Drainage and dewatering of chujah pit - a case study - Billiton Bogosu Gold Ltd

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Date
1994-09-27
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Abstract
Water is encountered in majority of surface mines over the life time of the mine or during each stage of development. Water poses a lot of problems to the smooth mining operations. Some of these problems are slope instability, muddy conditions that bogs down equipment, increase in blasting cost, transportation and water pollution just to mention a few. An effectively designed mine dewatering system greatly improves working conditions and other environmental problems. Billiton Bogosu Gold Limited (BBGL) operates the gold concession which lies close to the town of Bogosu which is located in the Western Region of Ghana (a relatively high rainfall region). The present shareholders of BBGL are Billiton (90%), and the Government of Ghana (10%). The company has a production target of 900000 tonnes, and 3856.4 g (124000 oz) of gold per annum. Currently both the suiphide and the oxide ores are being mined from several pits of which Chujah is one. Mining at Chujah has reached the third stage (phase). Mining operations are being hampered by the presence of water in the pit. Both current and future mining depths extend below the water table. This stage however, necessitates further lowering of the ground water to allow future mining operations to go on unhindered. This project work investigates the existing dewatering situation of Chujah pit and suggests ways of overcoming the shortcomings in order to meet production targets.
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A thesis submitted to the Board of Postgraduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of Postgraduate Diploma in Mining Engineering, 1994
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