Water Management System for Merlin Diamond Project - Supplementary Report

Abstract

The objectives of water management for the proposed mining operations at the Merlin project are to:

Protect the integrity of local and regional ground and surface water resources, and to minimise any potential adverse impacts;

control water build-up and inflows to the pits to enable safe and efficient ore extraction;

provide reliable and adequate supply of water for optimum process plant operation;

divert clean runoff from areas not affected by mining around the mine areas to minimise the potential for degradation of site runoff; and,

maximise the scarce water resource. The current lack of technical information regarding groundwater make it difficult to exactly determine the site water balance in terms of regional environmental resource risk and as a water supply for the project. As mentioned earlier, Ashton are currently undenaking borefield development, the results of which will be incorporated into the EMP/MEMP for the Merlin Project. Ashton are committed to obtaining baseline information for both surface and groundwaters during the 1997/98 wet season. Provision of this information will allow for the refinement of the overall water management plan for the Merlin Project.