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Geochemistry

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Dr. Jim Finley

Dr. Jim Finley

Principal Geochemist

Read more about Jim

MWH, now part of Stantec, offers a team of talented geoscientists that specialize in geochemical and hydrochemical studies supporting mining projects and the natural resources sector worldwide. Our team offers clients sustainable solutions keeping safety top of mind throughout the life of a project. This expertise ranges from studies supporting mine permitting to abandoned mine characterization and closure. The breadth of MWH experience ranges from projects in North and South America to Asia, Australia, and Europe and includes contaminants ranging from sulfate, metals, cyanide, arsenic, selenium, mercury, radionuclides, and organics.

Our expertise includes:

Acid-Rock Drainage (ARD) Prediction and Modeling
  • Field sampling and testing
  • Static testing including acid-base accounting (ABA), net acid generation (NAG) and others
  • Leachability testing such as synthetic precipitation leaching procedure (SPLP) and meteoric water mobility procedure (MWMP)
  • Kinetic testing including laboratory based humidity cell tests and field based tests
  • Mineralogical testing including X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron microprobe, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
  • Geochemical modeling using PHREEQC, MINTEQ and others
ARD Management
  • Waste rock management planning and tailings placement planning
  • Water management and control
  • Closure design (covers and mitigation planning)
  • ARD control and treatment
Contaminant Fate and Transport Modeling
  • Infiltration and contaminant transport modeling through the vadose (unsaturated) zone using HYDRUS and HP1
  • Absorption and attenuation testing
  • Cyanide fate and transport
  • Flow and contaminant transport modeling through the saturated zone using MODFLOW &
  • MT3DMS
Pit Lake Characterization and Modeling
  • Water column and sediment sampling
  • Predictive water quality and chemical mass balance modeling
  • Probabilistic/stochastic modeling using the GoldSim dynamic systems modeling platform
Water Quality Characterization
  • Designing surface, groundwater and vadose zone characterization programs
  • Major ion, stable isotope and radioactive isotope analysis and evaluation to determine, origin and fate of groundwater and surface waters.
  • Field implementation
  • Automated sampling devices
Mine Water Treatment
  • Active and passive system designs such as advanced treatment using membrane technologies to anoxic limestone drains. bioreactors and wetlands