Latrobe Valley Mine Closure

An Emerging Case Study

Sanjive Narendranathan and Nirav Patel

An overview of the Latrobe Valley geological and hydrogeological setting, history of open cut coal mining, impacts on the region including land subsidence, key geotechnical considerations and stability challenges, contemporary status of the existing mines and mine closure environment will be provided.

The presenters will provide an overview of emerging geotechnical journey taken to date in order to assist Hazelwood Power transition the open cut mine from an operational stage through to developing the concepts for closure. They will draw upon their experience in establishing stability models, undertaking stability analyses, discuss the probabilistic assessment approach and the technical methodologies adopted.

The case study outlines how the approaches adopted by Hazelwood have been successful in developing and progressing the geotechnical and stability considerations associated with transitioning from operational stage through to rehabilitation and closure phases.

This presentation is a precursor to the AGS field trip to be held on 24 August 2019, further details of which will be provided in due course.

Engineers Australia members participating in AGS technical sessions can record attendance on their personal CPD logs. Members should refer to Engineers Australia CPD policy for details on CPD types, requirements and auditing guidelines.