Progressive rehabilitation — Martabe Gold Mine as a case study

Abstract

Progressive rehabilitation has been recognised by the mining industry as a key strategy for minimising mine closure costs and environmental risk, with the rehabilitation of potentially acid‐forming waste rock being of particular interest due to the very large liabilities associated with sites where this risk has not been properly addressed. When properly implemented as an engineered solution, progressive rehabilitation of potentially acid‐forming waste rock can provide an inherently more robust and lower risk rehabilitation strategy compared with the commonly‐implemented alternative of an end‐of‐life waste dump covers. A case study is presented herein where progressive rehabilitation of potentially acid‐forming waste rock has been successfully integrated with ongoing construction of the embankment of a tailings storage facility (TSF). The mine site in question, the Martabe Gold Mine in Indonesia, is thought to be unique in that construction of the TSF embankment at the site will require utilisation of almost all of the waste rock to be produced life‐of‐mine. The TSF embankment is therefore a fully integrated and engineered structure addressing both tailings and waste rock disposal requirements for the site. This approach offers a number of key benefits, including minimisation of both waste rock rehabilitation and tailings storage costs, and minimising the risk of long‐term acid mine drainage.