Hay & Company has had direct involvement with Deep Sea Tailing Management (DSTM) projects for over 30 years. In 1974, Utah Mines (subsequently part of BHP) engaged Hay & Company to solve problems with their DSTM system at their Island Copper Mine in British Columbia, Canada. An entirely new tailing system was designed and implemented which managed the mine tailing through deep sea placement. The system operated from 1974 until the mine’s closure in December 1995. This technology, originally developed by Hay & Company for Island Copper, has since been utilized successfully at mines around the world. Hay & Company has participated in other DSTM systems from feasibility level studies through to full implementation, at sites around the world, from Greenland to Papua New Guinea.
Studies and designs of DSTM involve analysis and design of slurry transport systems, oceanographic data gathering, coastal processes analysis, ocean wave analysis, oceanographic numerical modelling, density current modelling (fate of tailing), sedimentation analysis, hydraulic engineering and structural engineering. Hay & Company has developed proprietary numerical models in support of DSTM work which include 3-D oceanographic current models, 2-D density current models, multi-layered slurry pipeline models, transient flow models, flow and pressure models for combinations of pipelines and free-surface tanks, and a unique pipe stress prediction and monitoring model to aid in outfall pipe installation. Field instrumentation and experience include bathymetric surveys; conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sampling; acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP), both vessel mounted and moored; tide gages; sediment sampling; thermistor strings and meteorological stations.
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