The Hamata Tailings Dam Design and Construction at the Hidden Valley Mine in Papua New Guinea

December 10, 2020

The Hamata tailings storage facility at the Hidden Valley mine is being constructed in a remote, high rainfall, tropical environment in a mountainous region of Papua New Guinea. Implementation of the design has required adapting the design in response to various challenges encountered on the site during the ongoing construction period, based on observations by the designers and site monitoring data which is continuously collected and compared against design assumptions. This paper describes some of the design and construction modifications which have been implemented since construction of the tailings facility started and provides a case history of some of the challenges facing designers and construction crews when mining in remote, tropical conditions. Rynhoud, M.S., D. Johns and L. Murray. 2017. “The Hamata Tailings Dam Design and Construction at the Hidden Valley Mine in Papua New Guinea,” in ANCOLD 2017 Conference, October 26-27, 2017. Hobart, TAS, Australia.