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A new approach to dealing with the dangers of tailings

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A new approach to dealing with the dangers of tailings

Mining is a process that produces vast amounts of material, for which the industry is trying to find a sustainable – and profitable – use. Tailings production is an inherent part of mining and metals processing and will remain so for the foreseeable future. There is also a serious safety concern inherent in the process, with tailings likely to be a dangerous source of toxic chemicals. 'I have seen estimates for global tailings production of around 14.5 billion tonnes a year, all of which must be stored safely for a significant amount of time – if not in perpetuity,' Simon Jowitt, director and state geologist of the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, tells Mining Technology. That amount is also unlikely to decrease at any time soon, 'so the continued storage of this […] material, [which] is often challenging to keep safely, remains a major concern for the industry'. Tailings can contain significant amounts of metals that either were ignored the first time around because of low demand for the metal at the time of mining (or a lack of consideration of potential extraction), or because of poor recovery. 'There are several efforts globally to characterise both legacy tailings (post-mining) and tailings at currently active mines for the extraction of critical and other metals. We are currently doing some of this work in Nevada, and I have also been involved in work assessing the potential of tailings and other mining waste for tellurium and other metal production,' Jowitt adds. There are other potential uses for tailings from certain mineral deposits, such as carbon dioxide sequestration. Emma Gagen, director, International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), tells Mining Technology that if not managed responsibly, "tailings pose environmental and societal risks'. However, companies' robust implementation of the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management across sites 'can help to support continual improvement in the safe, responsible and transparent management of tailings'. She adds that reducing tailings is an 'ambitious challenge that requires an integrated approach across most parts of the mining process'. The ICMM published a Tailings Reduction Roadmap in 2022 to provide strategic direction to the mining and metals industry on how to accelerate the development and adoption of some of the most promising technologies to reduce tailings – including approaches such as reusing existing tailings for new purposes and products. This helps to reduce the volume being stored whilst creating additional value. Moving beyond minerals and metals recovery, there are other opportunities to minimise the waste associated with tailings and turning them into something of real commercial use. In mid-May, a sustainable mining start-up – OreSand, led by Professor Daniel Franks of the Sustainable Minerals Institute – backed by University of Queensland (UQ) researchers, was recognised by the World Economic Forum (WEF) for advancing tailings management. WEF's Uplink Top Innovators programme named the project has as one of eight global winners that will gain access to networks capable of supporting and scaling it up. OreSand offers mining companies research-backed data to help them drastically reduce waste, as well as produce useful sand byproducts at a time when global demand for the material is surging, according to statement from UQ. 'Most of the minerals we mine are only a tiny fraction of the millions and millions of tonnes of ore we end up producing as a result. Hence, we end up blasting, crushing and grinding an awful lot of material we don't actually need or use,' says Franks. The main commodities that contribute to this large amount of material are coal, copper, gold, iron ore, phosphate and zinc. As the energy transition is metals-intensive, investment in renewable energy, energy storage and electric vehicles will increase demand for critical materials such as copper, cobalt and nickel – which, in turn, will lead to greater production of tailings under current production processes. 'But,' says Franks, 'the really in-demand solid material used by humans is sand, and the amount of gravel, crushed stone and sand being used is close to 50 billion tonnes a year. Sand is now becoming a major global sustainability issue, especially when it is extracted from dynamic ecosystems, such as rivers, lakes and the ocean.' 'What we have tried so far is to reuse and repurpose tailings, and it hasn't worked, for two reasons: tailings are not fit for purpose, and lack the required characteristics of the product; and governments and the general public have been rightly quite wary of using the mining industry's waste,' adds Franks. However, Franks points out that processes have been added over the past five years to extract sand as a byproduct of mining – and produce something called OreSand, a type of manufactured sand that can be used in either construction and other industrial processes. 'Technically, this is not tailings repurposing, this a product made from the ore. This is a process that reduces or avoids waste and should really be viewed as a change in perspective,' he adds. Franks points out that the 'major advantage of OreSand from a construction perspective is that you get the crushing and grinding for free, as this was necessary for the primary metal. This also means of course that the sand is a lower-carbon product'. OreSand can be used as a substitute for construction and industrial sand, and is suitable for applications such as road construction, brickmaking and the manufacture of concrete. OreSand can also be viewed as an integral part of the circular economy as it is a product of the ore itself, not a byproduct of mining waste. Poorly managed tailings can have significant environmental impacts, says Jowitt: all you need to do is look at events at Brumadinho, Bento Rodrigues, Sino-Metals in Zambia, Jagersfontein, and more, even back to 1966 and Aberfan in Wales (when a colliery spoil tip collapsed, killing 144 people). 'True, recent reassessments, developments and improvement in tailings storage facility design have been made (as a result of high-profile failures), but tailings storage facilities are sometimes built in areas where failures could have extreme consequences,' he adds. There is a lot of potential to generate wealth from waste, says Jowitt. The concept of not-for-profit mining is actively being discussed, 'where revenue from (for example) critical metal extraction from tailings is used to remediate problematic mine sites, as well as developing secure domestic critical metal and mineral supply chains'. 'Obviously, there is likely to be profits made as well, but more Good Samaritan-type legislation may be needed to more fully realise this potential,' says Jowitt. A spokesperson from Fortescue, a global metal mining company headquartered in Australia, told Mining Technology that the industry is 'increasingly collaborating on circular economy initiatives, with growing potential to recover residual minerals from stored tailings or repurpose tailings for other projects', while the company remains committed to reducing and recycling waste. "A new approach to dealing with the dangers of tailings" was originally created and published by Mining Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

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27-05-2025

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Do you live near a dam holding mine waste? 6 questions to ask

Mining is essential to modern lifestyles. Copper, iron and other mined products are vital to the products many people take for granted, like electronic devices. Being able to buy these goods quite easily may give a person a false sense of how difficult it is to extract the elements they're made of. Mining involves the removal of mineral-rich rock from the ground and processing it to extract the high-value minerals. Depending on the mineral, this quantity can be as low as a few grams in a tonne of rock. For example, removing a tiny quantity of platinum from rock requires finely grinding the rock. The fine material that remains once the platinum is removed is known as tailings. Every mining operation produces tailings. This can be coarse, like instant coffee granules, or fine, like cocoa powder. Tailings are typically mixed with water to form a liquid slurry that can be pumped and transported easily. Slurry is kept in specially designed tailings dams. The designs are unique and depend on what is being mined and the local area. Unfortunately, the history of mining is stained with examples of poorly managed dams that collapse, spilling the slurry, which is sometimes toxic. This can cause serious environmental, social and economic damage. One such mine disaster happened in February 2025 in Zambia at the Sino-Metals Leach Zambia copper mine. Over 50 million litres of toxic waste flowed over the dam's wall into the Mwambashi River. From there it flowed into one of the largest and longest Zambian rivers, the Kafue. The pollution travelled further than 100km from the dam, contaminating the river, and killing fish and livestock on nearby farms. The Zambian government had to shut down municipal water to the city of Kitwe to protect residents from consuming the polluted water. This should not have happened, because steps have been taken to ensure proactive management of dams. In 2020, the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management introduced a new set of safety measures and standards. Many mines are proactively embracing these standards. This enhances community trust in tailings dams. But other mines are not engaging with communities that might be affected by dams. Or communities may feel unsure what to ask the mines. We are geotechnical engineers who have studied tailings dam collapses. Here, we outline six questions people living near mines should ask mine management to ensure they understand the key hazards and risks in their communities. Each tailings dam has a zone of influence. This is determined by analysing what would happen if the slurry breached the dam walls and started to flow out. It is an estimate of the area which would be swamped by tailings if the dam failed. Generally, tailings disasters have caused significant damage up to a distance of 5km from the dam. If the tailings slurry gets into a river, it can flow hundreds of kilometres downstream. Read more: Zones of influence are often determined for extreme events, like once in a lifetime storms or large earthquakes. But zones of influence could also include places affected by dust or water pollution from the mine. If you can see a tailings dam from where you live or work you should consider yourself within the zone of influence. Clearly defined roles and responsibilities for day-to-day operation should be in place in every mine. There should be suitably qualified engineers appointed to carry out monitoring and maintenance of the dam. There need to be enough qualified people to cope with the size of the dam. The management structure should set out how day-to-day issues related to the tailings dam are discussed between workers on the ground in mines and top management, and how solutions are found. Mines should also keep audit and inspection reports on their tailings dams, and records should be kept over the long term (because tailings dams are often operational for several decades). Mines should have plans to reduce the impact that tailings dams have on the environment. These would have been informed by public participation. The plans must state what monitoring is in place to measure the impacts of dust and water (groundwater and surface water). The true extent of impacts only becomes apparent once the mine starts operating. So, the public should hold mines accountable for commitments made. Mines should satisfy communities that monitoring is continuing to identify and track the dam's environmental impacts. Closure plans should also be continuously communicated to mining-affected communities. This will assure the community that when the miners leave, they won't be left with a dangerous dam near their homes, with no one to look after it. A common way that tailings dams fail is when water or slurry washes over the dam sidewalls. This washes away the support. It is known as overtopping, and can happen in storms or if too much tailing is pumped into the dam. Overtopping is best managed by keeping the water a certain distance below the dam wall. Mine management must measure this regularly and control how much tailing they pump to the dam. Their task is to make sure that even in a severe storm the level will stay well below the top of the dam wall. Small failure incidents such as sloughs, slides and bulges where dam walls move but no slurry is released can occur. Mines should investigate and report these, detailing likely causes and mitigation measures implemented. Publicly available satellite imagery can easily show where mine tailings dams are becoming unstable. Mines should be transparent and provide explanations for these to avoid any speculation over whether the dam is stable or not. Sometimes dams must be changed to accommodate changes in mining or the extraction process. These changes could include how fast the dam is being built, moving the position of the dam wall, or placing material at the base of the wall to stabilise it. The unexpected consequences of alterations to a tailings dam could be water seeping out and creating damp spots, leading to dam walls sagging or cracking. If left unchecked this can lead to structural failure. When substantial changes are made to a dam's design, mines need to demonstrate that sufficient consideration has gone into making these changes. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Charles MacRobert, Stellenbosch University and Talia da Silva Burke, Stellenbosch University Read more: South Africa needs to refresh how it manages by-products from mining Dam collapse at Brazilian mine exposes grave safety problems Mine waste dams threaten the environment, even when they don't fail The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Yahoo

27-05-2025

Yahoo

Do you live near a dam holding mine waste? 6 questions to ask

Mining is essential to modern lifestyles. Copper, iron and other mined products are vital to the products many people take for granted, like electronic devices. Being able to buy these goods quite easily may give a person a false sense of how difficult it is to extract the elements they're made of. Mining involves the removal of mineral-rich rock from the ground and processing it to extract the high-value minerals. Depending on the mineral, this quantity can be as low as a few grams in a tonne of rock. For example, removing a tiny quantity of platinum from rock requires finely grinding the rock. The fine material that remains once the platinum is removed is known as tailings. Every mining operation produces tailings. This can be coarse, like instant coffee granules, or fine, like cocoa powder. Tailings are typically mixed with water to form a liquid slurry that can be pumped and transported easily. Slurry is kept in specially designed tailings dams. The designs are unique and depend on what is being mined and the local area. Unfortunately, the history of mining is stained with examples of poorly managed dams that collapse, spilling the slurry, which is sometimes toxic. This can cause serious environmental, social and economic damage. One such mine disaster happened in February 2025 in Zambia at the Sino-Metals Leach Zambia copper mine. Over 50 million litres of toxic waste flowed over the dam's wall into the Mwambashi River. From there it flowed into one of the largest and longest Zambian rivers, the Kafue. The pollution travelled further than 100km from the dam, contaminating the river, and killing fish and livestock on nearby farms. The Zambian government had to shut down municipal water to the city of Kitwe to protect residents from consuming the polluted water. This should not have happened, because steps have been taken to ensure proactive management of dams. In 2020, the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management introduced a new set of safety measures and standards. Many mines are proactively embracing these standards. This enhances community trust in tailings dams. But other mines are not engaging with communities that might be affected by dams. Or communities may feel unsure what to ask the mines. We are geotechnical engineers who have studied tailings dam collapses. Here, we outline six questions people living near mines should ask mine management to ensure they understand the key hazards and risks in their communities. Each tailings dam has a zone of influence. This is determined by analysing what would happen if the slurry breached the dam walls and started to flow out. It is an estimate of the area which would be swamped by tailings if the dam failed. Generally, tailings disasters have caused significant damage up to a distance of 5km from the dam. If the tailings slurry gets into a river, it can flow hundreds of kilometres downstream. Read more: Zones of influence are often determined for extreme events, like once in a lifetime storms or large earthquakes. But zones of influence could also include places affected by dust or water pollution from the mine. If you can see a tailings dam from where you live or work you should consider yourself within the zone of influence. Clearly defined roles and responsibilities for day-to-day operation should be in place in every mine. There should be suitably qualified engineers appointed to carry out monitoring and maintenance of the dam. There need to be enough qualified people to cope with the size of the dam. The management structure should set out how day-to-day issues related to the tailings dam are discussed between workers on the ground in mines and top management, and how solutions are found. Mines should also keep audit and inspection reports on their tailings dams, and records should be kept over the long term (because tailings dams are often operational for several decades). Mines should have plans to reduce the impact that tailings dams have on the environment. These would have been informed by public participation. The plans must state what monitoring is in place to measure the impacts of dust and water (groundwater and surface water). The true extent of impacts only becomes apparent once the mine starts operating. So, the public should hold mines accountable for commitments made. Mines should satisfy communities that monitoring is continuing to identify and track the dam's environmental impacts. Closure plans should also be continuously communicated to mining-affected communities. This will assure the community that when the miners leave, they won't be left with a dangerous dam near their homes, with no one to look after it. A common way that tailings dams fail is when water or slurry washes over the dam sidewalls. This washes away the support. It is known as overtopping, and can happen in storms or if too much tailing is pumped into the dam. Overtopping is best managed by keeping the water a certain distance below the dam wall. Mine management must measure this regularly and control how much tailing they pump to the dam. Their task is to make sure that even in a severe storm the level will stay well below the top of the dam wall. Small failure incidents such as sloughs, slides and bulges where dam walls move but no slurry is released can occur. Mines should investigate and report these, detailing likely causes and mitigation measures implemented. Publicly available satellite imagery can easily show where mine tailings dams are becoming unstable. Mines should be transparent and provide explanations for these to avoid any speculation over whether the dam is stable or not. Sometimes dams must be changed to accommodate changes in mining or the extraction process. These changes could include how fast the dam is being built, moving the position of the dam wall, or placing material at the base of the wall to stabilise it. The unexpected consequences of alterations to a tailings dam could be water seeping out and creating damp spots, leading to dam walls sagging or cracking. If left unchecked this can lead to structural failure. When substantial changes are made to a dam's design, mines need to demonstrate that sufficient consideration has gone into making these changes. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Charles MacRobert, Stellenbosch University and Talia da Silva Burke, Stellenbosch University Read more: South Africa needs to refresh how it manages by-products from mining Dam collapse at Brazilian mine exposes grave safety problems Mine waste dams threaten the environment, even when they don't fail The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Geotheta Announces Geotechnical Engineering Services For TSF Design & Management

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A new approach to dealing with the dangers of tailings

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Geotheta Announces Geotechnical Engineering Services For TSF Design & Management

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A new approach to dealing with the dangers of tailings

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