Chapter 17
Path Forward
This chapter defines what in our minds constitute the best possible evolution of worldclass procedures.
The strategic intent for the mining industry must be to bring tailings dam failures
and catastrophic incidents to the credibility threshold. The leading practices identified above, within the context of a comprehensive responsibility framework, will, if
adopted, significantly contribute to a sustainable reduction of risks in tailings systems. However, such practices, although eliminating numerous fallacies of common
practices, will still be afflicted by unpredictable natural events, judgment, human
errors and varying levels of commitment.
For new tailings dams, risk-based rigorous deposition methods and site selection
processes must be used to ensure that risks are corporately and societally tolerable.
Existing operations must seek ways to reduce risks related to the original design. More
importantly, companies, governments and geotechnical professionals must look to
their own commitment and embrace the leading practices suggested in this text with
the objective of providing the highest standard of risk management for their tailings
dams.
In the short term, action should be taken to reduce the risks posed by using tailings
impoundments to store water. For climates where water storage is inevitable, design
requirements regarding freeboards, beach lengths and phreatic lines (water levels
in the ground) should be clearly identified and strictly enforced by both corporate
management and regulatory authorities. The use of tailings impoundments such as
polishing ponds to reduce contaminant levels and to handle run-off and excess pit
water must be stopped, as such practices only add to the risk level of a dam and
tailings systems. Regulatory approvals for new TSFs must require the consideration
of alternatives based on the minimization or elimination of water storage within the
impoundment.
To support the consideration and adoption of lower consequence alternatives, a
process must be initiated for the purpose of:
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
F. Oboni and C. Oboni, Tailings Dam Management for the Twenty-First Century,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19447-5_17
269
Path Forward
This chapter defines what in our minds constitute the best possible evolution of worldclass procedures.
The strategic intent for the mining industry must be to bring tailings dam failures
and catastrophic incidents to the credibility threshold. The leading practices identified above, within the context of a comprehensive responsibility framework, will, if
adopted, significantly contribute to a sustainable reduction of risks in tailings systems. However, such practices, although eliminating numerous fallacies of common
practices, will still be afflicted by unpredictable natural events, judgment, human
errors and varying levels of commitment.
For new tailings dams, risk-based rigorous deposition methods and site selection
processes must be used to ensure that risks are corporately and societally tolerable.
Existing operations must seek ways to reduce risks related to the original design. More
importantly, companies, governments and geotechnical professionals must look to
their own commitment and embrace the leading practices suggested in this text with
the objective of providing the highest standard of risk management for their tailings
dams.
In the short term, action should be taken to reduce the risks posed by using tailings
impoundments to store water. For climates where water storage is inevitable, design
requirements regarding freeboards, beach lengths and phreatic lines (water levels
in the ground) should be clearly identified and strictly enforced by both corporate
management and regulatory authorities. The use of tailings impoundments such as
polishing ponds to reduce contaminant levels and to handle run-off and excess pit
water must be stopped, as such practices only add to the risk level of a dam and
tailings systems. Regulatory approvals for new TSFs must require the consideration
of alternatives based on the minimization or elimination of water storage within the
impoundment.
To support the consideration and adoption of lower consequence alternatives, a
process must be initiated for the purpose of:
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
F. Oboni and C. Oboni, Tailings Dam Management for the Twenty-First Century,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19447-5_17
269