Education in mine waste engineering: the experience of "SIGEO" Master's Course

(1)

Education in Mine Waste Engineering:

the experience of SIGEO Master

Lucia Simeoni

* and

Giovanni Tosatti

**

* Department of Structural and Mechanical Engineering, Trento University (Italy)

** Department of Earth Sciences, Modena and Reggio Emilia University (Italy)

with the collaboration of:

Alberto Bellin, Massimiano Bucchi, Renato Lancellotta, Luigi Mongiovì,

Andrea Montefusco, Maurizio Pellegrini, Marco Tubino

Varna, Bulgaria, 03-06 June 2010

THEORY AND PRACTICE OF GEOMECHANICS FOR THE EFFECTIVNESS

OF THE MINING PRODUCTION AND THE CONSTRUCTION

(2)

Education in mine waste engineering: the experience of SIGEO Master

1. Why a master’s course in Mine Waste Engineering?

2. The Master SIGEO: objectives and organization

3. The Master SIGEO: educational activities

4. The Master SIGEO: results

5. The need for an international master course

Outline

(3)

Tailings production in mineral processing

Tailings production

Crushing

Grinding

Heating

Concentration

Leaching

Dewatering

Tailings slurry

disposal

Filter “cake”

disposal or reuse

The European Commission has calculated that in Europe the annual volume of ore-processing waste exceeds

400 million

tonnes

(4)

Education in mine waste engineering: the experience of SIGEO Master | Why a master course?

Tailings dam collapses: the Stava disaster in 1985

July 19, 1985.

The catastrophic failure of the tailings dams serving the Prestavel fluorite mine in the

Stava

Valley (Province of Trento, Italy) caused the loss of

268 lives

and vast material and environmental destruction.

180,000 m

3 of waste material.

Tailings disposal before the failure

The devastating effect of the flowslide (July 1985)

(5)

Tailings dam collapses:

before

the Stava disaster

May 1, 1966.

Sgorigad

(Bulgaria)

220,000 m

3 of waste material

(6)

Tailings dam collapses:

before

the Stava disaster

February 26, 1972.

Buffalo Creek

(West Virginia, USA)

500,000 m

3 _{of black waste material}

(7)

Tailings dam collapses:

after

the Stava disaster

Since 1985

over 40

failures of tailings dam have occurred, causing the death of

some 500

people and extremely serious socioeconomic and environmental damage (see www.stava1985.it).

China, Brazil, USA, Canada, Philippines, Bulgaria, Peru, Australia, South Africa, Guyana, New Zealand, Bolivia, Spain, Romania, Sweden, Russia, Zambia.

1998

, April. Aznalcóllar (Spain)

2 million

m3_{of tailings +}

_{4 million}

_m3_{of polluted water}

2000

, January. Baia Mare (Romania)

100,000 m

3 _{of tailings contaminated}

with cyanide

2000

, March. Baia Borsa (Romania)

20,000

m3_{of toxic waste}

1998

, December. Huelva (Spain)

50,000

m3_{of polluted water}

2000

, Gällivare (Sweden)

(8)

Risks in Europe

Early this century the study carried out by the BRGM (Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières) on the management of mining, quarrying and ore-processing waste in the European Union highlighted

two

classes of environmental risks linked to mining waste

:

1. Risks associated with pollution

: not only with potential polluting source (e.g. acidity and heavy metals in non-ferrous metallic ore) but also with the specific environmental context and the presence of vulnerable elements in the event of pollution.

2. Risks associated with the stability of tailings dams

.

 Europe currently occupies a modest position in world mining activity in terms of scale of production and mineral reserves,

but

its role in the world mineral industry is not negligible as many companies in the sector are located in Europe.

 In Europe the mineral industry is modest,

but

Europe plays a major role in the management of world resources in the international market.

(9)

The European Directive 2006/21/CE

Directive 2006/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15th_{March 2006 concerning the}

management of waste from extractive industries

.

In particular the Directive requires:

that all member States guarantee that operators do whatever is necessary to prevent, or reduce as much as possible, the negative consequences for the environment and human health resulting from the

management of ore-processing waste;

the management of any stored waste, even after the closedown of the activities; the implementation of adequate monitoring and inspection measures;

the census of all closed and abandoned structures;

the management of a waste facility is in the hands of competent persons and

technical development and training of staff are provided

(Article 11, comma 1)

.

(10)

Education in mine waste engineering: the experience of SIGEO Master | Master SIGEO

The Master SIGEO: objectives and organization

In the 2007-08 Academic Year three Italian academic institutions:

Trento University

,

Turin Polytechnic

and

Modena and Reggio Emilia University

together proposed the

SIGEO

2nd_{level Master’s Course.}

With the patronage of the

Stava 1985 Foundation

(11)

The Master SIGEO: objectives and organization

General goal

:

disseminate knowledge and competence to reduce the risks for the environment and man’s health due to erroneous predictions of the mechanical response of geotechnical structures.

Specific goals:

i) preparation of qualified and responsible engineers; ii) census of existing risk conditions;

iii) promotion of research activities;

(12)

The Master SIGEO: educational activities

Students

:

SIGEO was proposed to 5-year graduate students in Civil or Environmental Engineering, Earth Sciences, Architecture and Forest Sciences.

Teaching activities were distributed over

three modules

Commitment

:

1,500 hours, subdivided into:

1,075 hours of teaching (344 of lessons and 731 of individual study), 300 hours of training courses,

(13)

The Master SIGEO: educational activities

Module 1

“Choices and Constraints”

(225 hour):

 identification of the social and economic variables which guide or condition planning choices;  assessment of the impact of specific choices on sustainable development;

 understanding the role of technicians in charge of choices;  analysis of planning processes;

 analysis of emergency situations.

Module 2

“Basic Technical-Scientific Knowledge”

(225 hour):

 disseminate the fundamental concepts of the disciplines involved in the study of geotechnical systems;

 provide students with a common technical language and a level of knowledge common to all participants, regardless of their individual provenance and formation.

(14)

The Master SIGEO: educational activities

Module 3

“Interventions and Interactions with the Physical Environment”

(625 hour):  knowledge of the physical and mechanical variables which control planning choices;

 knowledge of the physical and mechanical processes which control the efficiency of engineering structures;

 knowledge of the appropriate tools for the study of processes which control the efficiency of engineering structures;

 knowledge of the mechanisms through which an engineering work interacts with the environment;

 forecasting and prevention of emergency situations.

 technical seminars and excursions were proposed also for private consultants and staff from public administrations.

(15)

The Master SIGEO: results

With respect to the Master’s prefixed goals, the results attained are as follows:

ii. Census of existing risk conditions

6 out of 7 training courses and Master theses were dedicated to the study of actual cases of instability conditions affecting both natural and artificial slopes.

i) Preparation of qualified and responsible engineers

8 students: 6 males and 2 females (4 with a degree in Civil Engineering, 3 in Engineering for the Environment and Territory, 1 in Earth Sciences.

Only 5 out of 8 obtained the Master’s title. Over 50 persons participated in 5 seminars: 1) Analysis and mitigation of landslide risks;

2) The tailings dam of the Zelazny Most copper mine (Poland);

3) Geotechnical aspects in planning and constructing river embankments; 4) Embankment collapses in alluvial plains due to siphoning;

5) Geomorphological hazards, impacts and risks: concepts, assessment and mitigation with particular attention to seismic risk.

(16)

The Master SIGEO: results

iii) Promotion of research activities

The results of one of the Master’s theses were presented at the Annual Assembly of the European Geosciences Union in 2009.

iv) Active memory and lessons learnt from past mistakes

Four technical excursions were carried out, of which three on sites where disasters took place: 1) the Vajont landslide and reservoir (1910 dead),

2) the Stava tailings dams (268 dead),

3) the Pontesei landslide (1 dead) which anticipated the Vajont catastrophe, 4) the river flow-control systems on the River Po catchment basin.

(17)

The Master SIGEO: results

Strong points

:

1. Candidates from various Italian regions  topics are of general interest.

2. Students from different disciplinary areas

 interdisciplinarity of the topical subject of analysis and management of geotechnical systems. 3. Both male and female students

 no sexual discrimination.

4. Students appreciated the interdisciplinary subjects

 keen interest was shown for the social and industrial management themes. 5. 39 university teachers involved

(18)

The Master SIGEO: results

Weak points

:

1. Low number of students enrolled

 young graduates do not yet perceive the demand for professional consultants competent in analysis and management of geotechnical structures.

2. Cost of € 100,000 (funding was required from outside the university)

 with the lack of job opportunities, fees applied to enrolling students cannot be high; therefore, they are not sufficient to cover all organizational costs.

3. Difficulties in collecting funds from both private enterprises and public boards  need to other funding source.

(19)

The need for an International Master’s Course

An international Master’s Course should:

i) focus on

specific education

for construction and management of tailings dams required by the EU 2006/21/CE Directive;

ii) allow access to

EU funding

.

(20)

Education in mine waste engineering: the experience of SIGEO Master | The need of an international Master’s Course

The Erasmus Mundus programme

 contributes to

the implementation and management costs

of high-quality joint masters courses and doctoral programmes;

 offers

scholarships/fellowships

to European and third-country

students/doctorate

candidates

to follow these Erasmus Mundus joint master’s courses and doctoral programmes;

 offers short-term

scholarships

to European and third-country

academics

to carry out teaching and research activities in the context of the joint programme.

The Erasmus Mundus Programme – Action 1:

 of

European universities

from at least three different countries;  possibly

third-country universities

;

 public or private

research organization

;

 any

organization

, directly or indirectly, active in the field of higher education. The Erasmus Mundus Programme is designed and implemented by a consortium:

(21)