The GSTC seeks to answer the following fundamental questions:
- How can geostable tailings align with or advance practices and technology for tailings management?
- How can geostable tailings create a more streamlined pathway to closure?
- Will commingling of tailings and waste rock and storage in a geostable tailings facility be geotechnically stable and geochemically stable?
- What are the key physical, chemical and environmental factors that influence a successful geostable tailings facility?
- What viable methods exist for dewatered tailings to be effectively commingled with waste rock, what degree of dewatering is required, and what research and development is needed to make it achievable for high throughput rate operations?
- What viable mixing and material handling methods exist to effectively transport geostable tailings from the processing area to the geostable tailings facility, and what research and development is required to show the applicability of these methods for high throughput rate operations?
- What placement methodologies under operating conditions will result in the desired engineering characteristics?
- What are the best construction methods, configurations, and designs for achieving geostable tailings facilities?
- What are the most appropriate methods for post-construction investigations such as coring, types of geophysical analysis and others?
