Getchell heap leach final permanent closure

The Getchell Gold Mine property has experienced a long history of mining and mineral processing activity. Facilities under the care of the current property manager, Placer Dome America, include a heap leaching complex operated from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. The leaching complex includes a collection of leach pads, an offloaded spent ore pile, five lined ponds and a small carbon column recovery plant. The site-specific drivers for closure of the leaching facilities, in addition to the regulatory codes, were Sb, As, Se and SO4 levels present in the heap interstitial fluids. Reclamation of the facilities involved installation of a vegetative water balance cover (VWBC) as a “store and deplete” system. In addition, three of the ponds were converted to evapotranspiration cells with contingency storage compartments. A leach field was also permitted, but its construction deferred, as a further contingency measure. The plan was developed in 2000 and implemented in the winter of 2001/02. This paper provides a summary of the design and construction of the reclamation works and presents data on the performance of the closure for the one-year period following completion of the reclamation.