![](https://geosyntheticsmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/26/2021/09/Heap-Leach-Webinar.png)
The Fabricated Geomembrane Institute (FGI) will sponsor a free webinar, “Lifetime Predictions of Nonexposed and Exposed Geosynthetics,” on Sept. 30, at 11 a.m. CDT.
The webinar will discuss the use of geosynthetics and bottom liner systems in heap leach pads and tailings storage areas. This is important because tailing ponds contain various materials from mineral processing activities that can seep into the environment. Most of the webinar will focus on the causation analysis for the 2015 Fundão Tailings Dam failure near Mariana, Brazil, that experienced three earthquakes within four minutes shortly before failure. The analysis used to estimate the earthquake pore-water pressures and resulting decrease in factor of safety will be described.
Presenter
Timothy Stark, Ph.D., P.E., D.GE., F.ASCE, is a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Stark has been conducting interdisciplinary research on geosynthetics and, in particular, geomembranes, for the last 25 years. This includes his research on the installation and long-term durability of geomembranes and other geosynthetics in geoenvironmental and seepage applications. He is the technical director of the Fabricated Geomembrane Institute (FGI), which is an industry-sponsored research organization investigating the advantage and disadvantages of geomembranes for containment and seepage applications.
![](https://geosyntheticsmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/26/2021/09/Tim-Stark.jpg)
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Watching the webinar carries 1 professional development hour (PDH).
To register for the webinar, click here.
Visit the FGI website for more info and upcoming events.