Gain the skills necessary to implement best practice mine water management. The Mine Water Systems course is designed to equip environmental personnel with technical knowledge in sampling and monitoring, data management, mine water quality, mine site water balance and regulated structures, subsidence and watercourse diversions.
This is part 2 of 3 courses on managing water within the Mine Water Management Program.
This course is developed for environmental personnel working for mining companies to give them the foundational skills for managing water resources on a mine site. It is also suitable for professionals working with the mining industry including:
environmental consultants
water resources engineers and scientists
government regulators and policy makers
academics and researchers.
This course is targeted at professionals with less than 10 years experience working in the mining industry.
An ArcGIS Pro license is required. If it is not available through employment conditions, a personal ArcGIS Pro licence can be purchased on Esri’s website website for US$100 for a one-year licence.
Computer system requirements: preferably 16GB of RAM (memory). 8GB is recommended as a minimum. All GIS workflows that are provided in the courses were tested with 16GB Memory system, Intel i7 processor (3GHz), Intel Iris Xe integrated GPU (8GB), Samsung NVMe SSD.
What you'll learn
Legislative and regulatory requirements that apply to mine water systems.
How to manage a sampling program and associated monitoring network, and interpret and analyse water quality data.
How to identify the various elements of a mine water system and develop a mine water balance.
The requirements for managing regulated structures on a mine site.
Site-specific issues such as the influence of groundwater on pit slope stability, impacts of subsidence, and requirements for watercourse diversions
How to submit incident reports to regulators.
Time commitment
This is an online course that will require roughly 70 hours to complete.
over 1 semester
Course curriculum
This module is divided into 4 sections:
Introduction – an overview of the environmental legal system, its many parts and structure.
Overview of regulatory instruments, in particular the legislation with direct relevance to water in mining.
Understanding source contaminants – introduction to the causes and types of contaminants in mine impacted water including AMD, salinity and cyanide.
Chemistry theory – introduction to some background chemistry and theory specific to mine water, including solubility of minerals, acidity and alkalinity and adsorption.
Monitoring design – concepts and procedures of designing a water quality monitoring program for your site including compliance and strategic monitoring.
Croydon Mine case study – understanding water chemistry data to manage impacts on the receiving environment.
Sampling and laboratory analysis – focus on water quality sampling procedures including water quality parameters and water chemistry constituents.
Analysis of water quality data – you will learn how to analyse water quality monitoring data, learn the common reasons for analysis and interpretation, as well as how to use statistical tools to represent water quality data.
Data management – there are extensive requirements for data reporting on mine sites and an effective data management system is essential. We will explore the essential functionalities of these environmental databases.
Case studies – case studies will be examined including hexavalent chromium dispersion from Nickel Laterite Mine, water quality signatures, and post-closure water quality at Kidston.
Raise awareness of the importance of defining and clarifying roles and responsibilities with respect to the design, operation and surveillance of regulated structures.
Equip you with sufficient knowledge to carry out the tasks assigned to you with respect to the design, operation and surveillance of regulated structures.
Provide guidance to assist you with managing studies that assess consequences from failure of a regulated structure.
Water-related risks – the presence of groundwater can lead to the pit slope being unstable.
Dewatering – at some mines the presence of groundwater poses risks that must be managed through dewatering programs.
Depressurisation – the way to maintain pit slope stability is to reduce pore pressure in the slope material and this is achieved with implementation of a depressurisation program.
Integrated planning – effective dewatering and depressurisation requires integrated planning and collaboration of multiple teams.
What is a watercourse diversion – understand what “watercourse diversions” are.
Roles and responsibilities – raise awareness of the importance of defining and clarifying roles and responsibilities with respect to the design, operation and monitoring of watercourse diversions.
Implementation and design – equip you with sufficient knowledge to carry out the tasks assigned to you with respect to the design, operation and monitoring of watercourse diversions.
Monitoring and evaluation – provide guidance to assist you with managing studies that assess watercourse diversions.
Assessment
You will need to complete regular tasks and submit them as one final assessment at the end of the course. Students are provided with an extensive data set including water quality and quantity data to:
perform water quality data analyses
derive site water account
write an incident report for a noncompliant release.
Certification and accreditation
Students who successfully complete the course will receive a Certificate of Completion to verify their skills and achievements.
Facilitators
Professor Claire Côte
Director, Centre for Water in the Minerals Industry
If you wish to register for all 3 Mine Water Management courses, please complete this form.
Mine Water Fundamentals runs 4 March - 22 June 2025
Soil, Erosion and Sediment Control, Tailings and Residue runs 11 March - 29 June 2025
GST is excluded from the cost
Students that enrol in all 3 Mine Water Management Program courses receive a 10% discount if they pay for all 3 at once. Companies with 5 or more attendees receive a 10% discount.
Payment options
We accept credit cards (Visa/MasterCard) for payment, including corporate credit cards. If you do not have access to a card, please contact our team at education@smi.uq.edu.au to discuss your options.
Related courses
This course is part of the Mine Water Management Program suite.
There are 3 courses within this suite – see the other related courses below:
