Houmao Liu
Principal Hydrogeologist, Ph.D., P.E.
Dr. Liu has more than 30 years of project experience in mining hydrogeology, geochemistry, and groundwater flow modeling.
He has worked on and directed numerous mining hydrogeology projects in southern Africa, South America, Turkey, North America, Europe, Russia, and East Asia. He has also been the Principal-in-Charge of ITASCA’s hydrogeologic projects for key mining companies, such as De Beers, Cameco, Anglo American, Debswana, Doe Run, Newmont/Goldcorp, Alrosa, Hecla, Freeport-McMoRan, Rio Tinto, and Codelco. These projects include mine dewatering, slope depressurization, water management of surface and underground mines, environmental impacts, and mine water quality.
In addition, Dr. Liu has extensive experience in the code development of MINEDW as well as more than 30 years of groundwater flow modeling experience using other commercial codes, such as MODFLOW, MT3D, and FEFLOW.
He has taught mining hydrogeology short courses at the Society of Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME), Cameco, and the American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA). He also provides expert opinions for regulatory hearings and due diligence reviews. He was the qualified person (QP) for the hydrogeologic section of reports on various project levels in different regions and commodities. In addition to his project experience, Dr. Liu participated extensively in the early development of the engine portion of REBOP. He also taught the hydrogeologic section of several caving short courses that Itasca has offered in the past few years.
Education
Ph.D. (Civil Engineering), 1992
University of Colorado, Boulder
M.S. (Hydraulics and Fluid Mechanics), 1986
HeHai University, P.R. China
B.S. (Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources), 1983
Professional Memberships
International Mine Water Association