legal artisanal, medium, large scale mining, illegal mining) are developed for the same amount of gold production. Here, gold mining involves a great variety of forms and techniques in a very sensitive socio-ecological context.įive territorial mining scenarios (TMS) involving different mine-types (e.g.
This approach is operationalized through the development of a framework via its application on French Guiana gold mining sector. This thesis proposes an approach to develop and compare, based on the assessment of their risk, different potential scenarios for land-planning strategies in mining territories. Nevertheless, current mandatory risk and impact assessment methods are often performed on one project at a time, sometimes neglecting the cumulative dimension of risks, the great variability of coexistent mining activities, and the socio-ecological vulnerability in which mining is performed. Hence, a mining project is a matter of land-planning rather than a simple industrial object. Mining can be the source and target of opportunities and threats of different natures exceeding the mine-site perimeter, affecting the socio-ecological system where mining is performed and leading to social tensions and entrepreneurial risks for mining companies.
The question is then, is the new module for dam break assessment in HEC-RAS good enough to serve the purpose of accurate representation of dam break flood processes? This paper compares the HEC-RAS dam break module with FLDWAV and DAMBRK on the basis of the theoretical background, numerical solution techniques, ease of use of the models and practical aspects in undertaking dam break simulations. For this reason, HEC-RAS has the potential to replace the NWS FLDWAV and DAMBRK in area where a HEC-RAS has been developed. The use of HEC-RAS for dam break floods in these watersheds could save significant time and resources. Due to the fact that HEC-RAS (formerly HEC-2) was the standard model for river floodplain inundation assessment for decades, many river systems were modeled by the HEC-RAS (HEC-2) program and they are readily available in many watersheds. In the last two years, another very popular hydraulic model, HEC-RAS, has added a new module for dam break analysis. The national weather service (NWS) FLDWAV and DAMBRK models have been the standard programs and widely applied for dam break flood simulations for years.