University of Mines and Technology
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND
SAFTEY (MR 379)
Prepared by
Prof R. K. Amankwah
Revised by
Clement Owusu
(PhD, UniSA, BSc (UMaT, WAIMM)
2024
Scope of the course
o Environmental management defined
oEnvironmental resources
oConcept of environmental quality and standards
oEnvironmental impact assessment and management
plans
oHealth and safety management
2
Assessment
o Attendance – 10 marks
o Quizzes – 10 marks
o Paper review and presentations – 10 marks
o Laboratory work – 10 marks
o Final exam – 60 marks
3
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
2024
The Environmental
• Biosphere is the Global sum of all ecosystem, which is also the Zone of life.
• Environment is the surroundings of a physical system that may interact
with the system by exchanging mass, energy or other properties.
Air (mixture of gases)
Living things
Water
Land
The Environmental management
• Environmental management is concerned with the man-environment
interface, the complex boundary where bio-physical and socio-cultural
systems interact (Hare, 1970)
• It is an attempt to control human impact on and the interaction with the
environment in order to preserve natural resources
• General definition - Environmental management is concerned with the
understanding of the structure and function of the earth system, as well as
of the ways in which humans relate to their environment.
Scope of environmental management
o Environmental management involves many stakeholders and requires a
multidisciplinary perspective.
o It involves many spatial scales, ranging from the local to the global.
o It also involves many, diverse goals, including the desires to control the
direction and pace of development to;
➢Optimise resource use;
➢Minimise environmental degradation; and
➢Avoid environmental disaster.
8
Sustainable development
oDevelopment that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs (Brundtland Report,1987).
oThe three pillars of sustainable development are:
• Environment;
• Social; and
• Economic issues.
Pillars of sustainable development
Environmental resources
oResources that occur naturally in nature are referred to as natural
resources. Natural resources are found in our environment
• Air and wind
• Sunlight
• Water
• Minerals and Fossil fuels
• People
• Soil
• Wildlife
Environmental resources
Wind Power
Solar energy
Water resource
Forest resource
Precious metals, minerals
Animal resource
Natural gas
Crude oil
Land resource
Air and wind
o The atmosphere refers to the layer of gases, which surrounds the earth
and is retained by Earth's gravity.
o The atmosphere protects life on earth by
• Absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation,
• Warming the surface through heat retention (greenhouse effect), and
• Reducing temperature extremes between day and night
o The layer of gases is known as air and its movement creates wind.
Air and wind
o The conditions found in the atmosphere are what causes weather, including
moisture, temperature, movement, and pressure
o Climate is the condition of the weather in a particular area and it determines
which natural resources can survive in that environment
Water cycle
 Movement
of water from the
earth’s surface to the atmosphere
and back to the surface
 Water is continuously renewed
through the hydrologic cycle
Occurrence of groundwater
 Groundwater
occurs
when water recharges the
subsurface
through
cracks and pores in the
soil and rock
 Shallow water level is
referred to as water table
Fossil fuels
o Fossil fuels are natural resources used to provide energy.
• Fossil fuels took millions of years to make.
• They are the remains of decomposed plants and animals.
• Their energy comes from the energy produced by the plants and
animals.
Fossil fuels may be solid (coal), liquid
(petroleum) or gaseous (natural gas)
Minerals
o Natural inorganic substances which has defined composition and
structure and available on or in the earth
o Minerals form rocks, deposits and ores
o They are mined from the earth and are used to produce most things
that cannot be planted
Soil
o Soil is the thin layer of organic (decayed matter) and inorganic
material (rock remains) that covers the Earth's rocky surface.
o It accommodates plants which may become a food source for
humans and animals. It also receives waste which may provide
nutrients.
o Soil must be protected in order for it to continue to be a resource as it
can be eroded by misuse.
Sunlight
o Sunlight is the source of almost all the energy used on the
Earth.
o The solar energy released is used in the process of
photosynthesis
o Humans also harness this energy using solar collectors
Wildlife
o Wildlife refers to all plants and
animals that live in the wild
o These plants and animals have not
been domesticated or brought under
human control
Renewable and nonrenewable
resources
o Environmental resources may be renewable or nonrenewable.
o Renewability is whether or not a resource can be restored after use.
o Soil is a renewable natural resource, however it is not a fast process.
o Plants and water are other renewable natural resources
o Minerals and fossils fuels are two types of nonrenewable natural
resources.
Human impact on environmental
resources
o Virtually all human activities have impacts on environmental resources
o Continual human or anthropogenic activities have led to changes in;
oThe biophysical environments
oEcosystems,
oBiodiversity, and
oNatural resources
Challenges of anthropogenic
misuse
o Climate change
oPollution
oExcessive waste generation
oDesertification and water shortage
oOver exploitation of resources
Local level assessment of environmental quality
o Environmental quality assessment is an opinion of how good or bad a
place is.
o It can consider human or man-made features and physical or natural
features of an area
o The person assessing quality can establish the items he/she wants to
monitor. For example:
o Litter
o Noise
o Dust
o Smell
o Appearance
Local level assessment of environmental quality
o The person may choose a scale of 1 to 5 and grade each component
Item
Noise
Dust
Smell
Litter
Water
Loiter
1 -Good
2
3
4
5 - Bad
International strategies to protect the
environment
1972 - Conference on the Human Environment
1987 - Brundtland’s Report (Our common future)
1992 - Rio Conference
1997 - Kyoto Protocol
2002 - Johannesburg Conference
2012 - Earth Summit
2016 - Paris Agreement
What is an Environmental Management
System?
1972 - Conference on the Human Environment
1987 - Brundtland’s Report (Our common future)
1992 - Rio Conference
1997 - Kyoto Protocol
2002 - Johannesburg Conference
2012 - Earth Summit
2016 - Paris Agreement
What is an Environmental Management
System?
o A system that brings together people, policies and allows for planning,
implementing, checking and reviewing environmental policy and
strategy
o It can be used to manage issues at a local level such as home or office,
or at the commercial, national or global level
o Several standards are available
British standard Institution (BS 7750 of 1992, 1994)
International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO 14001 of 1996,
2004, 2015, 2018)
What is an Environmental Management
System?
o An EMS should cover all aspects of management, environmental and
systems issues
o Facilitates environmental compliance and addresses environmental
impacts
o An environmental office with technical expertise where all people
in the unit whose work has significant impact on the environment
can jaw-jaw
o Commitment from upper management and linked to other
management systems
o Formal structure, policies, procedures and programmes
The 1SO 14001
o “The
part
of
the
overall
management
system
that
includes
organizational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices,
procedures, processes and resources for developing, implementing
achieving and reviewing the environmental policy.”
o The framework is a self declaration about:
o Code of Environmental Management Principles;
o Compliance-Focused EMS; and
o Eco-Management and Audit Scheme.
ISO 14001 Components
o Environmental Policy
o Planning
o Implementation and Operation
o Checking and Corrective Action
o Management Review
ISO 14001 Elements
o Environmental Policy
o Planning
o Implementation and Operation
o Checking and Corrective Action
o Management Review
ISO 14001 Elements
Management
Review
Checking/
Corrective Actions
• Measurement and Monitoring
• EMS Nonconformance and
Corrective Actions
• Records
• EMS Audits
Environmental
Policy
Continuous
Improvement
Implementation
• Roles and Responsibilities
• Training and Communication
• EMS Document Control
• Emergency Preparedness and
Response
Planning
• Environmental Aspects
• Compliance
• Objectives and Targets
• Environmental Mgmt.
Programs
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Benefits of an EMS
o Helps maintain compliance
o Reduce operating costs
o Integrate environmental programmes into mission
o Increase employee involvement
o Reduce environmental impacts
Applications of the EMS
o In the home (though structure may be missing)
o In industries such as:
o Mining;
o Water purification; and
o Food processing.
o Regional and national bodies
All with the aim of ensuring quality and standards
Case studies to be discussed
o Mine waste – liquid and solid
o Air and ventilation in confined spaces
o Ground vibration and air-blast during rock fragmentation by
blasting
o Domestic wastewater and sewerage
o Storm, agricultural and urban runoffs
o Electronic waste
Class seminars
• How to conduct Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
• Developing an Environmental Management Plan (EMP)
• Reference will be made to Environmental protection Agency
(EPA, Ghana) Guidelines
Recycling
o Humans throw away several kinds of waste everyday:
Waste
Domestic
Industrial
Agricultural
othe action or process of converting waste into reusable
material is referred to as recycling.
Recycling
oSome of these such as left over food may decay by the action of
bacteria and fungi into simple inorganic materials. These are
called biodegradable materials
oSome waste such as plastics, polystyrene and metals may not
decay and are referred to as non-biodegradable.
Recycling
oNon-biodegradable material occupies large space of landfill sites
and cannot burn.
oHowever they can be recycled.
oRecycling allows the reuse of materials like paper, metal products
and plastic products from the waste again.
oGlass and aluminium can be melted again for the production of new
glass bottles and new aluminum cans.
Recycling and reusing natural resources
o The demand for environmental resources can be reduced if
recycling is adopted.
o Products of trees, minerals, and water are examples of
resources that can be recycled and reused (reuse has to do with
avoiding/reducing use of disposable items).
o Recycling and reusing can ensure the sustainability so that they
will be available for future generations to use.
Aim of recycling
oSave resources
oNonrenewable resources such as metal and plastics can be preserved
through recycling.
oReduce waste disposal
oWhen waste is recycled, the area for landfill sites will be reduced.
oSaves energy
oRecycling of metals may save up to 95% of the energy usage for ores
oProtect the environment
oIt prevents burning of materials such as plastics in incinerator and reduce
the area of landfill site use.
7 Rs that can make you/
organisation a better steward
Composition of waste
oThe first steps in recycling is gather information on the waste
generated in communities
oWhat is the volume, weight and composition of waste generated in:
oTarkwa?
oTakoradi?
oMajor cities in Ghana?
oIndustrial, agricultural, domestic?
oWhat are the percentages of paper, plastics, metal, glass, wood,
rubber tires, textile, food waste, sand
oEach constituent can then be considered for reuse
Paper recycling
oPaper can be recycled by first shredding or beating it into small
pieces in a stirring tank to generate paper pulp.
oAfter removing contaminants, the pulp may be directed for paper
forming, and dewatering
oAfter mechanical dewatering, vacuum suction and thermal drying
is conducted to produce paperboard and other components which
can be processed further
Plastics recycling
• The plastic waste recycling process starts with sorting based on resin types.
• This is followed by rinsing to remove contaminants.
• The sorted and washed waste is then crushed and mixed with colourant, if
necessary, before melting and pelletising.
• The pellets produced may be sold to plastic product manufacturers as raw
material.
• In recent times waste plastics have found application in fuel production and
block making
Metal recycling
oMetal recycling is also known as urban mining
oMetals can be recycled over and over without altering their
properties.
oWaste metals are broadly classified into two – ferrous and nonferrous
oThe most common ferrous metals include iron and alloy steel
scrap
oThe major kinds of ferrous metals recovered include structural steel,
scrap vehicle and scrap home appliances
oNon-ferrous metals include copper and its alloys, zinc, nickel,
tin, aluminium, and lead
Metal recycling
oScrap yards are generally created for metal recycling
oContainers may also be placed at designated areas for collection
oAfter collection, the metals are sorted out and each group
generally pressed to form a compact unit if possible
oOther large units may also be shredded to make them easier to
melt
oMelting, purification and casting may then follow
Metal recycling and energy savings
Recycled metal
Energy savings, %
Aluminium
95
Copper
85
Iron and steel
74
Lead
65
Zinc
60
Recycling of electronic waste
oElectronic waste or e-waste is hazardous
oHowever it is recycled because of the precious metal content
oReuse of end-of-life (EOL) equipment is the first choice though
oPrecious metal may be recovered by pyrometallurgical or
hydrometallurgical/ biohydrometallurgical means
oRecycling of electronic waste involves disassembly and/or
destruction of the EOL equipment in order to recover materials
Constituents of electronic waste
oBased on material composition, electronic waste can be defined as
a mixture of metals such as copper, aluminum, and steel, attached
to, covered with, or mixed with various types of plastics and
ceramics.
oPrecious metals are used in the manufacture of electronic
appliances.
oDue to their high chemical stability and conductivity they serve as
contact materials.
Constituents of some electronic waste
Scrap type
Weight, %
ppm
Fe
Cu
Al
Pb
Ni
Ag
Au
Pd
TV board
28
10
10
1
0.3
280
20
10
PC board
7
20
5
1.5
1.0
1000
250
110
Mobile phone
5
13
1
0.3
0.1
1380
350
210
Portable audio
23
21
1
0.14
0.03
150
10
4
DVD player
62
5
2
0.3
0.05
115
15
4
Calculator
4
3
5
0.1
0.5
260
50
5
PC mainboard
4.5
14.3
2.8
2.2
1.1
639
566
124
Printed circuit
board
12
10
7
1.2
0.85
280
110
-
Recycling methods
oIncineration of electronic waste in municipal solid waste incinerators is
dangerous.
oFor example, copper is a catalyst for dioxin formation when flameretardants are incinerated.
oThe major steps in recycling include;
oSelective disassembly,
oUpgrading using mechanical processing such as shredding and
concentration,
oLeaching or smelting in a copper furnace, and
oRefining.
Recycling methods
oLeaching is generally done stepwise
oShred scrap to – 3 mm size
oLeach with
oSulphuric acid to recover copper
oCyanide to recover silver and gold
oChloride to recover palladium
56
Water and water quality assessment
o The hydrosphere contains all the water
resources
o These
include
oceans,
rivers,
lakes,
groundwater and glaciers
o Oceans contain 97% of the available water.
This water has high salt content and not
readily useable
o Glaciers contain 2%
o Fresh water (surface water in streams, rivers
and lakes and ground water has 1%
57
Water and water quality assessment
o
Fresh water consumption
o
69% is used in agriculture
o
23% is used industries
o
8% is used for domestic purpose
58
Water and water quality assessment
o
Water quality is a measure of the condition of water relative to the
requirements of one or more biotic species and or to any human need or
purpose
o
o
Water quality assessment is the overall process of evaluation of the:
o
Physical;
o
Chemical;
o
Biological; and
o
Radiological.
The assessment gives an indication of whether the water is polluted or not.
59
Water and water quality assessment
o
Biological – number and types of organisms present
o
Chemical – dissolved oxygen, chemical oxygen demand, biological oxygen
demand, hardness, salinity, pH, dissolved components
o
Physical – total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, temperature, colour,
odour, etc
60
Drinking water standards
The standards often quoted include that of the World Health
Organisation (WHO), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of
specific countries.
61
Tailings disposal and
Monitoring of
Impoundments
62
Tailings Generation
Mining is normally geared towards removing valuable minerals such as gold, silver,
nickel, tin, diamonds, lead, zinc, etc or other geological materials from the earth. However,
it may not be possible to obtain the orezone without mining a lot of unwanted material
o Blasting also causes more of the waste rock to be mined
alongside the orezone
o Separation of the ore and the waste leads to the generation of
mine waste which is placed in the mine waste dump
o Mineralised waste may also be generated and stored. The
rich zones are sent to the Run-of-Mine (ROM) pad
63
Tailings Generation
Gold, copper, zinc
Gangue minerals
o Liberation of the mineral of interest usually require comminution to separates the
mineral of interest from the others.
o After all the processes for recovering the mineral of interest is completed, the waste
material is referred to as tailings
64
Tailings Generation
o For a given gold ore of grade 5 g/t, it means that out of one tonne, we are
interested in only 5 g.
o Thus, for a tonne of ore (1000000 – 5 = 999,995) g may be referred to as waste.
o Gold recovery is not 100% efficient and other components may also be leached
hence the final quantity recovered will be less than 100% of 5 g. Thus, for a
gold processing plant, a large space should be created for storing virtually all
the material mined
65
Tailings
o Tailings are the waste products of the mineral extraction and consists of:
▪ Milled rock; and
▪ Process effluents.
o The tailings generated are generally far more than the liberated minerals of
interest and often contain hazardous contaminants
o The unrecoverable and uneconomic metals, minerals, chemicals, organic and
process water are discharged as slurry to a storage area, called Tailing Storage
Facility (Tailings Dam).
66
Tailings characteristics
o Tailings characteristics can vary greatly and are dependent on the ore
mineralogy together with the physical and chemical processes used to extract the
economic product.
o The tailings characteristics have to be determined to establish the long term
behaviour of the tailings and the potential short and long term liabilities and
environmental impacts
67
Tailings characteristics
6
6
NAG pH
5
DSAMD001
DSAMD002
DSAMD003
DSAMD004
DSAMD005
DSAMD006
DSAMD007
DSAMD008
DSAMD009
DSAMD010
DSAMD011
DSAMD012
DSAMD013
DSAMD014
DSAMD015
DSAMD016
DSAMD017
DSAMD018
Blend
NAF
4
3
PAF
UC
2
-120
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
20
UC
NAF
MNAMD001
MNAMD002
MNAMD003
MNAMD004
MNAMD005
MNAMD006
MNAMD007
MNAMD008
MNAMD009
MNAMD010
MNAMD011
MNAMD012
Blend
5
NAG pH
UC
4
3
UC
PAF
2
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
20
NAPP, kg H2SO4/t
NAPP, kg H2SO4/t
68
Tailings impoundment
o A tailings storage facility is an engineered
structure made up or built for the purpose
of storing:
o Milled rock;
o Sand;
o Silt; and
o Water from a processing plant.
69
Principal features of a tailings impoundment
The principal features of the tailings storage facilities are:
o Natural ground (1);
o Ponded water (2);
o Tailings beach (3);
o Embankment crest (4);
o Zoned waste rock embankment structure (5); and
o Consolidated tailings (6).
70
Key elements in tailings impoundment design
o Siting studies
o Retention dam design
o Water management
o Tailings management
o Contamination –cyanide, acid rock drainage
71
Site for tailings impoundment
o The site chosen should be as close to the mine as possible to reduce piping and
transfer problems
o The ground should be structurally sound to bear the weight of the material
envisaged
o The place chosen for the impoundment may be a valley, mine pit, a depression or
flat ground
o The floor and walls are prepared such that seepage of solution through the walls
or floor is avoided
72
Site for tailings impoundment
o This can be done by using a layer of clay which is impermeable, or high density
polythene
o Many other structures may be put in place and bore holes are sited around the
impoundment
o These can be monitored to check contamination of the ground water in the area
73
Site for tailings impoundment
high density polythene
Pipelines
74
Impoundment floor
o For economic reasons compaction with clay is the preferred method of reducing the
permeability of the impoundment basin
o HDPE may be employed where the surface area is relatively small and if the tailings
have high concentration of cyanide or is acid-forming
o In Ghana, Regulation 265 (c) of L.I. 2182 says that an impoundment can have “a clay
liner, which is 30 cm thick, and placed in a manner that ensures that permeability is less than
10-6 cm/s or has a competent bedrock or other geological formations …to provide an equivalent
degree of containment”.
75
Operating components of tailings impoundment
o Tailings delivery – pumps, pipelines and bridges
o Tailings impoundment – retention dams, tailings, tailings pond,
diversion ditches, and seepage control
o Pond Water Return – pump barge, decant conduits
76
Underdrainage and sump
o Underdrainage is a drainage system built below the material to be discharged. It serves
the following purpose:
o Recover water from the base of the deposited tailings stack;
o Assist with the rate of consolidation of the tailings, thus, increasing the density of
the tailings and providing a more efficient facility in terms of storage; and
o Together with the practically impermeable compacted liner underlying the basin,
effectively preclude vertical seepage.
77
Types of impoundments
Cross valley
o one or two dams constructed across a section of a valley
Side-hill
o one dam constructed perpendicular to the slope of a hill
Paddock impoundments
o four sided impoundments constructed on flat land
78
Types of impoundments
Cross Valley
Side Hill
Paddock
79
In-pit tailings impoundment
80
Erecting the walls of an impoundment
o The valley or pit in which the initial deposition began will eventually get filled up
o However, in tailings deposition there should always be a freeboard between the level
of tailings and the top of the wall
o Thus the walls are increased in height as the deposition of tailings advance
o The walls can be raised in three main ways:
Upstream;
Downstream; and
Centre line.
81
Upstream method
82
Upstream method
83
Upstream method
o Small starter dam placed at the extreme downstream end
o Tailings discharged by spigoting off the top of the starter dyke
o When initial pond is filled dyke is raised and the cycle repeated
o Low cost, dam can be raised very rapidly
o Dam wall is built on top of previously deposited
unconsolidated slimes retained behind the wall
o Limiting height, failure rate is high
84
Downstream construction
o The downstream is a reverse of upstream to make dam larger and safer. With this method the
centre line shifts downstream and dam remains founded on coarse tailings. Cyclones could be used
to deposit material
o This method permits design and construction of tailings dams to acceptable engineering standards.
Good for major dams regardless of location, even in seismic areas
o Requires large amounts of sand to raise dam walls, something which may not be possible in the
initial stages of an operation
85
Centre-line construction
o Similar to downstream just that crest remains in the same horizontal position
o Requires smaller sand volumes to raise crest to a given height.
o The dam can thus be raised more quickly however, care must be exercised raising
the upstream face of the dam to ensure that unstable slopes do not develop
temporarily.
86
Tailings deposition
o Subaqueous
(below water) or subaerial
techniques. Subaerial deposition is more
common than subaqueous
o A decant barge consists of a floating
platform that houses the pumps used to
reclaim water from the supernatant pond
back to the processing plant or holding
ponds.
Deposition into a pit
87
Subaerial deposition
o Subaerial deposition forms a sloping
beach towards the reclaim/decant pond
o As the tailings discharge onto this beach,
they form shallow low velocity braided
streams that allow the tailings to settle
and segregate
o It is practiced at tailings facilities that
have multiple discharge points
88
Subaqueous deposition
o Subaqueous deposition is particularly
suited to tailings that contain sulphides
that are likely to oxidise, mobilise metals
and produce acid
o Restricting oxygen to the tailings by
permanently placing them underwater
will prevent oxidation and minimise the
environmental problems associated with
Acid Mine Drainage
89