Aphrodite surface water assessment
Bardoc Gold is developing the Aphrodite Gold Project , a proposed gold mine in the Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia. The site is located 65 km north of Kalgoorlie. The Western Australia goldfields are one of Australia’s main gold producing regions.
Gold mineralisation was first discovered in the area in 1996. The project was acquired by Aphrodite Gold from Apex Minerals NL in 2009. The project was classified as a resource in 2011 and scoping studies undertaken in 2012/2013. Aphorodite Gold merged with Bardoc Gold in 2018.
Mining will be undertaken initially as an open cut pit followed possibly by underground mining. Active mining of the open pit is projected to be up to 3 years. Underground mining extends the mine life by another 3.5 years.
The project is undertaking prefeasibility and environmental impact assessment studies as part of development of the mine. These will lead into feasibility studies.
Client
Aphrodite Gold Limited
Our work
Hydrologia’s work formed part of the mine prefeasibility and environmental impact studies. We worked closely with Integrate Sustainability and Aphrodite Gold during the project.
We:
- Assessed potential environmental impacts on surface water associated with development of the proposed Aphrodite Gold Deposit;
- Characterised flood risk for the open pit; and
- Analysed interactions between stormwater and flood characteristics of the site and proposed site infrastructure.
This involved:
- An assessment of potential environmental impacts on surface water flow paths and erosion;
- A site visit;
- Detailed modelling of catchment hydrology and site flood risk using the DHI Mike SHE and Mike 21 software;
- Identification of flood risk for the mine pits;
- Identification of interaction between surface water flow paths and project infrastructure; and
- Documentation of the study findings in a report
Deliverables
Hydrologia’s deliverable for the project was a comprehensive report presenting the results of the study. This was used in the environment approvals and site planning work and fed into prefeasibility design work.
