Investigation of the erosional stability of waste rock dumps under simulated rainfall: a proposal

There are large volumes of material involved in the rehabilitation structures at Ranger uranium mine and the areas of disturbance are extensive. The major agent of erosion of these structures will be water, either as concentrated or distributed flow across the surface of the structure or as soil-water and groundwater flow. It is proposed to use simulated rainfall and concentrated surface flow to study the erodibility characteristics of the surface materials and to assess the impact on erosion rates of different surface materials, slope geometries (gradients, shapes and lengths) and ground covers (vegetation and rock material). Concentrated flow will be produced by discharging water through a flume siting on the slopes. The experiment will enable existing hydrological and erosion models to be tested and will allow new models to be developed. 67 refs., 1 tab., 7 figs