Prediction and management of the long-term environmental risk of mine waste rock piles via 5G-enabled instrumentation and monitoring

Mining activities generate large quantities of waste rock after valuable metals are extracted. Upon exposure to air and water, a diverse range of metals and metalloids are released and mobilized to the surrounding environment. There is an urgent need to manage the environmental risk posed by mine waste rock piles given the scale of the problem. A major bottleneck is the lack of data on waste rock pile properties. The main objective of this research is to understand how to best use 5G-enabled wireless sensor networks to monitor key characteristics of mine waste rock piles, and to use machine learning to predict drainage quantity and quality. Ultimately, this research aims to establish an industry-standard framework for risk assessment and management of mine waste rock pollution using 5G-enabled instrumentation and monitoring.

Faculty Supervisor:

Wenying Liu;Roger Beckie

Student:

Partner:

Rogers Communications Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Water; Sustainability & the Environment; Mining

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program: