Developing an operation, maintenance and surveillance manual for the post-closure management of tailings facilities

Abstract

Mining companies have become increasingly focused on developing environmentally responsible decommissioning and closure techniques of tailings facilities to work towards more sustainable mining practices. With the help of the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) guidelines, the development and implementation of functional and manageable Operation, Maintenance and Surveillance (OMS) manuals for operating tailings facilities have become commonplace. As more tailings facilities are decommissioned and closed, and the expectations of regulators and society continue to grow, the need for further guidance through the application of similar documentation for the management of the post-closure facility also increases. This paper highlights the importance of developing a post-closure OMS manual for the management of closed tailings facilities (and other mining landforms), by way of a post-closure OMS guidebook. It describes initial ideas in the development of post-closure OMS manuals and provides some reasoning, structure and contents for a post-closure OMS manual. It would be encouraged that tailings facility reclamation personnel utilise a universal post-closure OMS guidebook to prepare a site-specific post-closure OMS manual. This paper references a range of sources and first hand experiences by the authors.

Developing an operation, maintenance and surveillance manual for the post-closure management of tailings facilities

“…This paper describes initial ideas in the development of post-closure OMS manuals as well as provides some reasoning, structure and contents for a post-closure OMS manual. The ideas and contents discussed in this paper have been more broadly developed in Crossley (2011). Some of the authors of this paper worked on a tailings closure project where some of the initial ideas for the OMS manual approach were identified and developed.…”