Exposed Geomembrane integrity testing at Pregnant Pond – Gold mining
Pregnant ponds and Barren ponds are the most crucial ponds in the mining process. They are used to store the chemical solutions containing gold or copper. Due to the aggressive nature of the stored chemicals no leakage is acceptable at such ponds. Therefore usually the pond consists of two layers of HDPE or LDPE geomembrane. The bottom liner is called “secondary” and the top liner is called the “primary” geomembrane.
Layered between the two liners a SENSOR DDS® leak detection system should be installed to make sure neither secondary nor primary geomembranes are leaking the chemicals into the environment. Immediate warning of a leakage is required and for that purpose 24/7 monitoring SENSOR DDS® RMS or CMS system can be installed.
For one time testing of both secondary or primary liner, we can also use our portable device for exposed liner testing SENSOR DDS® MIT Arc Tester. In order to test primary geomembrane a Sensor Leak Detection Geotextile must be installed between primary and secondary geomembrane.
Arc Tester – SENSOR DDS® MIT Survey
Example Job Completed
General project info:
- Area tested was 120 000m²
- Two layers of HDPE 1.5mm geomembrane installed
- For exposed liner testing Arc Tester SENSOR DDS® MIT was used
- 42 leaks found in total
During the testing of bare geomembrane integrity at Pregnant Pond project we detected and located 42 holes in total. The secondary liner contained 23 holes mostly cuts and weak weldings. 19 leaks with the same origin were identified on primary geomembrane too. After the survey the client repaired all holes and after re-testing we have issued the certificate of geomembrane integrity.
