Mine Closure & Reclamation

We evaluate, design, and monitor cover systems for tailings storage facilities, heap leach pads, and waste rock dumps across diverse climatic settings. Services include alternatives analyses, borrow material characterization, test plot design and implementation and long-term monitoring programs.

Cover systems are tailored to reduce risk and long-term closure costs and achieve post-closure land use objectives and regulatory performance criteria.

Learn more about mine reclamation.

We design erosion control, slope stabilization, and surface water management systems to protect reclaimed landforms over the long term. Services include side-slope erosion control, stormwater and snowmelt runoff management, and drainage control integration.

Learn more about mine reclamation.

We develop and implement field sampling programs, perform physical, hydraulic and geochemical property testing programs, and assess mine waste stabilization requirements and suitability of borrow materials for cover systems, reclamation landforms, and erosion control.

Learn more about mine reclamation.

We conduct comprehensive geochemical investigations to evaluate the potential for metal leaching and acid rock drainage (ML/ARD) and assess the long-term geochemical stability of mine wastes, which support informed, defensible decision-making for mine closure.

Our geochemistry work programs integrate field studies with advanced laboratory analyses that consist of static and kinetic testing to characterize mineralogical and elemental compositions, mineral reaction rates, and acid production and metal leaching potentials.

Together, these efforts support the development of geochemical source terms for predictive modelling, enabling us to define geochemical and water quality risks and design effective, practical closure strategies.

Learn more about Environmental Geochemistry with our service sheet.

Our groundwater services support the development of closure solutions by integrating physical and chemical hydrogeological studies to develop a robust understanding of the subsurface conditions, groundwater flow dynamics, contaminant transport pathways, and groundwater quality impacts.

These studies inform groundwater models and risk characterization, guide effective source term mitigation strategies, and support practical, long-term closure planning.

Learn more about Groundwater Services with our service sheet.

We develop site-wide water balance and water quality (SWWB-WQ) models to predict the quantity and quality of mine drainage from various closed–out facilities, including heap leach, waste rock, tailings facilities, and pit lakes. These models integrate site-specific hydrologic, climatic, and geochemical inputs to represent long-term system behavior under closed-site conditions.

Hydrodynamic modelling approaches are used to simulate the thermal and chemical stratification, vertical mixing behavior, and water quality within pit lakes. Deterministic and stochastic approaches simulate climate variability and cover system performance, informing closure design optimization, water treatment planning, and regulatory submissions.

Learn more about Groundwater Services with our service sheet.

We apply analytical and numerical modelling tools to simulate flow and contaminant transport through cover systems and into waste rock, tailings, and heap leach facilities. Models are calibrated against field data to predict net percolation, drainage chemistry, and water quality impacts delivering defensible performance predictions for closure design and regulatory review.

Learn more about mine reclamation.

We design and implement test plot studies and in-situ monitoring systems to evaluate long-term cover system performance, surface water runoff rates and erosional stability of closure designs and the geochemical evolution of mine waste, surface water, and groundwater quality. Test plot and monitoring programs support closure planning decisions.

Our ecologists support closure through revegetation trials, species selection, and ecosystem function analysis (EFA/LFA) monitoring to demonstrate progressive rehabilitation success.

We employ cutting-edge methods to integrate field measurements and remote sensing (satellite and drone-based) data to provide comprehensive understanding of closure success.

Aquatic biological and ecological assessments are integrated where post-closure drainage may affect receiving water habitats and species, ensuring closure programs satisfy both terrestrial and aquatic regulatory performance criteria.

We design and implement multi-year post-closure monitoring programs tracking cover system performance, water quality, ecological recovery, and facility stability.

Data management systems support adaptive management, regulatory reporting, and compliance demonstration — reducing long-term liability and supporting eventual certificate of closure across all scales of operation.

Learn more about mine reclamation.