Cristina Vulpe

I am a researcher in geotechnical engineering at the University of Western Australia. By using numerical modelling, coupled with laboratory and centrifuge testing, I provide safe and economic solutions for the deployment and management of onshore and offshore infrastructure.

I studied and worked in Romania, Italy, France and Australia on a wide range of geotechnical engineering issues from quantifying the seismic response of soils in Tuscany to developing design methodologies for deep-water foundations in the North West Shelf of Western Australia.

Evaluation of Tailings Storage Facilities monitoring technologies

Industry sponsors: Agincourt Resources, Goldfields, Rio Tinto, Independence Group, CMOC, BHP, Anglo American, Lundin Mining, LKAB

Technology sponsors: 3vGeomatics, GroundProbe, Institute of Mine Seismology, CGG Services UK (Satellite Mapping), Multi-physics imaging, Sercel, Canary Systems, Loupe Geophysics

In order to protect the environment and safety of the communities living near mine sites, we have received funding from industry partners to develop a meaningful monitoring programme for preventing the failure of tailings storage facilities (TSFs).

We are evaluating a range of monitoring technologies and their suitability for application to providing advance warning of potential TSFs instabilities. The outcomes of this project provide meaningful insight into appropriately selected instrumentation that measure meaningful parameters. These measurements will act as trigger warnings for detecting the potential onset of failures that may be prevented.

Given that the recently launched Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management, under the guidance of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), listed tailings monitoring as one of its six core topics, our project outomes are expected to have wide-ranging impact and benefit across the globe.

Human languages: English, Romanian, Italian, French

Programming languages: Python, MATLAB, Fortran