In the field mining and mineral extraction, the management of tailings is a critical aspect of environmental performance and operational sustainability.
Traditionally, conventional slurry tailings have been disposed in dams. However, the inherent risks associated with dam failures, as evidenced by historical incidents, have prompted to seek for alternatives of non-conventional TSFs such as dry-stacks (i.e., filtered tailings storage facilities) or co-disposal, (i.e., tailings and waste rock storage facilities), particularly in jurisdictions where dams are no longer allowed or are increasingly complex to permit.
Co-disposal strategy may sometimes compensate their complexity over dry-stacking solutions (especially in the operating aspect) by enhancing geotechnical properties of the final product, adding resiliency to the deposition process, allowing mitigation and control of Acid Rock Drainage (ARD) and/or Metal Leaching (ML), and minimizing land impacts.
This work intends to illustrate this integration through case-studies and showcase some drivers that led projects into a co-disposal solution as the most advantageous alternative for tailings deposition.
