Design of the tailings disposal facilities for Battle Mountain Gold Company's Crown Jewel mine near Oroville, Washington

The development of the design of the Tailings Disposal Facility (TDF) for this planned gold mine is discussed in technical as well as regulatory terms. Since Battle Mountain Gold Company exercised an option agreement with Crown Resources Corporation in 1991, design and permitting of the TDF has continued towards its current pending approval. The Final Environmental Impact Statement is now complete and permits are being issued. Construction is expected to begin in 1998. The ultimate TDF provides containment for 9.1 million tons of tailings between two embankments, 185 feet and 95 feet high, respectively. The regulatory and design process has been much more extensive than on any known similar project of this magnitude. As a result, the tailings containment system is one of the most conservative tailings designs developed to date; it includes cyanide destruction, drained tailings, double geosynthetic liners with leak detection and collection systems, and embankments constructed with downstream raises. The sequence of events leading to the current design, including promulgation of new state legislation governing metal mining, is described.