The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sumitomo Metal Mining Pogo May 7 reported to Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation that a ruptured line spilled roughly 90,000 gallons of paste backfill at the Pogo gold mine in Interior Alaska. The 8-inch line delivers paste backfill, a mixture of tailings and cement, into the underground mine for disposal. Once underground, the concrete created from the tailings fills mined-out areas, providing support for continued mining. The backfill material is reported to contain 1-3 parts-per-million cyanide but is rendered inert by the high pH of the concrete mixture. Once hardened, the spilled tailings are being removed with heavy equipment and hand tools.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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