Planning and design involved two years of fast-tracked pre-feasibility and feasibility studies. Start of operations challenges due to unexpected climate and topographic differences, ownership changes, processing shifts, pandemic restrictions, limited underground backfill, restricted starter cell footprints, and filter plant issues. These factors led to poor dewatering efficiency, high moisture, and compaction issues in the first cell of the tailings storage facility (TSF), creating a steep learning curve for operations and construction teams. SRK has been involved since 2017, providing construction quality assurance, supervision, and recently becoming the Engineer of Record. The team designed a TSF expansion and successfully presented it for local authority permitting.
By SRK Colombia
