THE FIELD OF TAILINGS dam design and management has recently seen a ratcheting of standards following a particularly severe and well-publicised dam failure in Brazil in 2019. The event led to the formulation of the Global Industry Standards on Tailings Management (GISTM), to which all members of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) subscribe.
The GISTM’s raising of the bar has meant that many of the traditional maintenance techniques for tailings dams are likely to become even more costly and perhaps unaffordable for mining companies. For instance, the GISTM has lengthened the timelines for responsible post-closure dam management as it is necessary for tailings dams to be considered ‘permanent landforms’. The cost implications of this shift are unsurprisingly significant, opening the door to exploring design philosophies that can optimise cost efficiency while remaining uncompromising on safety over the long term.
One of the opportunities being considered – and indeed actively proposed – by engineers and scientists is the value of geomorphic designs that emulate natural landforms. While these concepts are not new, it has taken some time for them to start gaining currency in the mining sector.
