DENVER, CO — Michelle Theron joins Stantec — a global engineering, architecture, and consulting firm — as a Senior Principal Geotechnical Engineer in the Mining Services team. Theron will be designing and assessing tailings facilities for clients across the U.S. and internationally.

Based in the Denver, Colorado office, Theron brings more than two decades of tailings dam design experience and extensive technical knowledge for working in challenging geographical and environmental conditions.

“The mining industry has responded to recent tailings storage facility failures by creating a number of robust tailings management guidelines and standards. Someone who understands the dam safety and technical components of the facilities is essential,” said Brian Mashford, Vice President of Mining at Stantec. “The level of geotechnical expertise and tailings management experience that Michelle brings to our team is outstanding, and we’re thrilled to welcome her on board to better support the mining industry.” 

Theron wrote the Anglo-American guidelines for stability analyses considering undrained conditions for static loading conditions. She has also executed several independent expert reviews of tailings designs of projects around the world.

Theron is a Professional Engineer registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa, and a fellow with the South African Institution of Civil Engineers. She has PhD, PrEng, and FAICE credentials, and she was presented with an award for a seismic stability assessment she executed for the Geita tailings storage facility in Tanzania.