9/1/2018 Options for Management and Closure of Tailings Storage Facilities - EMJ

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Options for Management and Closure of Tailings Storage Facilities

 Published: Wednesday, 10 March 2010 14:55
 Written by E&MJ News

13

The disposal of tailings is a major concern for the mining industry.

By Jodie Pritchard, Trina Jensen and David Welsh

The disposal of tailings is a major concern for the mining industry. Processing ore produces a waste st
tailings, often discharged as a slurry to a final storage area known as a Tailings Storage Facility (TSF). In
times, the growing emphasis on ensuring sustainable outcomes from mining has resulted in the need
develop mine closure plans which consider how the TSF will be decommissioned and closed after mi
ceases.

The objectives of mine closure planning usually involves some combination of making the site safe an
stable and reusable while ensuring the mine closure has no adverse environmental, social or econom
impacts.

However the closure challenge around the TSF can be complex because: they occupy significant area
tailings must be covered; there is potential for seepage that will affect groundwater water quality dow
of the TSF; there is a potential for dust to be a nuisance and health risk; rehabilitation is prohibitively ex
especially if cash-flow is limited; and there is a limited evidence of successful cost-effective closure
strategies.

The last point is particularly important since without effective closure strategies a “ticking time bomb”
potential to pollute ground and surface water for decades can result.

Effective Tailings Storage Facilities

Most TSFs around the world are approved by regulatory authorities to be designed, operated,
decommissioned and closed in compliance with the conditions of approvals and/or legislative require
for tailings dams and mine closure. Closure objectives for a TSF usually require some combination of
compliance and commitment toward an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) submitted as part of th
approvals process.

The World Bank Group considers tailings as one of the key areas for governments to regulate to prote
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vulnerable communities and the environment. Demonstrating leadership in this regard they require all
projects they support to have a mine closure plan to cover not just closure but also restoration.

Other drivers for consideration include:

•    Geotechnical conditions of approvals issued in most jurisdic-tions of the world usually require no ev
of instability on the upstream and downstream TSF embankment slopes and near embankment toe, n
surface subsidence, cracking and slumping of tailings materials near the TSF embankment.
•    Conditions relating to decommissioning and closure usually seek to ensure that all plant buildings a
equipment are removed and that mineralogical analysis are undertaken to characterize tailings and co
material and identify the presence and nature of potentially acid-producing sulphides, construction is
and stable and any liquids remaining in tailings ponds are treated prior to discharge or evaporation.
•    The EIS will commit operators to make the TSF safe, stable and non-polluting—however often the
means of achieving these aims is not specified in any great detail.

Tailings Management and Closure

It is generally agreed the planning for the TSF and the mine plan must be aligned so the most cost-eff
solution for closure can be developed. The design and operation of a TSF can be optimized to reduce
and risks, and optimize operation.

Consider, for example:

Reducing costs and risks
•    Geochemical characterization of the tailings;
•    Selection of the optimal tailings disposal method;
•    Containment of tailings and design, and construction of tailings containment wall;
•    Seepage control;
•    Tailings delivery;
•    Water management;
•    Dust control; and
•    Planning for eventual decommissioning, rehabilitation and clo-sure of the facility.

Operation optimization through design

•    Immobilizing the deposited tailings;
•    Reducing a capillary action;
•    Controlling infiltration;
•    Enhancing runoff;
•    Diverting uncontaminated surface water;
•    Controlling erosion; and
•    Ensuring a stable cover at closure.

Research and trials are essential for achieving the required closure objectives in a cost-effective and t
manner. Trials of each design option should be carried out including testing of closure engineering co
and evaluating cover design for at least three years. In particular, the occurrence of extreme rainfall or
than average wet years, can provide opportunities for rigorous testing of the design.

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9/1/2018 Options for Management and Closure of Tailings Storage Facilities - EMJ

Groundwater Remediation
Current “best practice” approaches for dealing with groundwater contaminant plumes emanating from
fall within three broad categories:

Containment of contaminant without treatment

•    Natural attenuation involving assessment of geochemistry;
•    Hydraulic containment: whereby the migration of containment plumes are contained by strategical
pumping groundwater from or into a series of wells; and
•    Physical barriers: slurry walls or grout curtains to prevent or slow groundwater.

Contaminant removal by groundwater extraction

•    Pumping: combining groundwater/contaminant removal from a series of extraction points – to crea
depression in the water table to expand the area of influence; and
•    Groundwater interception trench: involving a trench backfilled with permeable gravel with a central
collection sump or series of extraction points.

In-situ groundwater treatment methods

•    Permeable reactive barrier wall involving a permeable unit across the flow path of the contaminant
•    Ring injection: whereby a reactive material is injected into wells installed in a ring around the contam
plume;
•    In-situ bio-remediation to encourage growth and reproduction of indigenous micro-organisms; and
•    Phyto-remediation employing plants to improve water quality.

Some innovative approaches to consider might include: electro-kinetic techniques for immobilizing me
such processes may be used to desorb and then remove metals; new advances in geochemical techn
may result in the possibility of promoting in-situ precipitation of metal sulphates by injection of an elec
donor; and mine groundwater contaminants using the groundwater contaminant or products of groun
remediation as a resource. This has been attempted with some success in making bricks from tailings
provides a mechanism for potentially recovering some costs.

Whichever options are implemented, ongoing monitoring, evaluation and management plans will be r
to ensure effectiveness and persistence of remedial technology.

A Roadmap for Action

Selecting the best option for the management and closure of large tailings facilities is the key to succe
sustainable outcomes.

Some practical considerations that may guide operators to a solution include:

•    Consider the public commitments made at the EIS approvals stage, and in public sustainability repo
relation to returning the TSF to a productive or other acceptable post-mining land use and also to mak
TSF safe, stable and non-polluting at mine closure. What are the costs and benefits of achieving these
outcomes—environmental, social and economic? What are the risks and how might they be overcome

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9/1/2018 Options for Management and Closure of Tailings Storage Facilities - EMJ

sufficient to simply aim for compliance? Has the operator indicated (in sus-tainability reports for examp
a beyond-compliance approach is needed in order to achieve stakeholder satisfaction with the outcom
thereby maintain the reputation of the operator and enhance the likelihood of future access to land?
•    Consider the current legislation, regulation and guidelines appli-cable to your site, and also the spe
conditions of approvals relating to the TSF. What are your legal requirements in relation to the closure
TSF? Is it feasible to achieve the legal requirements? If not, why not? What are the risks of non-com-p
legally and to the reputation of the operator? What can be done to achieve and/or maintain complian
to go beyond compliance? What are the costs and benefits? What are the alternative actions?
•    Consider the operations of the mine, processing plant, tailings deposition and/or containment meth
What could be done now to change these in ways that may make the closure more cost-effective? W
the costs and benefits of alternative methods—environmental, social and economic? What are the risk
how might they be overcome?
•    Consider the alternative methods presented herein for tailings management and closure (and also
groundwater remediation if pollution may be occurring). Which options could be applied at your site? W
are the costs and benefits of the options— environmental, social and economic?
•    Consider site trials. Is it possible to set aside an area of the TSF to conduct trials of the preferred op
with monitoring to pro-vide high confidence in the technical results?  If no trials are possible, what is th
to demonstrate that effective closure of the TSF can occur, with a high probability that a ‘sign-off’ by b
regulatory authorities and communities in the vicinity of the TSF will be achieved? What are the
environmental, social and economic risks of not taking any action soon?

Author Information
Jodie Pritchard is a hydrogeologist for SKM Consulting based in Adelaide, Australia; Trina Jensen is a s
environmental scientist for SKM Consulting based in Brisbane, Australia; and David Welsh, from SKM
Minmetal, is a water and environment operations center manager based in Santiago, Chile. This article
based on a paper they presented at the international forum, enviromine2009, which was held in Santia
Chile.

Bibliography
•    Australian Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources. (2007). Tailings Management—Leading
Sustainable Development Program for the Mining Industry. Department of Industry, Tourism and Reso
pp. 28-45.
•    Hedin, R. S. (2003). Recovery of marketable iron oxide from mine drainage in the USA. Land Contam
and Re-clamation. 11, pp. 93–97.
•    Lynch, R. J., Muntoni, A., Ruggeri, R., and Winfield, K C. (2007). Preliminary tests of an electrokinetic b
prevent heavy metal pollution of soils. Electrochimica Acta. 52: pp. 3432-3440.
•    Ministerial Council on Mineral and Petroleum Resources and Minerals Council of Australia. (2003).  S
Framework for Tailings Management. National Capital Printing, Canberra. p. 16.
•    Morchhale, R. K., Ramakrishan, N., and Dindorkar, N. (2006). Bulk utilisation of copper mine tailings in
production of bricks. IE(I) Journal. 87. pp. 13 – 16.
•    Sauer, H., Williams, T. and Duvall, E. (2002). Revegetation of Nine Square Miles of Copper Tailings.
Reclamation NAAMLP Annual Conference. Utah. pp. 1-18.
•    Williams, D. J. (2005). Placing Covers on Soft Tailings. Ground Improvement – Case Histories, Indrara

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9/1/2018 Options for Management and Closure of Tailings Storage Facilities - EMJ

and Chu, J. (eds). Elsevier, pp 491-512.

•    World Bank Group. (1998). Base Metal and Iron Ore Mining.  Pollution Prevention and Abatement
Handbook. World Bank Group. Environment Department Washington, DC. pp. 267-271.

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