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Val di Stava dam collapse
In July 1985, the tailings dam of the Prestavel fluorite mine in northern Italy collapsed, causing the deaths of 268 people. Since the end…
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Climate change and its effect on the stability and lifespan of a tailings dam
Our changing climate presents significant challenges for mining companies and governments that are responsible for regulating the industry. Increased climate variability and extreme weather…
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Causes of tailing dams failures 1915-2016
In the literature on the topic, the majority of the tailings storage-facility failures discussed can be attributed to a few factors – in particular,…
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Types of sequentially raised tailings dams
Using natural materials water supply reservoir dams have only one design option – known as downstream type construction. Tailings dams sometimes use this construction…
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Differences between water-retention dams and tailing dams
Water dams have been known to fail with catastrophic consequences but in the last 40 years, failures have become very rare, whereas tailings dams…
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Known mining accidents
An indication of the number and location of tailings dam failures since 1985. An analysis of tailings dam failures over the last three decades,…
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Mount Polley mine storage facility failure
Tailings dam failure at the Mount Polley mine in Canada. The Mount Polley mine, a large, open-pit and underground copper-gold mine in British Columbia,…
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An average day in a large-sized copper mine
An example of the volumes of tailings and other waste that can be generated in a large copper mine. The scale of a large…
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Germano mine storage facility failure
Location and impacts of the tailings storage-facility failure at the Samarco mine in Brazil, November 2015 The mineral-rich area known as the Iron Quadrangle…
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Initiatives to improve mine waste management
Timeline illustrating major initiatives to improve mine waste management and reported tailings dam failures (data from Chambers 2015 and WISE 2017) Numerous well-conceived initiatives…
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Recommendations and suggested actions for stopping tailings dam failures
The prevention of a tailings dam disasters is an ambitious, but challenging goal. A goal made more difficult by the cyclical, competitive and international…
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Mining and mine waste
A mining operation, illustrating a typical process in an open pit mine, from excavation to waste disposal.