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Groundwater Monitoring Network Design and Installation
Carachugo Heap Leach Facility, Peru, Newmont Gold Company. Designed pre-operation monitoring program to obtain background water quality data around a proposed heap leach facility expansion. Supervised the drilling, installation, and development of these ground-water monitoring wells and was responsible for sampling, testing and result presentation.
Muruntau Mine, Uzbekistan, Newmont Mining Company. Assisted in design of ground-water monitoring wells to obtain water quality and head data around the site of existing and proposed heap leach facilities. Provided office support for on-site hydrogeologist responsible for installation of monitoring network.
Maqui Maqui Heap Leach Facility, Peru, Newmont Gold Company. Designed pre-operation monitoring program to obtain background water quality data in the area of a proposed heap leach facility. Supervised the drilling, installation, and development of these ground-water monitoring wells and was responsible for sampling, testing and result presentation. In addition, undertook a surface water monitoring program which involved a field inspection of the existing network, recommendations for changes to the network, supervision of site marker installations and sampling.
Newmont Gold Company, Nevada. Assisted in design of ground-water monitoring network and sampling protocol to assess contamination downgradient of tailings storage facility. Responsible for drilling supervision, sampling and logging program on the site of a proposed tailings storage facility.
Water Supply
Waterberg Ground-water Exploration, Botswana, Department of Water Affairs. Drilling coordinator responsible for site supervision of drilling contractors and logging of both exploration and production boreholes to supply two major villages in South East Botswana.
San Cristobál Project, Bolivia, APEX Silver Corporation. Characterized ground-water flow regime as part of a feasibility study for a silver mine. Developed cost estimates for a preliminary pit dewatering scheme. Drilled, installed, and tested large-diameter test wells to assess aquifer characteristics. Based on these data, developed cost estimates for water supply systems. Drilled, installed and tested monitoring wells to obtain water quality and head data adjacent to existing and proposed mine components in support of an environmental baseline report.
Pit Dewatering Design and Implementation
Kalana Project, Mali, Nelson Gold Corporation. Project manager for an environmental impact assessment for an underground gold operation. Directed the field programs in support of an environmental baseline report. Performed ground-water investigation that included an assessment of dewatering requirements.
Tintaya Project, Peru, BHP Tintaya S.A. Project manager for a preliminary water balance for BHP's Tintaya Project that included the mine, sulfide ore process, oxide ore SX/EW process, and potable water/wastewater treatment system. The study assisted the development of a comprehensive plan to manage the mine's water needs by identifying the major flux elements of the water balance, quantifying the individual elements of the water balance, and performing a sensitivity analysis of the conceptual model. Conducted a detailed water balance study and managed a pit dewatering study. The pit dewatering study involved hydrogeologic characterization of three areas, borehole drilling, installation, development and testing and preliminary dewatering design.
Scotney Court Gravel Quarry, UK, Brett Gravel Company. Coordinated and supervised drilling and ground-water sampling program for dewatering study of a gravel pit.
Water Resource Management
Groundwater Monitoring Project, Botswana, Department of Water Affairs. Team Leader responsible for a study aimed at improving the monitoring and ground-water management systems for 38 wellfields that supply major towns and villages. The 22-person team consisted of ground-water modellers, hydrogeologists, GIS experts, a database programmer, GPS surveyors, a public relations officer, a legal advisor, and field technicians. One of the principal project deliverables included wellfield reports that summarized relevant geological and hydrogeological data, results of ground-water modelling, and recommendations on optimum wellfield management. Other deliverables included an updated aquifer parameter estimation program, an updated GIS-based wellfield monitoring database, recommendations on improved data collection, handling, and storage, and a review and assessment of the existing legislation regarding ground-water monitoring.
Water Quality Assessments
Fort Knox Tailing Storage Facility, Alaska, Amax Gold Company. Reviewed and interpreted water quality and soil sample results of creek and audit samples to characterize water type, assess possible mixing relationships and possible impacts from historic mining activities.
Kori Kollo Mine, Bolivia, Battle Mountain Gold Company. Analyzed and interpreted hydrogeochemistry of ground and surface waters in the vicinity of heap leach pads, waste rock storage areas, tailing storage facility and plant operations as part of an annual water quality review and comprehensive internal audit.
Morupule Power Station, Botswana, Water Utilities Corp. Hydrogeologist responsible for analysis and interpretation of water quality data related to potential pollution problems beneath waste water ponds at a thermal power station.
Sohar Gold Mine, Oman, Sohar Gold Company. Interpreted hydrogeochemistry of ground and surface waters downgradient of a tailings storage facility as part of bi-annual water quality monitoring program.
Water Resource Environmental Baseline Studies
Cerro Colorado Project, Panama, Pana Cobre. Performed ground-water characterization study in support of an environmental baseline study at one of the world's largest copper deposits.
Pullalli Project, Chile, Pegasus Minera de Chile Ltd. Conducted a water resources environmental baseline study for a potential open pit gold prospect and heap leach and tailing storage facilities located in northwest Chile in Region V. The study was conducted according to Chilean and World Bank guidelines.
Wellfield Management
Sua Pan Wellfield, Botswana, Anglo American Corp. Hydrogeologist responsible for design, drilling, development, construction, aquifer testing, borehole rehabilitation, and data analysis and interpretation for a wellfield consisting of 64 boreholes covering an area of 220 sq. km.
  
Environmental Site Assessment
Silver Bell Unit, Arizona, Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.). Conducted a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment of the inactive mine site in relation to the hazardous materials and conditions listed under CERCLA jurisdiction. Components relevant to the investigation included exploration drill holes, underground and surface mine activities, a concentrator, leaching operations, tailing disposal facility, water supply, storage facilities and runoff control structures. The work scope involved a data review, a database search, county and State agency interviews, mine staff interviews and site inspections.
Data Management and Database Development
Borehole Records Archive Project, Botswana, Dept. of Geological Survey. Team leader responsible for daily management and coordination of project designed to update and extend Botswana's National Borehole Archive.
Magnitude and Sources of Pollution, Botswana, Water Utilities Corp. Team member responsible for the supervision of data entry onto a specially developed computer database containing information related to the monitoring of surface and ground water in Botswana.
Geotechnical Field Investigations
Cerro Corona Project, Peru, Royal Gold Company. Performed a fatal flaw assessment to evaluate the geological and geotechnical characteristics of the tailing storage facility to determine whether any physical conditions existed in the area being considered for tailing storage that would preclude the development of an effective tailing storage system. Conducted a limited investigation into the availability of borrow sources for construction material.
Iscaycruz Mine, Peru, Iscaycruz Empresa. Performed geotechnical investigation at site of proposed Tailings Storage Facility to provide all information necessary for preliminary design of the facility. Investigation was designed to define overburden soil, determine depth to bedrock and collect samples for laboratory testing, and included 12 test pits and four test borings.
Environmental Project Management
Bonanza, Siuna and Rosita Projects, Nicaragua, Greenstone Resources of Canada. Project manager for an environmental impact assessment for a 4700 square kilometer mining concession in northeast Nicaragua. Directed the field programs in support of an environmental baseline report. The studies and reports were conducted in accordance with Nicaraguan and World Bank Guidelines. Data management, analysis, and presentation were performed using ARC/INFO and ArcView GIS packages.
Research
Water Resources Center, Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nevada. Organized and executed well and spring sample collection throughout central and southern Nevada. Characterized submicron particle populations within samples through utilization of serial membrane filtration, size exclusion chromatography, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy. Determined radionuclide absorption potential of particles in a series of field and laboratory experiments.
Contract Support for Booz Allen & Hamilton
Denver, Colorado, USA. As a Booz Allen & Hamiliton contractor, Lucas is currently involved in the EPA Environmental Indicators Project. The project focuses on recommendations for short-term actions that will allow the RCRA facilities to meet long-term cleanup goals. Responsible for characterizing the groundwater conditions at these sites and providing an assessment of the effectiveness of the monitoring networks and determinations regarding the stability of contaminant migration. Also involved in an RCRA Facility Investigation (RFI) report review for an industrial site in Connecticut.
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