Selecting Suitable Sites for Mine Waste Dumps Using GIS Techniques at Goldfields, Damang Mine

The selection of optimal sites for mine waste dumps is a significant problem associated with surface mines operations. A number of factors such as financial, environmental and safety requirements must be simultaneously considered to avoid potential losses. This research used the ModelBuilder tool and several GIS spatial analyst tools to select suitable sites for mine waste dump. The weighted overlay technique was adopted by first determining the necessary criteria and constraints and subsequently developing attributes for each criterion. The criteria used were grouped into a binary category of suitable and unsuitable. A total area of 17.01 km 2 was determined as suitable, while 66.10 km 2 was classified as unsuitable after overlaying and weighting all the criteria. Out of the suitable areas, an area of 13.62 km 2 consisting of 21 sites were determined as optimal. Applying further constraints, 2 out of the 21 optimal sites were determined as the best sites. A step-wise model has been developed using ModelBuilder for selecting an economic but effective site for dumping mine waste using suitable constraints and criteria. This has facilitated the production of suitability maps generated from the various datasets being used for mine waste dump site selection. The final output map that best fits the criteria and constraints can be used by decision makers to set out the areas suitable for mine waste dump sites on the mine concession. The model could be applied as the standard model for selecting sites for mine waste dumps, since there is no standard model available at the moment. Keywords : ModelBuilder, GIS, Constraints, Waste Dumps, Weighted Overlay