BRITISH COLUMBIA ADANAC MOLY CORP. of Vancouver has received the preliminary design for the tailings facility, waste dumps and site water management for its Ruby Creek molybdenum project 24 km northeast of Atlin. KLOHN CRIPPEN CONSULTANTS prepared the report based on a 20,000 tonnes/day open pit mine.
The report proposes that a compacted cyclone sand tailings dam be constructed across Ruby Creek to form the tailings facility downstream of the mill. Water reclaim from the tailings disposal facility back to the mill will be maximized to reduce the volume of stored water.
Waste rock will be deposited in small dumps located in valleys above the open pit and in a large main dump to the east of the mine within the upper end of the tails area. The low-grade ore stockpile will be integrated with the larger waste dump near the mill.
Preliminary results show that in general, the waste rock at Ruby Creek is not potentially acid generating. The maximum sulphide content within the waste rock samples tested thus far is low.
To manage surface water, two major diversions will route natural surface water runoff around the tailings disposal facility. Both ditches will originate above the pit area and run generally parallel to Ruby Creek on both sides of the valley along the flanks of the surrounding hillsides, rejoining Ruby Creek downstream of the seepage recovery pond. Freshwater supply will be obtained from a dam reservoir that forms part of the surface water diversion scheme.
Preliminary capital cost estimate of the capital required for the tailings dam is approximately Cdn$62 million, plus or minus 25%, says Adanac. A timeline for the development of the project is posted at www.AdanacMoly.com.
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