Quote from main page: A Guide to the Management of Tailings Facilities (the Tailings Guide) is designed to be applied by MAC members and non-MAC members alike, anywhere in the world. The Tailings Guide, first released in 1998, provides guidance on responsible tailings management, helps companies develop and implement site-specific tailings management systems, and improves consistency of application of engineering and management principles to tailings management.
quote from main page: Developing an Operation, Maintenance and Surveillance Manual for Tailings and Water Management Facilities (the OMS Guide) provides guidance on the development and implementation of OMS manuals. The development and implementation of operation, maintenance, and surveillance (OMS) activities, described in a site-specific OMS manual, is essential to implementing a tailings management plan, meeting performance objectives and managing risk. Companies that do not effectively implement OMS activities cannot adequately understand their risks, proactively manage tailings, make informed decisions about tailings management, or have any assurance that tailings and associated risks are being effectively managed.
A good dam surveillance program is the foundation of an overall tailings dam safety program. Tailings dams are dynamic and continually evolving structures, under construction on a regular, and often near-continuous, basis, and have a closure phase that lasts "forever". This is in contrast to conventional, water-retaining dams, which are built in a single stage at the onset of the project, have a finite operating life and are not required to last "forever". Tailings dams also can undergo environmental as well as physical failure, unlike conventional water-retaining dams that can only undergo physical failure. Accordingly, requirements for tailings dam surveillance, contrary to common perception, can be and frequently are more stringent, requiring frequent review and modification, than is the case for conventional waterretaining dams of equivalent hazard rating. Case history experience has repeatedly demonstrated that a great many tailings dam failure modes give warning signs that, if properly monitored and interpreted, give advance warning of problems, affording the opportunity to take preventative measures. Such a program involves much more than simply specification of instrumentation, reading those instruments, and filing of data reports. It requires understanding and management of risk, commitment, adequate resources and support, awareness, interpretive imagination, and clarity of communication among all responsible parties.
The criticality of effective stewardship of tailings facilities has recently gained increasing recognition and triggered much effort on the part of the many mining companies across the world. The world of mining, and in particular the mine waste management practice area, is changing dramatically after the recent tragic events following the tailings dam failure in Brazil in January 2019. Investors, communities, shareholders, nongovernmental organisations, regulators and insurance companies are looking to the tailings storage facilities and their management through a completely different lens; one that focuses on the need for implementing best available practices (BAP), best applicable technologies (BAT), and how the zero repeats commitment of the mining industry will be achieved. This presentation outlines Anglo Americans approach to building a world-class tailings storage facilities practice, which includes a number of key must-have ingredients: A solid and strict governance framework for the oversight of a large portfolio of tailings and water dams in a global environment, where stringent minimum technical standards are implemented with non-negotiable requirements. The need for people with the right set of skills, competencies, and technical knowledge, but also the mindset on safety and the do the right thing approach that needs to be part of their DNA. The critical controls definition and implementation to ensure each facility is planned, built and managed safely to design requirements, minimising the presence of the surprise effect, and in particular the minimisation of the human error element factor. Pushing the boundaries of technology and innovation in tailings production, deposition, and management of such facilities. From minimising the tailings production, to high tech near real-time monitoring instrumentation and surveillance technologies, all are key ingredients in building a global success story. Implementing the Anglo American dam safety management program at a global level does not come without challenges. The presentation will discuss the strategy and share some of the success stories, as well as lessons learned along the Anglo American journey since 2014, when the company transformed its internal technical requirements, raising the bar to a whole new level.
The Towards Sustainable Mining Tailings Management Protocol, first released in 2004 and revised in 2011, is used to measure tailings management performance, with five performance indicators focused on: Having a corporate tailings management policy and commitment, Developing and implementing site-specific tailings management systems and emergency preparedness measures, Assigning accountability and responsibility for tailings management, Conducting annual tailings management reviews, Developing and implementing site-specific OMS manuals
LandsatLook is a tool that allows rapid online viewing and access to the USGS Landsat Collection 2 data. LandsatLook leverages resources available via a commercial cloud environment including Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF (COG) and Spatio Temporal Asset Catalog (STAC) metadata.