Using Geomembrane Liners to Reduce Seepage through the Base of Tailings Ponds—A Review and a Framework for Design Guidelines

Abstract

Geomembranes are used worldwide as basin liners in tailings ponds to decrease the permeability of the foundation and prevent further transportation of harmful contaminants and contaminated water. However, leakage into the environment and damage to the geomembrane have been reported. This paper reviews available literature and recommendations on geomembrane structures for use as a basal liner in tailings ponds, and presents a framework to achieve early involvement and an integrated approach to geomembrane structure design. Cohesive planning guidelines or legislative directions for such structures are currently lacking in many countries, which often means that the structure guidelines for groundwater protection or landfill are applied when designing tailings storage facilities (TSF). Basin structure is generally unique to each mine but, based on the literature, in the majority of cases the structure has a single-composite liner. The type of liner system used depends mainly on the material to be used on top of the structure, local hydraulic pressure gradient, and climate conditions. More practical information and scientific knowledge on the use of base liners in various cases are needed. A sustainable approach could be risk-based design, where the life cycle of the basin is taken into consideration. To this end, this paper proposes geomembrane-lined tailings pond to be assessed as a stakeholder. Emphasis on this, early enough, can ensure critical factors for tailings ponds to be considered from the outset in the design of mines and reduces the environmental footprint of the mining industry. More holistic project management and early involvement and integration are recommended to improve construction quality during the entire life cycle of the pond. In the long term, use of dry stacking or other alternative methods should be encouraged, despite the higher costs for operators.

Micro-structure and morphology of tailings sand under different oxidation and acidification degree

“…It can be seen from the above formula that the final products of pyrite oxidized by H 2 O 2 in acidic solution are also Fe 3+ and SO 4 2− , which are consistent with the oxidation products under natural conditions. In order to simulate the oxidation process of tailings in natural environment under laboratory conditions, hydrogen peroxide with density of 1.11 g/mol and mass fraction of 30%, concentrated sulfuric acid with density of 1.84 g/mol and mass fraction of 98% are selected to perform soaking tests on the tailings with different degrees of oxidation.…”

“…A large number of tailings and industrial waste residues produced by mineral resources mining are stored in tailings pond except for a small part of construction materials [1][2][3][4][5][6] . Therefore, as a major mining producer, China has built tens of thousands of tailings ponds.…”

Amending mine tailing cover with compost and biochar: effects on vegetation establishment and metal bioaccumulation in the Finnish subarctic

“…Previously, the covering methodology consisted mainly of local till soil. Nowadays, the covering is planned for the local circumstances and depending on tailing properties and may consist for example of barrier layer (e.g., geomembrane), till soil, and vegetation layer (Heikkinen et al 2008 ; Tuomela et al 2021 ).…”

Past, Present, and Future of Copper Mine Tailings Governance in Chile (1905–2022): A Review in One of the Leading Mining Countries in the World

“…Conventional TSFs have dams built of cycloned tailings sands (coarse fraction of tailings obtained using hydrocyclones) or have slightly thickened tailings deposits with dams built of borrow material. Conventional tailing dams may have water recoveries as high as a 55–70% range in very well-operated TSFs, which means they have appropriate tailings distributions, good control of the pond (volume and location), and adequate seepage recovery [ 8 , 49 ]. In conventional dams, water decanting at the settling pond is recovered by floating pumps or decant towers, and dam seepage is collected by a drainage system and cutoff trench systems.…”