Tom Price Open Pit Mine - 82 Stacker Embankment Stabilisation
Geofabrics Australasia has been successfully supplying ELCOSEAL® Geosynthetic Clay Liners into major Australian lining projects, since 1996.
In line with the significant investment in mining infrastructure, ELCOSEAL® GCL’s have also been used in many unique mining applications, such as the Tom Price 82 Stacker Embankment Stabilisation Project. Tom Price mine is situated about 1500km north of Perth, in the Hamersley ranges. The elevation of Tom Price town is 747 metres, making it the highest town in Western Australia.
"Efficient materials handling is critical to the economic viability of any mining operation. Tom Price mine has rail loadout capabilities which include ore stockpile reclaimer and stacker conveyors for rapid loading into rail bins. These facilities can be up to 300metres long and typically require an embankment foundation to support the stacker."
ELCOSEAL® X3000 GCL was installed for this purpose, due to the steepness of the embankment slopes and the heavy loadings applied to the GCL. ELCOSEAL® X3000 was laid, in 5m lengths, down the 1V:1.5H embankments. The GCL also had to be suitable for placement under a rail, concrete sleeper and rock ballast system on which the Stacker travels. Approximately 14,000m² of ELCOSEAL® X3000 was supplied to the Stacker 82 Embankment project.
