Design, construction and management of tailings storage facilities for surface disposal in China: case studies of failures

Abstract

Rapid development of China's economy demands for more mineral resources. At the same time, a vast quantity of mine tailings, as the waste byproduct of mining and mineral processing, is being produced in huge proportions. Tailings impoundments play an important role in the practical surface disposal of these large quantities of mining waste. Historically, tailings were relatively small in quantity and had no commercial value, thus little attention was paid to their disposal. The tailings were preferably discharged near the mines and few tailings storage facilities were constructed in mainland China. This situation has significantly changed since 2000, because the Chinese economy is growing rapidly and Chinese regulations and legislation require that tailings disposal systems must be ready before the mining operation begins. Consequently, data up to 2008 shows that more than 12 000 tailings storage facilities have been built in China. This paper reviews the history of tailings disposal in China, discusses three cases of tailings dam failures and explores failure mechanisms, and the procedures commonly used in China for planning, design, construction and management of tailings impoundments. This paper also discusses the current situation, shortcomings and key weaknesses, as well as future development trends for tailings storage facilities in China.

Design, construction, operation and the effect of fines content and permeability on the seismic performance of tailings sand dams in Chile

“…The number of sand dams constructed by other methods -downstream and centerline -and even using other materials, such as rockfill or compacted earth, has grown significantly during the last three to four decades, but in relative terms upstream dams continue to fail most often, especially in highly seismic countries such as Chile and Japan. In China, Wei et al (2013) mention that the majority of tailings dam failures have been upstream dams, which caused 573 fatalities between 1962 and 2008. However, the authors acknowledge the numerous upstream dams in China that have performed satisfactorily, as discussed below.…”

The Stability of Tailings Dams under Dry-Wet Cycles: A Case Study in Luonan, China

“…Instability of tailings dams will result in loss of life and property and serious environmental pollution [5][6][7]. For example, 277 people died from the accident of the dam breaking at the tailings pond in Xiangfen County, China on 8 September 2008 [8].…”

An Evaluation Model for Tailings Storage Facilities Using Improved Neural Networks and Fuzzy Mathematics

“…Then, a new weight (1) ( + 1) is obtained; if (1) ( + 1) is superior to ( + 1), then the learning rate is increased with (14). By analogy, if (2) ( + 1) is still superior to (1) ( + 1), the learning rate will be increased again. If ( ) ( + 1) after + 1 times calculations is not equal to ( −1) ( + 1), then,…”

“…TSFs, as the man-made debris flow source of danger with high potential energy, cause a waste of resources, the loss of life and property, and environmental pollution due to current limited production technology and equipment, as well as safety awareness [2,3]. With the industrial development, the number of TSFs has reached more than 12,000 [4]; therefore, the research on it has academic value but also economic and social benefits.…”

“…Yin et al [4] introduced the stability analysis model of a Chinese TSF; Rico et al [5] presented the urgent need for European regulations regarding technical standards of tailings disposal; Wei et al [2] analyzed the current situation, shortcomings, and key weaknesses, as well as future development trends for tailings storage facilities; Hu and Liu [6] introduced the security monitoring system of a tailings dam. In the case of environmental problems caused by TSFs, Romero et al [7] studied the solidphase control on the mobility of potentially toxic elements in an abandoned lead/zinc mine tailings impoundment.…”