Mine Tailings Storage: Safety Is No Accident

A RAPID RESPONSE ASSESSMENT MINE TAILINGS STORAGE: SAFETY IS NO ACCIDENT

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On the cover

Top photo: The township of Bento Rodriguez. On the 5 November 2015, the Samarco Mineração S.A Fundão tailings dam, containing approximately 55 million m 3 of tailings collapsed. The failure released an estimated 33 million m 3 of tailings, which travelled down a natural waterway first inundating the town of Bento Rodriguez, approximately 8 km from the dam site. The mud and debris continued to move downstream for 650 km along the Rio Doce River, reaching the Atlantic coast 17 days later. Sadly 19 people were killed, including 14 workers at the dam site, and 5 people in the Bento Rodrigues community. Hundreds more people were displaced in towns and cities downstream. Bottom photo: The Stava memorial, Italy. The sculpture depicts the scene that faced rescue workers following the Stava dam failure. The bodies of the men, women and children were found in the mud, with their hands held in front of their faces to protect themselves; they had no chance to escape when a tsunami of mud came down their valley at lunch time on a beautiful sunny day on 19 July 1985. The memorial is a poignant reminder of why safety should be the main priority in mining and that mining should support sustainable development, not destroy lives and livelihoods.

Disclaimer The contents of this report do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of UNEP or contributory organizations. The designations employed and the presentations do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNEP or contributory organiza- tions concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city, com- pany or area or its authority, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Roche, C., Thygesen, K., Baker, E. (Eds.) 2017. Mine Tailings Storage: Safety Is No Accident. A UNEP Rapid Response Assessment. United Nations Environment Programme and GRID-Arendal, Nairobi and Arendal, www.grida.no ISBN: 978-82-7701-170-7

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MINE TAILINGS STORAGE: SAFETY IS NO ACCIDENT

A RAPID RESPONSE ASSESSMENT

Editors Charles Roche, Centre for Responsible Citizenship and Sustainability, Murdoch University, Australia Kristina Thygesen, GRID-Arendal, Norway Elaine Baker, GRID-Arendal at the University of Sydney, Australia Contributors (in alphabetic order) Elaine Baker, GRID-Arendal at the University of Sydney, Australia Alex Bastos, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Brazil Ludovic Bernaudat, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Switzerland Simon Blyth, UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC), United Kingdom Sharon Brooks, UNEP-WCMC, United Kingdom David Chambers, Center for Science in Public Participation Catherine Coumans, MiningWatch, Canada Marine Deguignet, UNEP-WCMC, United Kingdom Andrew Fourie, University of Western Australia, Australia Bernd Lottermoser, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University, Germany Benjamin McLellan, Kyoto University, Japan Jason Phillips, Institute ForWARD, Colombia Walter Reinhardt, Australian National University, Australia

Charles Roche, Centre for Responsible Citizenship and Sustainability, Murdoch University, Australia Kristina Thygesen, GRID-Arendal, Norway Marjorie Valix, University of Sydney, Australia Todd Wisdom, FLSmidth, USA

Reviewers Ines Abdelrazek, UN Environment, Kenya Yannick Beaudoin, GRID-Arendal, Norway Niamh Brannigan, UN Environment, Kenya Oli Brown, UN Environment, Kenya Ugo Lapointe, MiningWatch, Canada Gavin Mudd, RMIT University, Australia Ligia Noronha, UN Environment, Kenya Luca Zorzi, Stava Foundation, Italy 3 Anonymous mining industry reviewers

Cartographers Nieves López Izquierdo, Cartografare il presente, Italy Kristina Thygesen, GRID-Arendal, Norway

Acknowledgements Inès Abdel Razek, UN Environment, Kenya John Crump, GRID-Arendal, Norway

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Preface

Developing the green technologies needed to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals means the demand for large quantities of minerals and metals will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. Safer, cleaner and less wasteful extraction and production is paramount to ensuring resource availability, but also community well-being and ecosystem resilience.

The United Nations Environment Rapid Response Assessment on mine tailings looks at why existing engineering and technical knowhow to build and maintain safe tailings storage facilities is insufficient to meet the target of zero catastrophic incidents. It examines the ways in which the established best practice solutions in international collaborative governance, enhanced regulations, more resource efficient approaches and innovation could help to ensure the elimination of tailings dam failures. It uses case studies from different parts of the world to highlight the efforts of industry to reduce mine waste and stimulate new activities while suggesting how these could be accelerated through regulatory or financial incentives. It is hoped that this report will encourage targeted action at the policy and technical level to make zero catastrophic incidents become a reality and ensure that economic prosperity is fully compatible with community health and safety.

Mining companies, communities and governments recognize that mine waste, contaminated water and land pollution damage lives and livelihoods but also threaten the development of the mining sector. For this reason, they are committed to work together to reduce the industry’s footprint. Despite many good intentions and investments in improved practices, large storage facilities, built to contain mine tailings can leak or collapse. These incidents are even more probable due to climate change effects. When they occur, they can destroy entire communities and livelihoods and remain the biggest environmental disaster threat related to mining. The mining industry has acknowledged that preventing catastrophic tailings dam incidents with zero fatalities and environmental protection is fundamental and achievable. For decades, companies, industry bodies and regulators have been continually improving best practice guidelines for the construction and management of tailings dams. However, eliminating all catastrophic incidents remains a challenge.

Ligia Noronha Director Economy Division United Nations Environment Programme

Preventing catastrophic tailings dam incidents is fundamental and achievable.

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Contents Preface

4 Mine tailings and tailings storage facilities 6 Executive summary 10 Introduction 13 What are mine tailings? 20 Tailings dam failures 25 Mine tailings management and disposal 38 Risk, rewards and responsibility 47 Life cycle of mine waste and tailings dams 53 Driving forces for tailings management 58 Opportunities for better tailings management 63 References 65

Tailings dams are complex systems that have evolved over the years. They are also unforgiving systems, in terms of the number of things that have to go right. Their reliability is contingent on consistently flawless execution in planning, in subsurface investigation, in analysis and design, in construction quality, in operational diligence, in monitoring, in regulatory actions, and in risk management at every level. All of these activities are subject to human error.

– Mount Polley expert panel, IEEIRP 2015, p. 119

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Mine tailings and tailings storage facilities Mine tailings are a major waste stream generated in mining operations. Tailings are the waste material left over after the valuable component has been removed through processing. They include ground-up rock or sand, and the chemical reagents and process water used to extract the commodity. Tailings dams, also referred to as tailings storage facilities, 1 are the most common method used to store this material.

• For many years the overall number of annual tailings dam failures has been in decline, however, the number of serious failures has increased (Bowker and Chambers 2015). • There is no publicly accessible inventory of tailings dams, however, one estimate has put the number of tailings dams at 3 500 (Davies and Martin 2000). This is likely an underestimate as there could be more than 30 000 industrial mines (SNL 2016). • The global volume of stored tailings is also unknown, but recent disasters illustrate the potential scale of accidents. For example, the Mount Polley and Samarco failures in 2014 and 2015 respectively each released more than 25 million cubic metres of tailings into the environment – combined, this represents enough material to fill more than 20 000 Olympic swimming pools. • The cost of tailings dam failures to industry can be extremely high. For example, BHP has provided US $174 million to the Renova Foundation for remediation and compensation programmes following the Samarco dam failure and is also facing a potentially costly civil claim.

Due to the physical and chemical nature of tailings, they pose potential risks to people and the environment, which means they require proper treatment and dedicated, safe storage locations. Unfortunately, tailings dams can fail. These failures can release vast quantities of water and sediment, often capable of devastating downstream communities and the environment. Some key facts: • Despite the many advances made in the mining sector and increased geotechnical engineering knowledge, tailings dam failures still occur. Since 2014 there have been seven failures significant enough to make international news. These occurred in Canada, Mexico, Brazil (x2), China, USA and Israel (WISE 2017). While not all have resulted in loss of life, they have all caused extensive damage to the environment. Six case studies of failures dating back to 1985 are described in this report. They illustrate the causes and consequences of failures, including catastrophic loss of life (a combined total of 287 direct casualties), damage to infrastructure and the environment, and the lasting impact these failures can have.

1. Tailings dams are commonly referred to as tailings storage facilities (TSF) or tailings management facilities (TMF).

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Example of a tailings dam/storage facility – The Fort Knox gold mine in Alaska. The tailings are contained in a valley behind an earth and rock embankment that creates a dam. This tailings storage facility is eventually expected to cover 395 hectares and store approximately 270 million tonnes of tailings (calculated as equivalent dry weight, Kinross Gold Corporation 2015).

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Mining and mine waste

Ore

Overburden materials like soil and rocks are removed to access the ore body. These are generally considered benign and are often used for revegetation or landscaping. In coal mining the overburden is referred to as spoils.

Waste rock is classed as ores that are below the economic cut-off grade.

Mine

Sub-economic rock

L ÓPEZ , 2017

Source: Ground the trekking, 2014, Mine Tailings, www.groundtruthtrekking.org

Figure 1. A mining operation, illustrating a typical process in an open pit mine, from excavation to waste disposal.

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Concentrate 1 750 tonnes per day

Mill

Stockpiles

Crushed ore for mining quality control, homogenization and mill-head grade

200 000 tonnes per day Slurry tailings

Tailings pond

Slurry discharge

Phreatic line

Overflow spillway

Water cover

Lift 2

Lift 1

Coarse fraction - Sands

Toe seepage

Fine fraction - Slimes

Starter dyke

Liner

Seepage

Groundwater flow

180 000 tonnes per day Waste rock

Waste rock storage facility

Toe seepage

Seepage

Groundwater flow

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Executive summary This report is part of the United Nations Rapid Response Assessment series and is motivated by the human and environmental costs of continued tailings dam disasters.

from mines increases due to lower ore grades (Mudd 2007) and as climate change brings about more intense and variable weather events. An inadequate response will see failures continue, impacting communities, human rights and environments, and the reputation and profitability of mining ventures. Mining is a complex industry, ranging from small to medium single-site companies and junior explorers to global giants. While the risks and rewards for industry players are clear and subject to annual reviews, those for local communities are not always as apparent. Improving the safety of tailings storage facilities requires a change of focus. Currently, project-based feasibility assessments can underestimate risk and impact over time, leading to poor tailings management design and practices and increased risks to the community and the environment. Although there are existing guidelines and regulations, the costs of externalities and perpetual waste management need to be thoroughly defined to provide an accurate assessment of project viability. Industry and regulators need to adopt more holistic thinking, which is flexible enough to allow for site variation, but which also clearly identifies best practices. Most importantly, these best practices need to be competently implemented. But as noted by the Mount Polley expert panel (IEEIRP 2015), existing best practices and regulations may not be enough to eliminate failures – what is also required is a fundamental change in the way we produce, reuse and perpetually store tailings. This Rapid Response Assessment makes two recommendations and suggests a range of policy actions that are aimed at catalysing the change needed to ensure tailings dam safety. These actions stem from the first recommendation – the mining industry’s acknowledged priority of “safety first”. Recommendations The Rapid Response Assessment highlights issues that are serious enough to warrant more detailed consideration and action by the regulators, financiers, owners and operators of mines (Figure 2). The actions below are contained in the 2001 ICOLD report or have been drawn from subsequent academic research, industry reports and post-failure investigations that identify the scale, predictability and drivers of tailings dam failures. They are further developed in section 8.

Acknowledging community concerns over the impact of tailings dam failures, such as at Mount Polley and Samarco, this report seeks to examine and explain why tailings dam failures continue to occur. It provides an accessible and balanced description of the complexities surrounding tailings dam failures, informing the global community of the issues. Sixteen years on from the 2001 International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) “Tailings Dams: Risk of Dangerous Occurrences” report, it gives an update on the status of reforms and provides momentum and direction for advancing the shared ambition of eliminating tailings dam failures. It also provides an overview of the key issues, using case studies to illustrate causes and consequences of tailings dam failures, the progress of reform and the need for a coordinated stakeholder response. The comprehensive 2001 ICOLD report established an urgent need for the reform of tailings storage-facility planning, management and regulation. The authors found that all 221 failures examined were avoidable – that the technical knowledge to build and maintain tailings storage facilities existed, but that an inadequate commitment to safe storage combined with poor management was the cause of most failures. Unfortunately, despite this realization and the development of many new measures, guidelines and improved practices, tailings storage facilities have continued to fail. Furthermore, the issue of safely storing tailings may become even more challenging as the volume of waste

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Recommendation 1

The approach to tailings storage facilities must place safety first by making environmental and human safety a priority in management actions and on-the-ground operations. Regulators, industry and communities should adopt a shared zero-failure objective to tailings storage facilities where “safety attributes should be evaluated separately from economic considerations, and cost should not be the determining factor” (Mount Polley expert panel, 2015, p. 125) ili f ili i l f fi i i l f i i i i i . l , i i i l f il j i ili f ili i f i l l l f i i i , l i i f (

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Recommendation 2

Establish a UN Environment stakeholder forum to facilitate international strengthening of tailings dam regulation. li i l f f ili i i l i f ili

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Failure prevention il

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Expand mining regulations to include independent monitoring and the enforce- ment of financial and criminal sanctions for non-compliance. i i r l ti t i l i t it ri t f r - t f fi i l ri i l ti f r non-complian .

l

Encourage the development of technological solutions to eliminate the main causes of failures. Encourage innovation in the reuse and recycling of mine tailings. Compile and review existing regulations and best practice guidance. Fund research into mine tailings storage failures and management of active, inactive and abandoned mine sites. Establish an accessible public-interest, global database of mine sites, tailings storage facilities and research. t l t f t l i l l ti t li i t t f f il r . i ti i th r r li f i t ili . il and review existing regulati t racti i . r r i t i t ili t r f il r t f ti , i ti ine sites. t li a i l li -i t r t, l l t f i it , t ili t r f iliti r r . i

Establish a global financial assurance system for mine-sites. Fund a global insurance pool. t li l l fi i l r t f r i - it . l l i r l.

Regularly publish disaster management plans. Increase gender diversity and broaden skill sets on company boards. Establish independent waste review boards to conduct and publish independent technical reviews prior to, during construction or modification, and throughout the lifespan of tailings storage facilities. Avoid dam construction methods known to be high risk. Ensure any project assessment or expansion publishes all externalized costs, with an independent life-of-mine sustainability cost-benefit analysis. Require detailed and ongoing evaluations of potential failure modes, residual risks and perpetual management costs of tailings storage facilities. Enforce mandatory financial securities for life of the mine. l l li i t r t l . I r i r it r ill t r . t li i t t r i r t t li i t t i l r i ri r t , ring tr ti r ificati , t r t t lif f t ili storage facilities. i tr ti t t i risk. r j t t r i li ll t r li t , it i t lif - f- i t i ilit t- fit l i . i t il i l ti f t ti l f il r , r i l ri r t l t t f t ili t r f iliti . t r fi i l riti f r life of the mine. Ban or commit to avoid riverine disposal and avoid submarine disposal unless justified by independent review. it t i ri ri i l i ri i l l j tifi i t r i . f

Benefits Benefits

Addresses unmet liabilities from major tailings dam failures. Ensures best practice in tailings management, monitoring and rehabilitation Addresses t li iliti fr j r t ili f il r . t r ti i t ili t, it ri r ilit ti

Benefits

i

Establishes a basis for improved regulation and consistent best practice. t li a basis for improved r l ti i t t t r ti .

The path to zero failures (IEEIRP 2015). Reduces the volume of tailings stored and potentially creates additional business opportunities. t t r f il r (I I ). t l f t ili t r t ti ll r t additional business opportunities. Assists in educating people to make informed decisions. i t i ti l t i f r i i .

Benefits

i

Clarifies responsibility for tailings dam performance. Provides transparency on disaster planning. l ifi r i ilit f r t ili rf r . tra r i t r l i .

i

Reduces risk of dam failure by providing independent expert oversight. Reduces risk of failure by eliminating less stable methods of dam construction. Protects the environment from less controlled waste disposal. Improves governance and corporate social responsibility. ri f f il r r i i i t rt r i t. ri f f il r li i ti l t l t f tr ti . t t t ir t fr l tr ll I r r r t i l r i ilit .

Note : Some of these important actions are already being undertaken or partially implemented in a number of jurisdictions. The aim is to ensure best practice is enacted at all mine sites where tailings are stored. t : f t s i rt t ti s r lr y i rt k r rti lly i l t i r f j ris i ti s. i is t s r st r ti is t t ll i sit s r t ili s r st r .

t i

l.

Figure 2. Recommendations and suggested actions for stopping tailings dam failures

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Introduction Industrial scale mining generates huge volumes of waste tailings. The way mining companies deal with these tailings can have major long-term implications for local communities and the environment. The largest tailings storage facilities are among the biggest man-made structures on Earth. The are expected to provide “secure” storage of tailings in perpetuity. But is this a realistic expectation? Recent tailings dam failures have provided evidence that tailings storage facilities are not always safe. For example, the 2015 Samarco mine tragedy in Brazil resulted in 19 deaths and polluted hundreds of kilometres of river (see case study, pg 17). Even when fatalities do not occur, the failure of tailings storage facilities can have lasting social, environmental and economic consequences and often prove extremely difficult and costly to remediate.

We understand that the failure to implement adequate tailings dam standards, guidelines and risk controls can result in catastrophic events. So, is there a way to reduce the risk of dam failure? Are there some practices that are inherently riskier than others that should be reconsidered? And are there alternatives to the commonly accepted tailings storage and disposal methods? Tailings storage facilities are built by industry and should be regulated by governments, however, all stakeholders, particularly local communities, bear the impact of failure. The recently commissioned International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) report (Golder and Associates 2016) concludes that we have the means to ensure the safe management of mine tailings, we just need to make sure this occurs. Numerous well-conceived initiatives have, over the past decades, made recommendations to improve mine waste management (Figure 3). Examples include the Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development Project (MMSD 2002 and Buxton 2012), the World Bank Extractive Industries Review (Salim 2003) and the 2001 ICOLD report. Franks et al. (2011) developed a set of sustainable development principles for the disposal of mining and mineral processing waste. Most recently, the ICMM produced a specific tailings-focused report (Golder and Associates 2016) and a position statement on preventing the catastrophic failure of tailings storage facilities (ICMM 2016). National industry bodies, such as the Mining Association of Canada, also produce guidance on tailings management, which their members are required to follow (MAC 2011). However, despite all these guiding

principles and recommendations, major failures are still occurring (Figure 3) and are predicted to continue (Bowker and Chambers 2015).

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals should support and underpin the mining industry’s contribution to development objectives and their social licence to operate. The licence should acknowledge that the failure or poor performance of a tailings storage facility can be fatal for communities and can cause widespread damage to the environment on which they depend. A commitment to sustainable development requires early and ongoing consultations, where information sharing and dialogue with stakeholders are required during the design, operation and closure phases of every mine. This needs to be supported by transparent compliance with industry-specific guidelines and by applicable government regulations, to establish a practical and ethical basis for mining to contribute to sustainable development and safely store tailings. From the earliest planning stages, sustainable closure of tailings storage facilities requires the incorporation of closure landform design that will ensure sustainable post-mining land use and ecological function. Sustainable development and mine tailings (adapted from LPSDP 2016)

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Initiatives to improve mine waste management

Breaking New Ground, Mining, Minerals, and Su Mining and Development, Global Mining, Large Mines a

Case studies on Tailings Management

Tailings Dangerous

Tailings Management: problems and solutions in the mining industry

Known mining accidents

1985 1986

1987

1988 1989

1992 1990 1991

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

Other tailings-related accidents Non-tailings (or unknown type) failure Very serious tailings dam failures Serious tailings dam failures Other tailings dam failures

318

48

Casualties

26

20

20

12

10

8

4

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0 1992

0

1985 1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

Data source: Center for Science in Public Participation (www.csp2.org); Wise Uranium Project (www.wise-uranium.org).

Figure 3. Timeline illustrating major initiatives to improve mine waste management and reported tailings dam failures (data from

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Guide to the Management of Tailings Facilities – 3rd Edition Tailings Management (update of 2007 publication)

tainable Development d Local Communities Guide to the Management of Tailings Facilities – 2nd Edition Developing an Operation, Maintenance and Surveillance Manual for Tailings and Water Management Facilities

ams, Risk of ccurrences

Management of Tailings and Waste-Rock in Mining Activities A Guide to Audit and Assessment of Tailings Facility Management

Towards Financial Responsibility in British Columbia´s mining Industry

An audit of compliance and enforcement of the mining sector Mapping Mining to the Sustainable Development goals – an atlas

Mine closure Handbook

Report on Mount Polley Tailings Storage Facility Breach

Tailings Management – 1st edition

International Assessment of Marine and Riverine Disposal of Mine Tailings

000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

132

277

36

28

17

4

3

2

0 0 000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

L ÓPEZ , 2017

Chambers 2015 and WISE 2017)

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China makes advances in tailings dam safety

In the last decade, the Chinese mining industry has made significant changes in the treatment of mine waste, including improving engineering design, construction and monitoring of tailings storage facilities. The government has increased regulation and mines are now required to have a tailings disposal system in operation before mining can begin. Improving tailings dam safety in China is vital since there are more than 12 000 tailings dams, of which more than 6 000 were in use at the last report (Chen et al. 2016). While most of these tailings dams are small, 95 per cent of them are constructed using the upstream method, which, while economical, has proven to be less stable than other methods (Wei et al. 2013). Due to the large number of failures, mine owners are now required to provide stability analyses and flood-control analyses, which are generally undertaken by professional design companies (Wei et al. 2013). Li et al. (2017) recently suggested four initiatives to improve tailings dam safety in China: • Improve supervision over the whole life cycle of tailings storage, including closure and reclamation. • Consider safety, economy and societal and environmental risks in risk analysis during the design phase. • Raise dam stability standards and maximum flood safety standards to be in line with international best practice. • A reclamation and environmental protection fund should be established by the mining enterprise at the planning and design phase. The challenge of safely storing mine waste is growing in scale and complexity. Over the last few decades, the tailings- to-ore ratio has been increasing, as mineral deposits with increasingly lower ore grades are mined (Mudd 2007). The fate of this increasing volume of waste is a major focus of the debate on the general sustainability of mining and the practicalities of storing ever-increasing quantities of tailings. This is a challenge that could be further complicated by the increased severity and occurrence of extreme weather events expected under climate change predictions (Franks et al. 2011). With community confidence shaken by recent failures, the mining industry is being challenged to guarantee the health and safety of people and the environment. The alarm over tailings dam failures, along with concerns over land access, water use and contamination, indigenous rights and inequality raises questions about the way mining contributes to sustainable development.

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Case study: Samarco, Brazil, 2015

The mineral-rich area known as the Iron Quadrangle is located in Minas Gerais state in south-east Brazil. There are more than 300 mines in operation (including gold, topaz, niobium, manganese, diamond and other ores and gems), producing more than 17 per cent of the state’s revenue. Mining activity dates back to the eighteenth century and has shaped both the environment and urban development. Among these mines is the Germano mine, close to the city of Mariana, which is operated by Samarco – a joint venture between Vale SA and BHP Billiton, two of the largest mining companies in the world. It produced just over 23 million tonnes of iron ore pellets in 2014 and in the process, generated almost 20 million tonnes of tailings (Samarco 2015). On 5 November 2015, the mine’s Fundão dam breached, releasing an estimated 33 million cubic metres of mine waste (Samarco 2015a; Grupo da Força-Tarefa 2016). The tailings slurry flowed down the valley as a high-density mudflow and inundated parts of the village of Bento Rodrigues. Nineteen people were killed, including village residents and Samarco employees. The slurry reached the Doce River Valley, the fifth largest river basin in Brazil, and travelled for 650 kilometres until it reached the Atlantic coast 17 days later. The flow and its impacts are illustrated in Figure 4. The investigation to determine the cause of the dam failure identified a number of issues that cumulatively led to the failure. These included inappropriate dam construction procedures, improper maintenance of drainage structures and inadequate monitoring (Morgenstern et al. 2016). Prior to the collapse there had been several incidents that necessitated alterations to the original dam design. These changes established the conditions for failure by creating drainage problems that resulted in large volumes of saturated sand adjacent to the dam wall. Immediately prior to the collapse, three small earthquakes exacerbated the structural weakness of the sand, initiating the flow slide (Morgenstern et al. 2016). The final government report (GFT 2015) listed 36 factors that contributed to the dam failure and noted that the mining company did not have an emergency plan, or even warning lights and sirens that could be activated to alert employees or villages in the event of a disaster. Brazilian authorities charged 22 individuals over the incident, which killed 19 people (Wood 2017). The Brazilian government has suspended Samarco´s environmental and operation licences. A compensation agreement was reached in March 2016 between the relevant Brazilian authorities and the mining companies, however, Samarco is also facing a civil claim, which it expects to settle in 2017.

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The Fundão dam, one of the tailings dams at Germano mine, broke on the afternoon of 5 November 2015. The breach discharged 33 million m 3 of iron ore tailings slurry. Germano mine storage facility failure

Initially it was believed that the Santarém dam had also broken, but later it was verified that the mud from the Fundão dam had covered it, causing it to overflow as well.

The mud devastated the sub-district of Bento Rodrigues , pulling vehicles downstream and destroying hundreds of houses, following the Gualaxo and Doce rivers affecting the municipalities of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo before reaching the Atlantic Ocean.

Santarém dam

Town of Bento Rodrigues

Gualaxo do Norte River

Fundão dam

N 500 m

L ÓPEZ , 2017

Affected area Affected waterways

Governador Valadares

Main towns

Tumiritinga

Inhabitants

Conselheiro Pena

300 000 150 000

Belo Oriente

Resplendor

25 000 5 000

Ipatinga

Colatina

Aimorés

Linhares

Baixo Guandu

M INAS G ERAIS

The tailing slurry travelled 650 km downriver, with 4 dams along the way. As no immediate response was taken, the tailing ended up in the ocean.

L ÓPEZ , 2017 20 km

Barra Longa

Mariana

E SPIRITO S ANTO

Figure 4. Location and impacts of the tailings storage-facility failure at the Samarco mine in Brazil, November 2015

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Direct impacts

PEOPLE

Entire fish populations- at least 11 tons- were killed immediately when the slurry buried them or clogged their gills. FAUNA

Numerous colonial monuments dating back to the 1700s were destroyed. HERITAGE

The slurry filled 650 km of hydrologic networks. INFRASTRUCTURE

19 people died, 600 families were displaced and at least 400 000 people had their water supply disrupted.

LIGHT

VEGETATION

SILTING

The turbidity of the water prevents light from passing through it, preventing photosynthesis from occurring.

The force of the mudflow destroyed 1 469 hectares of riparian forest.

The riverbed became shallow and even dried out in some areas.

MARGINS The mud is composed

BOTTOM OF THE RIVER Upstream, where 80% of the tailing is deposited, mud cements the floor of the river eliminating all aquatic life.

of inorganic matter, which will prevent plants from growing where it has settled.

Long-term impacts

pH AND TEMPERATURE The sediment altered the acidity and the temperature of the water, killing aquatic life.

TURBIDITY

PEOPLE

The destruction of riparian, freshwater and marine ecosystems eliminated irreplaceable natural resources and ecological processes that support traditional livelihoods, disrupting fisheries, agriculture, tourism

Downstream and close to the river mouth, when the river level rises after the rainy season, turbidity increases and metal levels in the water column return to the same level as in November 2015.

and freshwater resources. The interruption of the mining activity will severely affect the local economies of 37 villages and cities. Fishing and agriculture are banned across affected areas for an indefinite period and misguided future use and restoration designs may increase human exposure to heavy metals. Sources: Geraque E. et al, 2015, Rastro de lama, Folha de S ã o Paulo; Costa C., 2015, O que já se sabe sobre impacto da lama de Mariana?, BBC Brasil; Fernandes, G.W. et al, 2016, Deep into the mud: ecological and socio-economic impacts of the dam breach in Mariana Brazil, Natureza & Conservaç ã o, n. 14, pp. 35-45; IBGE, 2017, Cidades. Populaç ã o, ibge.gov.br; Alex Bastos Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Brazil.

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What are mine tailings? Mine tailings are one of the components of mine waste. Other wastes include overburden, waste rock and mine water. Figure 5 shows an example of the scale of each component. This report is primarily concerned with the impacts and safety of tailings storage facilities, which primarily store tailings and to a lesser extent, mine water and other mine waste.

The physical and chemical properties of mine tailings are highly variable and depend on a number of factors, including the mineralogy of the host rocks, method of processing, size of mined materials and moisture content. Tailings may contain hazardous materials, such as heavy metals, metalloids, radioactive metals, sulphide minerals and processing reagents (e.g. cyanide used in gold mining). Tailings are also generated during the extraction of the oil from oil sands. These tailings contain sand, silt, clay and water, plus unrecovered hydrocarbons and other contaminants. Table 1 describes some of the potentially harmful components that can be found in mine tailings, although each mine or processing facility produces tailings that are unique in their physical and chemical properties.

Sulphide waste Waste type

Description

Not all sulphide minerals are extracted when processing massive sulphide ores (which may contain copper, lead, zinc, gold and other minerals). When this residue of sulphide minerals is exposed to the atmosphere and groundwater in the tailings dam, it oxidizes to form acidic sulphate-rich drainage, commonly referred to as acid mine drainage (AMD). Depending on the type of mine, the tailings can contain various heavy metals. For example, gold mine tailings may contain elevated concentrations of metals such as arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn). Cyanide waste is generated primarily in the extraction of gold and silver. This waste will occur in the form of heap-leach residues, tailings and spent process water. Radioactive elements are found in tailings generated in the extraction of uranium, some copper deposits and the processing of placer and mineral sands deposits. Uranium extraction is selective and therefore, up to 87% of the radioactivity can remain in the tailings (Mudd 2000). Phosphate waste is generated from mining potash and phosphate ores. The major waste products are brine solution and tailings consisting of salts, clay, sulphides, oxides and evaporative salts. Bitumen waste is generated from oil-sand mining. It can contain elevated concentrations of salts, metals (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead and zinc), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, naphthenic acids and solvents that are added during the separation process. Naphthenic acids are toxic to aquatic organisms (Grant et al. 2013).

Heavy metal waste

Cyanide waste

Radioactive waste

Phosphate waste

Bitumen waste

Table 1. Examples of potentially harmful substances that can be found in tailings

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The scale of a large copper mine can make it difficult to comprehend the challenge of safely storing tailings. The example below illustrates just how much ore, waste rock, tailings and water are involved in the production of copper. Mine waste from a large copper mine

Copper concentrate generally contains 20 to 30 per cent copper; for this example, 270 000 tonnes per day of mined material may produce 1 750 tonnes of copper.

An average day in a large-sized copper mine

Waste rock

270 000 tonnes per day About 270 000 tonnes of rock per day are dug out of the mine and sorted into economical and non-economical fractions.

The non-economical fraction (about 180 000 tonnes are classified as waste rock) is disposed of on-site.

Non-economical ore

180 000 t/day

Economical ore

The processing of the economical fraction

Mixing 90 000 tonnes of ore with 114 000 tonnes of water gives around 1 750 tonnes of concentrate

Water use

The economical fraction of the ore is sent for processing.

The processing of 90 000 tonnes of ore requires around 114 000 m 3 of water.

1 750 t/day

90 000 t/day

114 000 m 3 /day

The concentrate is now ready for refining into metal. This produces a waste slag.

20 t/day

20 tonnes of liquid remains with the concentrate. Some of this is recycled after dewatering of concentrate.

After processing, the tailings remain as a mixture of solid and liquid

A portion of the water may be reused in the processing of new ore.

Solid and liquid parts of tailings

Slurry tailings

88 250 t/day

114 000 m 3 /day

Approx. 200 000 tonnes of slurry tailings are pumped into large tailings dams everyday, year-round often for 20+ years and left in situ when the mine closes.

Approx. 200 000 t/day

t = Metric tons or tonnes

Source: Numbers provided by Mudd, 2015

Figure 5. An example of the volumes of tailings and other waste that can be generated in a large copper mine

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Case study: Mount Polley, Canada, 2014

The Mount Polley mine, a large, open-pit and underground copper-gold mine in British Columbia, began operation in 1997 and currently processes about 22 000 tonnes of ore per day. The mine’s tailings dam failed in August 2014, releasing approximately 25 million cubic metres of tailings and wastewater into a nearby creek (OAGBC 2016; Figure 6). Mine operations were suspended for a year following the breach and did not fully recommence until June 2016. The tailings storage facility (surface area approx. 2.4 km 2 ) was designed with three embankments – the Main Embankment, the Perimeter Embankment and the South Embankment. These were constructed with a core built from excavated, fine-grained glacial till deposits, supported downstream by filter and rock-fill zones and upstream by a tailings/rock-fill zone. While the mine was in operation, the height of the embankments was increased in nine stages, to an eventual height of 40 metres. Shortly before the collapse, approval was being sought for Stage 10, which would have further increased the dam wall height (IEEIRP 2015). The Mount Polley dam failure created the largest environmental disaster in Canadian mining history (Schoenberger 2016). The mine is adjacent to Polley Lake and Hazeltine Creek, which flow into Quesnel Lake, one of the world’s deepest glacial lakes and an important commercial, recreational and aboriginal fishery. It supports sockeye salmon, rainbow trout and a diverse range of other fish species. Prior to the dam collapse, the water in the lake had a very low level of particulate material. The collapse resulted in a massive sediment-laden plume scouring Hazeltine Creek and entering the west basin of the lake. Petticrew et al. (2015) monitored the lake for two months post-spill. They found increases in conductivity and temperature and a persistent, high-turbidity layer below the thermocline. While subsequent monitoring indicated that the turbidity reduced to near background level by the beginning of 2015 (SMA 2016), the full effects of the spill may not yet be apparent or easily identifiable. The government of British Columbia commissioned a report from a panel of experts to determine what caused the failure (IEEIRP 2015). The review found that a breach occurred suddenly in the Perimeter Embankment on the northern flank of the tailings storage facility, as a result of foundation failure. They concluded that the tailings storage-facility design was not appropriate for the site, as it did not properly take into account the underlying geology. The original foundation investigation failed to understand the nature of a layer of weak glacial deposits, composed of silt and clay, which are found about 8 to 10 metres below the ground surface in the vicinity of the Perimeter Embankment. The report also found that the dam was susceptible to failure from overtopping and internal erosion. The panel found that additional inspections of the tailings storage facility would not have identified the foundation problems.

An audit of compliance and enforcement carried out by the Auditor General (OAGBC 2016) noted regulatory failures. It found that the Ministry of Energy and Mines did not ensure that the tailings dam was being built or operated according to the approved design, nor did it ensure that the mining company rectified design and operational deficiencies that were observed during site inspections. Rather, it continued to approve permit amendments to raise the tailings dam. As a result of the findings, the Auditor General recommended that the government of British Columbia create an integrated and independent compliance and enforcement unit for mining activities, with a mandate to ensure the protection of the environment. In May 2017, Amnesty International (2017) published the results of its investigation into the spill. The report documents the impact on the rights of Indigenous peoples to hunt, fish, pick medicines and berries, and engage in cultural practices within their traditional territories in the area damaged by the spill. It makes recommendations to ensure robust monitoring of the medium and long-term impacts of the spill on the environment and peoples’ health. There has not been any government charge against the corporation to date, but multiple lawsuits have been launched. These include, three of the main Indigenous Peoples (First Nations) affected by the spill, MiningWatch Canada, which filed private charges against both the corporation and the government of British Columbia for alleged violations of the Federal Fisheries Act, and the former chief of Xat’sull First Nation, Bev Sellars who filed private charges for 15 counts under the provincial Environmental Management Act (Louie 2017; St’at’imc Chiefs Council 2017; Members of the Tl’esqox 2017; Lapointe 2017). The corporation that owns and operates the Mount Polley mine also launched lawsuits against the mine’s engineers of record, claiming that their flawed mine designs were the cause of the dam breach. The defendant engineering companies have also launched a counterclaim against the plaintiff mining corporation (Imperial Metals Corporation 2017). All of these litigations are still pending.

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Mount Polley mine storage facility failure

C ANADA

On 4 August 2014, the tailings dam breach sent 25 million m 3 of wastewater and tailings into Polley Lake .

Prince Rupert

Prince George

An unknown quantity of overburden scoured into the West Basin of Quesnel Lake . Cooscillating seiches moved West Basin water both westward and eastward, contaminating the Main Basin.

100 km

Fraser River Basin Immediate affected area

Vancouver

Kelowna

Debris from the dam breach created an unstable blockage of Polley Lake. The company that owned the mine, Imperial Metals, installed a pipe to enable lake drainage to the creek.

Polley Lake

Mount Polley mine

Quesnel Lake

Tailings storage facility

The balance of the tailings and water flowed down Hazeltine Creek , which was originally 1.2 metres wide, and got up to 150 metres wide.

Hazeltine Creek

L ÓPEZ , 2017 1km

Sources: Petticrew E. et al, 2015, The impact of a catastrophic mine tailings impoundment spill into one of North America’s largest fjord lakes: Quesnel Lake, British Columbia, Canada, Geophysical Research Letters, 42; Hume M., 2014, Pollutants from Mount Polley breach may have long-term effects: study, The Globe and Mail.

Figure 6. Tailings dam failure at the Mount Polley mine in Canada

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Tailings dam failures An analysis of tailings dam failures over the last three decades, indicates that while the overall number of failures has decreased, the number of serious failures has increased (Bowker and Chambers 2016; Figure 7).

It is widely accepted in the technical and scientific community that good management, with an integrated approach that extends from facility design to closure, plays a significant role in mitigating and reducing the risk of tailings storage-facility failures. However, some external factors may increase the risk of failure. Bowker and Chambers (2015) found a significant correlation between an increase in the severity of tailings storage-facility failures and economic conditions that squeeze cash flow for miners, such as a decrease in commodity prices and an increase in production costs (due to lower grades of ore). The 2001 ICOLD report recommended that a conservative approach should be taken in designing tailings storage facilities. This would take into account the most conservative assumptions about capacity requirements and natural events, such as floods and earthquakes (Bowker and Chambers 2015).

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Known mining accidents Very serious tailings dam failures

Other tailings-related accidents Accidents other than those classified under the first three categories of dam failures. Non-tailings (or unknown type) failure Non-tailings incidents - groundwater, waste rock, etc. Other tailings dam failures Engineering/facility failures other than those classified as very serious or serious, no loss of life.

Multiple loss of life (~20) and/or release of ≥ 1 000 000 m 3 total discharge, and/or travel of 20 km or more.

Serious tailings dam failures

Loss of life and/or release of ≥ 100 000 m 3 semi-solid discharge.

1985-1996

USA

Hopewell Mine, 1994 Payne Creek Mine, 1994 Fort Meade Phosphate, 1994 IMC-Agrico Phosphate, 1994 Fort Meade Phosphate, 1994 Gibsonton, 1993 Brewer Gold Mine, 1990

Soda Lake, 1989 Silver King, 1989 Big Four, 1989 Thompson Creek, 1989 Southern Clay, 1989 Stancil, 1989 Hernando County, 1988

Ajka Alumina Plant, 1991 H UNGARY

C HINA

Huangmeishan, 1986 Longjiaoshan, 1994 Jinduicheng, 1988 Xishimen, 1987

I TALY Prestavel Mine - Stava, 1985

Hernando County, 1988 Rain Starter Dam, 1988 Riverview, 1988 Montcoal No.7, 1987 Montana Tunnels, 1987 Consolidated Coal No.1, 1988

M ONTENEGRO

Kojkovac, 1992

Niujiaolong, 1985

B ULGARIA

C ANADA

P HILIPPINES

Sgurigrad,1996 Maritsa Istok 1, 1992

Iron Dyke, 1991

Marcopper, 1996

Marianna Mine, 1986 Spring Creek Plant, 1986

Matachewan Mines, 1990

Surigao del Norte Placer, 1995 Negros Occidental, 1995 Marcopper, 1993 Itogon-Suyoc, 1993

R USSIA

Mineral King, 1986

Bonsal, 1985 La Belle, 1985 Olinghouse, 1985

Bekovsky, 1987

Quintette, 1985

Tubu, 1992

Surigao Del Norte Placer, 1987

G UYANA

Mankayan, 1986

P ERU

Omai Mine, 1995

Amatista, 1996 Marsa, 1993

Z AMBIA

B OLIVIA

TD 7, 1993

El Porco, 1996

Rossarden, 1986 Middle Arm, 1995 Riltec, 1995 Olympic Dam, 1994 Story’s Creek, 1986

N EW Z EALAND

Merriespruit, 1994 Saaiplaas, 1993 Saaiplaas, 1993

Minera Sera Grande, 1994 Pico de São Luis, 1986 Itabirito, 1986

Cerro Negro, 1985 Veta de Agua, 1985 El Cobre, 1985

Golden Cross, 1995

S OUTH A FRICA

B RAZIL

Marga, 1985

C HILE

A USTRALIA

Figure 7. An indication of the number and location of tailings dam failures since 1985

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