The Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM), released in 2020 requires responsible TSF owners to have an integrated knowledge base comprised of all aspects ranging from affected communities and previous stakeholder engagements to full facility closure. An integral part of this knowledge base is being able to assess and record the potential downstream impacts of a hypothetical catastrophic failure and plan accordingly.
The GISTM requires that a TSF breach analysis be conducted that considers all credible failure modes, regardless of their probability of occurrence. Furthermore, the GISTM requires the breach analyses of TSFs with consequence classifications of ‘high’, ‘very high’ or ‘extreme’ to include estimates of the physical area impacted by a potential failure, flow arrival times, flow depths and flow velocities and the depth of material deposition in the results.
The results of a breach analysis are primarily used to inform the consequence of failure classification, which, in turn, informs the external loading component of the TSF design criteria. Identifying the groups most at risk with regard to a potential TSF failure and the drafting of emergency preparedness and response plans are also reliant on the results of the breach analysis.
These parameters are imperative to the robust design, operation and closure of a TSF to ensure zero harm to people and the environment. Zero tolerance for human fatalities is a key consideration in modern TSF management. Enhanced risk awareness translates to better risk preparedness. During a time of intense scrutiny on mine waste storage, this has never been more important.
