As the consequences of mine tailings loom ever larger in the sector, new technological solutions are emerging to help monitor the spread of mine waste, and alert safety officials about potential dangers before they emerge. We spoke to Lyzandra Boshoff, consulting principal engineering geologist at mining and metals consultancy SRK, about this risk, and the growing use of big data to tackle it.
The reliability of tailings dams, used to store byproducts of mining operations after separating the ore from the gangue, has long been an industry issue.
According to the ‘Comprehensive review on reasons for tailings dam failures based on case history’, published in the Advances in Civil Engineering journal, on average, three of the world’s 3,500 tailings dams fail every year and the likelihood of tailings dam failure is several times higher than other conventional water-retaining dams.
With burst tailings dams often being highly toxic and potentially radioactive, companies are progressively turning to big data and digital intelligence to better understand and manage the most challenging task in the entire mining process.
