Field Air Permeability Testing to Characterize the Hydraulic Conductivity of Coarse Textured Reclamation Covers over Uranium Mine Waste

Julie Zettl, Mingbin Huang, S.L. Barbour

In the proceedings of: GeoManitoba 2012: 65th Canadian Geotechnical Conference

Session: W1D - Exploration and Instrumentation

ABSTRACT: The design of soil covers for mine reclamation requires a field characterization of the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) of the cover soil. Methods such as the Guelph Permeameter (GP) are often utilized to measure Ks in the field; however, the method is time consuming, restricting its application in evaluating spatial and inter-annual variability over large areas. Field based measurements of air permeability (Ka) can provide rapid measurements of Ks of surface soils. This paper describes a field comparison of the results from an air permeameter (AP) to those from GP testing. The study was undertaken on a coarse-textured glacial till cover soil over waste rock at the Cameco Key Lake uranium mine in Northern Saskatchewan. The results show that AP measurements are similar to those from the GP (within 0.2 orders of magnitude on average). This result suggests that AP testing could provide a rapid method of measuring Ka so that spatial and temporal variability can be characterized.

RÉSUMÉ: Le plan de la surface des sols pour la réclamation des mines requiert une caractérisation de la conductivité hydraulique (Ks) de la surface du sol sur le terrain. Des méthodes telles que le Perméamètre de Guelp (PG) sont souvent utilisées pour mesurer la Ks spatiale et la variabilité interannuelle pour des régions vastes. Les mesures de la Ka) sur le terrain peuvent fournir des mesures rapides de la Ks sur la surface des sols. Cet article décrit la comparaison des résultats du couche de roches de Key Lake dans le nord de la Saskatchewan. Les résultats indiquent que les mesures du PA sont similaires à celles obtenues par la méthode du PG (ordres de magnitude de 0.2 en moyenne). Ces résultats suggèrent que les mesures du Ks de façon telle que la variabilité spatiale et temporelle puisse être caractérisée.

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Cite this article:
Julie Zettl; Mingbin Huang; S.L. Barbour (2012) Field Air Permeability Testing to Characterize the Hydraulic Conductivity of Coarse Textured Reclamation Covers over Uranium Mine Waste in GEO2012. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Geotechnical Society.

@article{Paper320,author = Julie Zettl; Mingbin Huang; S.L. Barbour,title = Field Air Permeability Testing to Characterize the Hydraulic Conductivity of Coarse Textured Reclamation Covers over Uranium Mine Waste,year = 2012}