Industry Insights: Tailings in Transformation
Safety takes center stage
“We started working with mining operators after Brumadinho and found that many tailings dams were not being monitored using the latest technologies. The regulatory requirements for monitoring tailings dams were old-fashioned and lacking in high technology.”
Eduardo Yassuda, President South America, Tetra Tech
“We observe that all our mining clients are very advanced and focused on ESG compared to other industries. We are working with them to advance their ESG agenda on several fronts, including waste management and tailings dam studies.”
Cláudio Maia, CEO, Tractebel Latin America
“The safety of tailings dams is a priority for the industry in Brazil today. We worked with Hydro on a study to expand the pumping and storage capacity of their dams because one of them overflowed during the raining season.”
Eugenio Singer, General Manager, Ramboll
“Challenges to the safety of tailings structures is strongly related to the presence of water in tailings dams, as tailings with high water content have the largest damage potential in the case of failure. Fifteen years ago, we started to work with dry stack tailings, compacting these tailings and making a safer structure. They are safer because they have more stability and lower consequences because if they fail, they do not slide the way dams do.”
Joaquim Pimenta de Ávila, CEO, Pimenta de Ávila Consultoria
