UMREG Balanced Resources Management UMREG2012 Meeting, IAEA, Vienna, November 7, 2012 Remediation of the Tuyuk Suu Tailings Pond “Appraisal of the Minkush.

UMREG Balanced Resources Management

UMREG2012 Meeting, IAEA, Vienna, November 7, 2012

Remediation of the Tuyuk Suu Tailings Pond

“Appraisal of the Minkush Legacy Taillings Ponds and their Economically and Environmentally

Balanced Remediation.”

Alex Jakubick, UMREGwith use of material provided by

Isakbek Targoev, Kyrgyzstan and Don Metzler, USDOE



Challenge and Constraints of Remediation of the Legacy Tailings Sites in Central Asia

•December 21, 1991, at a conference in Almaty, the Central Asian republics declared their sovereignty over their natural resources. Based on this declaration the legal responsibility for the U mining legacies is with the national governments of these republics.

•In most of the Central Asian countries the present state of legacy sites is in violation of their standing public health standards

•However, so far only Kazakhstan was able to fund a national remediation program of the legacy sites.

•The GNP of the other Central Asian countries is considerably smaller or insufficient to fund the remediation of the legacy sites from the national budget

•To commence remediation in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan requires international funding.









A Preliminary Appraisal of the costs of a Remediation Project for the Min Kush Taillings Ponds

1_ Environmental Impact Assessment and Feasibility Study prelim.estimates: ($ 0.65 million)

2_Implementation of Remedial Works

Min Kush Tailings ponds:

Tuyuk Suu (relocation to “D”) ($ 4.5 million)Taldy Bulak ($ 0.7 million)

3 _Monitoring and Maintenance Program ($ 0.5 million per year)(MES funding for Minkush approx. 250 – 350 K Som)

4_Public information and consulting ($ 1 million)

5_Regulatory capacity building, training, ($ 1.9 million) environmental information management system, laboratory upgrading, monitoring equipment

6_Technical Assistance (International) ($ 0.3 million)



Key Components of the Environmental Impact Assessment Needed

Prior to Implementation of a Remedial Project

Project description; Environmental assessment; Contaminant transport modeling; Pathways analysis; Human health implications; Radiation protection; Occupational health and safety; Training requirements; Quality Assurance/Quality Control Emergency response; Project management; Contingency planning; Monitoring/maintenance Socio-economics; and Stakeholder consultation.



Implementation of Stakeholder Involvement

• „Environmental Review Committee“

selected from local representatives who serve as „multiplicators“

• Project “Open House” Events

• Education of local population



Tuyuk Suu Tailings pond in Minkush

The potential route for relocation of the Tuyuk Suu tailings.

Distance Tuyuk Suu - „Dalneye“: approx 12 km.

Main Cost factor: Upgrading of the road



Taldy Bulak in a side valley en route to “Dalneye”



Taldy Bulak: Upstream management of inflow



Road from Taldy Bulak to Dalneye tailings site





Tailings deposit at the „Dalneye“ site. Sufficiently stable and large site to take the Tuyuk Suu tailings



An example of succesfull tailings relocation project Case of the Moab UMTRA Project in USA

The Moab UMTRA Project is the largest tailings relocation project in the world. Relocation gives full satisfaction to all stakeholders while maintaining a safety record free of lost time safety incidents, and execute work ahead of schedule and within budget.

Courtesy of the US DOE UMTRA


Courtsy of the US DOE UMTRA

The Haul Road (Construction Road)

for Tailings Relocation in a mountainous terrain

Courtsy of the US DOE UMTRA Project




Placement of the relocated Moab Site tailings into the „Disposal Cell“ at the new site

Courtsy of the US DOE UMTRA



Elements of Detailed Costing for the Tuyuk Suu Tailings Relocation Project

• Relocation of tailings to secure site and reclamation of existing site

• Stabilization of potential landslide areas

• Install, repaire or stabilize containment dams dams and dykes

• Establish or improve surface water management system to handle 1:100 year run-off event

• Repair, replace or decommissioning of subsurface drainage system

• Erosion protection of slopes, embankments and waterways

• Construction or repair of tailings cover

• Re-vegitation

• Fencing and signs

• Environmental/radiation monitoring and regular inspection

• Routine annual maintenance of slopes, drainage, structures and tailings areas



Economics of the „Metal Recovery from Tailings Option“

for Kyrgyzstan

Some legacy tailings may contain marketable metals, e.g. gold (Ak-Tuz), Mo (Kara Balta), etc.

However, - the distribution of these metals in the tailings varies horizontally and vertically according to the system and rhythm of discharge, and- compared to the ore- their geochemistry and mineralogy underwent considerable changes during processing and long storage.

A complex sampling program is required to estimate the inventory of the respective metal and a “tailor made” technology of recovery must be developed.

In case that metal recovery proves to be feasible the increased exposure of the workers and public to radiation must be added to the costs incurred in processing the tailings.

UMREG Balanced Resources Management UMREG2012 Meeting, IAEA, Vienna, November 7, 2012 Remediation of the Tuyuk Suu Tailings Pond “Appraisal of the Minkush.

Documents

balanced remediation

natural resources

remediation project

legacy tailings sites

national remediation

constraints of remediation

central asian countries

central asian republics