GEOMECHANICS / GROUND CONTROL

North Mara attains tailings storage target

Barrick spend more than US$65 million to increase the water treatment plant’s capacity.

Barrick has increased water-holding capacity at the North Mara tailings storage facility.

Barrick has increased water-holding capacity at the North Mara tailings storage facility.

Barrick Gold's North Mara gold mine in Tanzania has been refurbished and attained its permitted design capacity by the end of 2021.

Barrick took over the mine in September 2019 from Acacia Mining. At the time, the Tanzanian government's National Environment Management Council had closed down the tailings facility due to the unit holding more water than it should.

Barrick spent more than US$65 million to increase the water treatment plant's capacity from 2.5 million litres per day to 40 million litres per day.

Barrick has also added a brine treatment plant, which has reduced the volume of salts in the effluent water. The water can now be stored safely.

The North Mara mine will continue to monitor the tailings facility's performance and will engage regularly with government authorities, Barrick said.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Magazine Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Magazine Intelligence team.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Future Fleets Report 2024

The report paints a picture of the equipment landscape and includes detailed profiles of mines that are employing these fleets

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Digitalisation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations that use digitalisation technology to drive improvements across all areas of mining production

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Automation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations using autonomous solutions in every region and sector, including analysis of the factors driving investment decisions

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Exploration Report 2023 (feat. Opaxe data)

A comprehensive review of current exploration rates, trending exploration technologies, a ranking of top drill intercepts and a catalog of 2022 Initial Resource Estimates and recent discovery successes.