S11 ATR July 2021 Tailings_ATR - New Master Template 2016 29/06/2021 14:41 Page 44
MINING | TAILINGS
Global standards drive improved tailings management Image Credit: Harmony Gold Mining Company
Mine operators are continually looking for solutions to transport, store and dispose of tailings safely and efficiently. Inefficient tailings management, however, can lead to disaster. Tim Guest reports.
An example of Harmony Gold Mining’s tailings management operation.
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ine operators face major challenges when it comes to tailings management. Specialist companies offer tailings expertise from pipeline transport systems as part of sustainable mine waste solutions to water extraction methods, and technology, aimed at making use of tailings in the manufacture of products and materials for sectors, such as construction. However, if adequate processes are not put in place, inefficient management can lead to disaster. The catastrophic failure of a tailings storage facility at Vale’s Corrego do Feijão mine in Brumadinho, Brazil, on 25 January 2019 killed 270 people and led directly to the August 2020 launch of the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (the Standard). Brazil aside, Africa itself is not without a grim history of tailings failures; a tailings dam collapsed at South Africa in 1994 killing 17 people in Free State and, previously, in 1974, a tailings dam failed in Bafokeng in
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the northwest of the country. Turning our attention to the Standard, how the sector in South Africa has responded and a few of the specialist players likely to ensure best practice in the future. Following the 2019 Brazilian tailings disaster, Tom Butler, International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) CEO, said it was a pivotal moment demanding decisive and appropriate action from the sector in a united, collaborative and transparent way. Accordingly, the ICMM partnered with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)
AFRICAN REVIEW OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY | JULY 2021
under the guidance of chairperson, Dr Bruno Oberle, together with an expert panel and advisory group, and published the Standard. According to Butler, it sets a new, global benchmark to achieve strong social, environmental and technical outcomes in tailings management, although with a strong emphasis on accountability and disclosure. Butler said an immediate priority is for all 28 ICMM members, (who represent around a third of the global industry and include African players, such as African Rainbow Minerals, AngloAmerican, Glencore, GoldFields and Sibanye Stillwater, to ensure the Standard’s full
South Africa has the largest number of tailings dams built using an architectural method considered unsafe by many engineers.” REUTERS REPORT — THE LOOMING RISKS OF TAILINGS DAMS
implementation. He said the Standard will be integrated into the ICMM’s existing membership commitments; all member facilities with ‘extreme’ or ‘very high’ potential consequences will be conformed to the Standard by August 2023, and all other sites by 2025. Butler’s caveat stressed the Standard is ‘not a silver bullet’ and the focus must now be on broad uptake and effective implementation to ensure safer management of tailings storage facilities everywhere. To help drive that forward, in May this year the ICMM launched two new resources: ‘Conformance Protocols’ for the Standard and a tailings management ‘Good Practice Guide’. The 2019 criteria in the Conformance Protocols address the Standard’s 77 requirements, enabling conformance to be assessed. The Good Practice Guide promotes good governance and engineering, including improved engineering practices across the whole tailings lifecycle, from project
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