When the Bafokeng platinum tailings dam in Rustenburg, SA failed in 1974, liquefied tailings flowed into an adjacent shaft, killing 13 people underground. In 1975, SRK designed a new tailings impoundment to meet a probability of annual loss of life at less than 1 in a million. The complex has operated successfully for more than 35 years. The 40m-high decant towers have been raised to 80 meters in height with some innovative settlement designs to provide access and maintain the decanting of the pool water during construction of the tower raises.
