The CanLava Mining Corporation laid out its plans for a soil disposal facility in Nazko at a virtual public meeting on Friday (Aug 25) afternoon.
Sara Weaver, with the the Weaver Consultants Group, chaired the meeting and went over the proposed project.
The idea behind it is to have the otherwise empty trucks that transport the lava rock from the quarry to bring contaminant soil from industrial construction sites to the mine to help offset transportation costs.
Weaver stressed that this would not be hazardous waste.
Tim Weaver went over the design.
“The way that landfills are designed nowadays is they have a geosynthetic and clay liner. Below it you also have a bedding layer which is a drainage layer, and that’s rated to a central location where you have monitoring. If there is a leak you’ll be able to detect it, to see it at nearby monitoring wells, so it gives you early detection before it even leaves your property. Leachate is contained within the landfill, that is grated toward collection systems, and they’re all lined as well. That would go to ponds and that is where evaporators take care of the rest, and then any residue that is left over in the ponds can be placed in the landfill.”
Weaver noted that the second liner would be clay and is designed to swell and act as a further barrier in the event of a leak.
The lifespan of the liner is 100 years.
Weaver said the groundwater table is really, really deep, about 20 metres below the ground level.
Getting back to the leachate, any drain water that comes into contact with waste and picks up contaminants, that would be collected into one of two ponds.
The consultants indicated that if precipitation levels are higher than expected, then the water may have to be released but say it would be treated and meet BC guidelines.
The proposed facility, 10.7 hectares in size, would be on the mine site which is about 13 1/2 kilometres from Nazko to the west.
All of this is still in the application process.
Nazko First Nation has indicated that it is opposed to the project, adding that the company has failed to properly consult and share information with them.
