Tailings occur as the result of extracting the “gangue” from the valuable portions of mined ore, and these unneeded materials include metals, minerals, chemicals, organic compounds, and water. These materials are often toxic and can cause major environmental hazards if not properly contained and managed. This has led to the development of specialised tailings storage facilities (TSF), which are designed to safely store left over mined material that has lesser economic value. There are various commercial methods for storing tailings and the optimal method is typically dictated by several factors, including:

• mine type
• topography
• cost
• life of mine

Due to the risk associated with a TSF, mining companies generally have a regulatory obligation to manage a TSF beyond the operational life of mine (typically companies are required to monitor during the TSF’s rehabilitation stage). Following a series of catastrophic failures of TSF’s in Brazil, resulting in significant environmental and economic consequences, there has been growing pressures from regulators, customer and financial stakeholders to ensure improved management process of these facilities. As a part of this, several of the major mining companies have dedicated additional resources to new data-based technologies for monitoring and managing TSF’s. Find out more in the below guide.