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 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 for US$100 for a 1-year licence.
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.
This is an online, self-paced course that will require roughly 70 hours to complete.
We recommend you aim to complete the course within 16 weeks, around one month per module.
You will have lifetime access to the course meaning there is flexibility in how you use the course materials.
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.
The facilitator for this module is former Associate Professor Claire Côte. This module is divided into 3 sections:
Understand the history of the water accounting framework and its intent.
Identify the elements of a mine water system and be able to categorise them.
Visually represent a water balance model using systems-thinking and network diagrams.
The facilitator for this module is former Associate Professor Claire Côte. This module is divided into 4 sections:
Understand what regulated structures are.
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.
The facilitator for this module is former Associate Professor Claire Côte. This module is divided into 3 sections:
Understand what a pit lake is.
Equip you with sufficient knowledge to predict the volume of water held in the pit lake and its water level.
Gain an awareness of how a pit lake's volume and water levels can vary over time.
The facilitator for this module is former Associate Professor Claire Côte. This module is divided into 4 sections:
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.
The facilitator for this module is former Associate Professor Claire Côte. This module is divided into 3 sections:
Inrush and inundation – explain what an inrush and inundation are.
Management plans – outline requirements of inundation and inrush hazard management.
Role of environmental personnel – define the role of environmental personnel in preventing catastrophic water impacts on underground mines.
The facilitator for this module is former Associate Professor Claire Côte. This module is divided into 3 sections:
Explain what subsidence is.
Describe the impacts of subsidence.
Outline the monitoring and rehabilitation options that are currently available.
The facilitator for this module is former Associate Professor Claire Côte. This module is divided into 3 sections:
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. You will be provided with an extensive dataset, 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 Mansour Edraki
Group Leader, Environmental Geochemistry, Centre for Environmental Responsibility in Mining (CERM)
