Slope Stability
Analysis of Hamata Tailings Dam, Hidden Valley Mine, Papua New Guinea
Construction
and management of Tailing dams in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is faced with many challenges
such as high altitude with high rainfall (2000-5000 mm/yr), high seismicity and
structurally controlled zones which pose threat to the slope stability of
tailings dams. Therefore, slope stability analysis is necessary to give confidence
to some extent to the stakeholders. The location for this study is at Hamata
Tailings (dam) Storage Facility (TSF) at Hidden Valley Mine in PNG which has
two rock/earth filled embankments, the main dam and the saddle dam with
downstream construction method. Currently the TSF owner is planning to raise the dam height from RL 2000
to RL 2015 with extra 15 Mt storage capacity as the pond water approaching its
designed capacity at RL 2000. The objective of this study is to analyse the
slope stability of Hamata TSF using phase 2 based on the design basics for the
crest expansion from RL 2000 to RL 2015 and beyond and recommend an ideal slope stability under
various conditions in terms of shear strength reduction factor ((SSRF). The
results obtained in this study is useful for PNG Mining Regulators in comparing
company results in the appraisals for tailings dam development proposals and,
it will be useful to future researchers in PNG and other similar tropical
regions.
