17th International Seminar on Paste and Thickened Tailings
Short Course: Paste Fill System Design, Operation and Management
Instructors
•
Rob Brown, Principal, Paterson & Cooke, Sudbury, Canada
•
Maureen McGuinness, Senior Process Engineer, Paterson & Cooke, Sudbury, Canada
•
Jaco Snyman, Senior Engineer, Paterson & Cooke, Cape Town, South Africa
•
Steve Wilson, Managing Director, Paterson & Cooke, Cornwall, UK
•
Dr. Ben Thompson, Consulting Geoscientist, Mine Design Engineering, Kingston, Canada
•
Ryan Francoeur, Senior Project Technologist and Laboratory Manager, Paterson &
Cooke, Sudbury, Canada
Background and technical rationale
Backfill is seldom recognized as a critical part of the mining cycle until it is too late. Poor design,
inadequate comprehension of the materials, or under-sizing of the system can lead to unreliable fill
delivery, or worse – no backfill placement at all. Starting with the selection of backfill method, through
testing and design, a successful project is one that includes structural and environmental considerations,
plus life cycle costs of the backfill material and the system itself.
A sound understanding of the material properties and proven design fundamentals ensure a mine’s
backfill system will be the least of their concerns. This course will briefly touch on backfill methods, and
then focus on paste fill which will be of interest to new operations considering paste fill, design
consultants and suppliers, as well as personnel from established operations as the course focuses on the
important relationships between system design and operation.
Objectives
The course objectives are:
1.
Provide participants with a sound overview of the considerations given when effectively
sizing, designing and operating mine paste fill systems.
2.
The course provides an overview of the issues impacting the design and operation of
underground mine paste fill systems. The course focuses on paste backfill (hydraulic fill
and cemented rock fill systems are introduced but not discussed in detail).
The course agenda includes the following topics:
•
Introduction to mine backfill
•
Backfill type overview and studies
•
Paste fill testing requirements
•
Paste fill plant process design and flow sheets
•
Plant unit processes overview (cycloning, thickening, filtration, storage, feeders, mixers,
pumping/pipelines)
•
Paste fill plant engineering and operational considerations
•
Pipeline distribution system hydraulics
•
Paste fill placement considerations and in situ behavior
•
Backfill management plans
•
Case studies
Who should attend?
The course is designed for all professionals involved in mine backfill and tailings applications,
including:
•
Mining engineers
•
Geotechnical engineers
•
Management
•
Chemical and mineral processing engineers
•
Mechanical engineers
•
Operations staff
•
Consulting and design engineers
•
Equipment and reagent vendors
Program Outline
Time
Topics
Details
7:30 am to 8:30 am Registration
8:30 am to
10:30 am
Introduction and Safety Share
Backfill Methods Overview
Study Stages
Testing
Rob Brown, Steve Wilson and Ryan
Francoeur
10:30 to 11:00
Coffee break
11:00 am to
12:30 pm
Paste fill System Design
Case Study
Various Examples
Rob Brown and Steve Wilson
12:30 to 1:30
Lunch break
1:30 pm to
3:00 pm
Pipeline Distribution System
Hydraulics
Pipeline Wear
Backfill Placement & Monitoring
Jaco Snyman, Maureen McGuinness and
Ben Thompson
3:00 to 3:30
Coffee break
3:30 pm to
5:00 pm
Case Study
Backfill System Management
Maureen McGuinness
Instructor CVs
Instructor Affiliation Brief CV Rob Brown Paterson & Cooke
Sudbury, Canada
Rob Brown is Paterson & Cooke’s Global Backfill Group Leader, the Principal of their Sudbury, Ontario practice and is the president of Paterson & Cooke Canada Inc.
Rob has worked on paste backfill and surface paste tailings applications since 1997. He has extensive international experience with paste plants, delivery systems and underground backfill placement. Prior to joining P&C, Rob was the Vice President, Construction and Operations for Golder Paste Technology Ltd.
Rob is a Professional Engineer (Mining). He frequently works in the field upgrading operating plants and has authored several paste system operating manuals, quality control procedures and papers involving paste plant design, operation, troubleshooting and the transport of paste tailings.
Maureen McGuinness
Paterson & Cooke Sudbury, Canada
Maureen McGuinness is a Senior Process Engineer in Paterson & Cooke’s Sudbury, Ontario practice.
Maureen has worked in mining/milling for over 16 years and specifically on paste backfill operation for over 10 years. Her expertise includes hydraulic modeling of backfill distribution systems and start-up/commissioning of pastefill operations.
Maureen is bilingual (English/French), a licensed Professional Engineer in Ontario and Quebec, and has authored several papers involving paste plant operation, troubleshooting and pipe wear during the transport of paste tailings. She has recently completed her Masters on paste system wear and is pursuing her PhD.
Jaco Snyman Paterson & Cooke Cape Town, South Africa
Jaco Snyman is a Senior Engineer within Paterson & Cooke’s Cape Town office. He has worked in the water supply, mining and consulting fields and has extensive experience in the design, installation and
commissioning of pipelines and pumping systems both above and below surface. He joined Paterson & Cooke in February 2008.
Jaco’s key areas of expertise include integrated project management, backfill plant testing and design, high pressure slurry pipeline systems and design of water supply systems.
Instructor Affiliation Brief CV Steve Wilson Paterson & Cooke
Cornwall, UK
Steve is a chartered Mining Engineer and is the Managing Director of the UK based Paterson & Cooke practice based in Cornwall. He has extensive experience on international paste and mining related projects. His experience with paste and thickened tailings technology has been applied to a range of mining applications, both for surface disposal and underground backfill, and its application in industries other than mining.
Steve has a strong knowledge of material characterization, and importantly the application of this information into successful process and mechanical design. Steve has actively been involved in all study levels and engineering work from conceptual through to detailed design and construction where he has actively been involved both technically and in a project management role.
Dr Ben Thompson
Mine Design Engineering, Kingston, Canada
Dr. Ben Thompson is a consulting geoscientist at Mine Design Engineering. He has world-leading expertise in the instrumentation of stopes for backfill monitoring. One of his main focuses is in working with mines to safely increase backfill efficiency and in optimizing cure times. During a five year period managing a University of Toronto research project, and continuing this work with a ‘production oriented’ approach on a consulting basis, Ben has worked with Barrick, Inmet, Teck, Vale and Xstrata operations on both cemented paste and hydraulic backfill projects.
Ben’s work has been published in several peer-reviewed journals and conference papers. He has a PhD in Applied Geophysics and has also published work on the application of micro-seismological techniques to understand rock fracture and fault-slip.
Ryan Francoeur Paterson & Cooke Sudbury, Canada
Ryan Francoeur is a Senior Project Technologist and Laboratory Manager at Paterson & Cooke’s Sudbury practice. Ryan has over 10 years’ experience and has performed field and laboratory work for hundreds of mining and mineral resource projects around the world. He has been focused on the development and execution of unique test procedures for mine tailings and other mineral streams that include; material characterization, process testing, unconfined and triaxial strength testing, rheological analysis, lab and full scale pipe flow analysis and hydraulic conductivity of mine backfill.
Ryan is certified through OACETT as an Applied Science Technologist, and the Chemical Institute of Canada as a Certified Chemical Technologist. Ryan has authored papers on dewatering oil sands tailings, land reclamation and mitigation of airborne dust pollution using paste technology.
