Enhancing the Safety of Tailings Management Facilities

• Published in: Soil & sediment contamination 2008-07, Vol.17 (4), p.323-345
• Main Authors: Meggyes, Tamás, Niederleithinger, Ernst, Witt, Karl Josef, Csövári, Mihály, Kreft-Burman, Katarzyna, Engels, Jon, McDonald, Chris, Roehl, Karl Ernst
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT; COAL MINING; DESIGN; EUROPEAN UNION; extractive industry; Facilities management; Facilities planning; HAZARDS; Industrial safety; MINING; Mining industry; MONITORING; neutron logging; non-destructive testing; NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING; parameter framework; RESEARCH PROGRAMS; RISK ASSESSMENT; SAFETY; SETTLING PONDS; site investigation; STABILITY; TAILINGS; tailings management facility; tailings pond; Waste materials
• ISSN: 1532-0383; 1549-7887
• DOI: 10.1080/15320380802143922

Unsafe tailings management facilities (TMFs) have caused serious accidents in Europe (e.g., Baia Mare, Romania, in 2000, Aznalcóllar, Spain, in 1998, and Stava, Italy, in 1985), threatening human health/life and the environment. While advanced design, construction and management procedures are available, their implementation requires greater emphasis. An integrated research project funded by the European Union was carried out between 2002 and 2005 with the overall goal of improving the safety of TMFs (Sustainable Improvement in Safety of Tailings Facilities-TAILSAFE, http://www.tailsafe.com/ ). The objective of TAILSAFE was to develop and apply methods of parameter evaluation and measurement for the assessment and improvement of the safety state of tailings facilities, with particular attention to the stability of tailings dams and slurries, the special risks inherent when such materials include toxic or hazardous wastes, and authorization and management procedures for tailings facilities. Aspects of tailings facilities design, water management and slurry transport, non-destructive and minimally intrusive testing methods, monitoring and the application of sensors, intervention and remediation options were considered in TAILSAFE. A risk reduction framework (the TAILSAFE Parameter Framework) was established to contribute to the avoidance of catastrophic accidents and hazards from tailings facilities. Tailings from the mining and primary processing of metals, minerals and coal were included within the scope of TAILSAFE. The project focused on the avoidance of hazards by developing procedures and methods for investigating and improving the stability of tailings dams and tailings bodies.