provide long-term, robust protecon of and friconal stability for geomembranes on difficult terrain and in tall ore stack scenarios.

The second example is TSF. When an ore's valuable deposit is extracted, what remains of the ore is waste. Oen, it is a high percentage of the ore handled at the mine. Potenally contaminated from the extracon process or containing environmentally harmful components, tailings must be isolated to prevent long-term environmental damage. As mine sites increase in size, the engineering needed to properly contain the volume of tailings has intensified. This scaling up of containment frequently requires not just lining systems but reinforcement and sealing systems for perimeter berms on tailings pond. Weaker, earthen-only berms are at risk of saturaon, erosion and failure.

Furthermore, the increasing depth of tailings storage ponds requires a stronger containment engineering design. With the environmental security of the site relying on these environmental protecon systems, the geosynthecs selected must be trusted. Here, geosynthec soluons ® include our HDPE geomembrane Carbofol , our GCLs Bentofix and Bentofix X, our nonwoven geotexle Secutex and our reinforcing geogrids Secugrid and Combigrid

Naue has more than 50 years of experience in geosynthecs development, producon and installaon. We can be your single point of contact to find a proper soluon for your geotechnical challenges in your mining projects.