Closure planning involving water balance and groundwater level modelling of a final pit void as a sacrificial pit lake to minimise closure AMD risk.
Demonstrated the preferred closure strategy was not to expensively completely backfill as regulators had advised, but instead to partially backfill and maintain a shallow terminal pit lake that acted as a long-term hydraulic sink to local groundwater contaminated by AMD.
Pit lake and groundwater monitoring strategy developed and reported upon. Case study presented at international mine closure conference and published in an academic peer-reviewed journal facilitating agreement with regulators on the appropriateness of the revised closure strategy.