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Adams Mine

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Adams Mine is an abandoned open pit iron ore mine located in the Boston Township of the District of Timiskaming , 11 km (6.8 mi) south of Kirkland Lake in the Canadian province of Ontario . It is situated on the Canadian Shield .

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73-563: The iron ore deposit was originally discovered in 1906, however there was little interest in iron ore as a result of the discovery of gold in the Porcupine and Kirkland Lake regions. The site saw renewed interest in the second half of the 1950s and was subsequently developed by the Jones and Laughlin Steel Corp of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania with first production in 1964. The Jones and Laughlin company operated

146-516: A municipal solid waste (MSW) facility on fractured bedrock using hydraulic containment and no landfill liner . Proponents of the landfill plan pointed to its potential for spurring economic development in Kirkland Lake's struggling economy, while opponents pointed to environmental concerns such as the pit's unstable rock walls, which could potentially leach contaminants into the local groundwater supply. The original landfill proposal considering

219-438: A consequence of the processing of phosphate rock for the production of phosphate fertilizers. In addition to being useless and abundant, phosphogypsum is radioactive due to the presence of naturally occurring uranium and thorium , and their daughter isotopes . Depending on the price achievable on the uranium market , extraction of the uranium content may be economically lucrative even absent other incentives, such as reducing

292-428: A great deal of controversy for southern Ontario and Michigan communities which endure the transport of waste through their communities. Critics continue to point out that Toronto's exporting plan avoids forcing the city and region to come to terms with the waste its citizens generate, however there appears to be little political will to reduce consumption and bring about a regional waste management strategy which will avoid

365-596: A line into the Adams Mine facility during its years of operation. The mine is currently owned by an American investor named Vito Gallo, through a number company incorporated in Ontario, and is the subject of a NAFTA Chapter 11 arbitration between Gallo, on behalf of the numbered company, and the Government of Canada. The claim is that the Government of Ontario failed to pay proper compensation when it passed legislation that revoked

438-407: A needs assessment: perceived need, expressed need and relative need. Considered the "father of needs assessment", Roger Kaufman developed a model for determining needs defined as a gap in results. Kaufman argued that an actual need can only be identified independent of a proposed solution. According to Kaufman, to conduct a good-quality needs assessment, determine the current results and articulate

511-447: A pipeline then discharged so as to eventually descend into the depths. Practically, it is not an ideal method, as the close proximity to off-shelf depths is rare. When STD is used, the depth of discharge is often comparatively shallow, and extensive damage to the seafloor can result due to covering by the tailings product. If the density and temperature of the tailings product is not controlled, it may travel long distances, or even float to

584-569: A source of acid drainage , leading to the need for permanent monitoring and treatment of water passing through the tailings dam; the cost of mine cleanup has typically been 10 times that of mining industry estimates when acid drainage was involved. The greatest danger of tailings ponds is dam failure, with the most publicized failure in the U.S. being the failure of a coal slurry dam in the West Virginia Buffalo Creek Flood of 1972, which killed 125 people; other collapses include

657-464: A wide range of methods for recovering economic value, containing or otherwise mitigating the impacts of tailings. However, internationally, these practices are poor, sometimes violating human rights. Tailings are also called mine dumps , culm dumps , slimes , refuse , leach residue , slickens , or terra-cone (terrikon) . The effluent from the tailings from the mining of sulfidic minerals has been described as "the largest environmental liability of

730-433: Is HDPF – High Density Paste Fill. HDPF is a more expensive method of tailings disposal than pond storage, however it has many other benefits – not just environmental but it can significantly increase the stability of underground excavations by providing a means for ground stress to be transmitted across voids – rather than having to pass around them – which can cause mining induced seismic events like that suffered previously at

803-567: Is a growing use of the practice of dewatering tailings using vacuum or pressure filters so the tailings can then be stacked. This saves water which potentially reduces the impacts on the environment in terms of a reduction in the potential seepage rates, space used, leaves the tailings in a dense and stable arrangement and eliminates the long-term liability that ponds leave after mining is finished. However although there are potential merits to dry stacked tailings these systems are often cost prohibitive due to increased capital cost to purchase and install

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876-695: Is a lower potential for seepage. However the cost of the thickening is generally higher than for conventional tailings and the pumping costs for the paste are also normally higher than for conventional tailings as positive displacement pumps are normally required to transport the tailings from the processing plant to the storage area. Paste tailings are used in several locations around the world including Sunrise Dam in Western Australia and Bulyanhulu Gold Mine in Tanzania. Tailings do not have to be stored in ponds or sent as slurries into oceans, rivers or streams. There

949-514: Is an industrial waste generated during the processing of bauxite into alumina using the Bayer process . It is composed of various oxide compounds, including the iron oxides which give its red colour. Over 97% of the alumina produced globally is through the Bayer process; for every tonne (2,200 lb) of alumina produced, approximately 1 to 1.5 tonnes (2,200 to 3,300 lb) of red mud are also produced;

1022-523: Is being invested in finding better methods for safe storage and dealing with it such as waste valorization in order to create useful materials for cement and concrete . Coal refuse (also described as coal waste, rock, slag, coal tailings, waste material, rock bank, culm, boney, or gob ) is the material left over from coal mining, usually as tailings piles or spoil tips . For every tonne of hard coal generated by mining, 400 kg (880 lb) of waste material remains, which includes some lost coal that

1095-445: Is composed of aligned horizontal and vertical processes. The horizontal needs are: Also, it has four vertical factors: Training needs assessment is an inquiry of training needs within an organization. There are three levels of training needs assessment: A community needs assessment can be broadly categorized into three types based on their respective starting points. First, needs assessments which aim to discover weaknesses within

1168-434: Is displaced during mining without being processed. The extraction of minerals from ore can be done two ways: placer mining , which uses water and gravity to concentrate the valuable minerals, or hard rock mining , which pulverizes the rock containing the ore and then relies on chemical reactions to concentrate the sought-after material. In the latter, the extraction of minerals from ore requires comminution , i.e., grinding

1241-417: Is partially economically recoverable. Coal refuse is distinct from the byproducts of burning coal, such as fly ash . Piles of coal refuse can have significant negative environmental consequences, including the leaching of iron, manganese, and aluminum residues into waterways and acid mine drainage . The runoff can create both surface and groundwater contamination. The piles also create a fire hazard, with

1314-421: Is required to identify and address those that are most at risk from a tailings facility or its potential failure." Historically, tailings were disposed of in the most convenient manner, such as in downstream running water or down drains . Because of concerns about these sediments in the water and other issues, tailings ponds came into use. The sustainability challenge in the management of tailings and waste rock

1387-423: Is to dispose of material, such that it is inert or, if not, stable and contained, to minimise water and energy inputs and the surface footprint of wastes and to move toward finding alternate uses. Bounded by impoundments (an impoundment is a dam), these dams typically use "local materials" including the tailings themselves, and may be considered embankment dams . Traditionally, the only option for tailings storage

1460-733: The Beaconsfield Mine Disaster . Usually called RTD – Riverine Tailings Disposal. In most environments, not a particularly environmentally sound practice, it has seen significant utilisation in the past, leading to such spectacular environmental damage as done by the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company in Tasmania to the King River , or the poisoning from the Panguna mine on Bougainville Island , which led to large-scale civil unrest on

1533-799: The Carleton Farms Landfill site in Michigan , since the Keele Valley Landfill , as expected, had reached full capacity. In that fall's municipal elections, Adams Mine supporter Bill Enouy was elected mayor of Kirkland Lake. In 2001, the Harris government attempted to engineer a campaign of opposition among the Western Ontario communities affected by the Michigan deal, which was seeing hundreds of truckloads of garbage passing on Highway 401 daily;

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1606-724: The Ok Tedi environmental disaster in New Guinea , which destroyed the fishery of the Ok Tedi River . On average, worldwide, there is one big accident involving a tailings dam each year. Other disasters caused by tailings dam failures are, the 2000 Baia Mare cyanide spill and the Ajka alumina plant accident . In 2015, the iron ore tailings dam failure at the Germano mine complex in Minas Gerais, Brazil,

1679-466: The Principles for Responsible Investment . Needs assessment A needs assessment is a systematic process for determining and addressing needs , or "gaps", between current conditions, and desired conditions, or "wants". Needs assessments can help improve policy or program decisions, individuals, education, training, organizations, communities, or products. There are three types of need in

1752-490: The Progressive Conservative government of Mike Harris made significant changes to the province's Environmental Assessment Act - this resulted in dropping the requirements for a needs assessment and investigation of alternatives to developing a landfill. Technically, this was irrelevant to the Adams Mine proposal as it had already passed all assessments requested of the project. This gave the provincial government

1825-453: The archaea , bacteria , and the gas released from tailings ponds showed that those were methanogens . As the depth increased, the moles of CH 4 released actually decreased. Siddique (2006, 2007) states that methanogens in the tailings pond live and reproduce by anaerobic degradation, which will lower the molecular weight from naphtha to aliphatic , aromatic hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide and methane. Those archaea and bacteria can degrade

1898-519: The Adams Mine for Toronto 's garbage can be traced to 1989. The following year, the government of Metro Toronto selected the Adams Mine as the preferred site for replacing the Keele Valley Landfill in Vaughan which was rapidly reaching capacity. On 2 April 1991, Ruth Grier , then provincial Minister of the Environment , stated that the provincial government would not allow Toronto to send its garbage to

1971-401: The Adams Mine proposal. This had the effect of permanently killing the 1996 plan. Charlie Angus , a local musician and author, was one of the community leaders who organized the campaign against the Adams Mine proposal. He subsequently ran for political office, and was elected to Parliament in the 2004 federal election . Toronto continued to export its trash to Michigan until 2006, causing

2044-502: The Adams Mine. In 1995, Metro Toronto began a formal assessment, and the project passed all environmental tests and assessments. The project was rejected at the final vote, in December 1996, to extend the Toronto option on the ownership of the mine because of erroneous information presented by Jack Layton in which he cited the cumulative cost of the project rather than the year by year costs. At

2117-605: The Elkview Mine in British Columbia. During extraction of the oil from oil sand, tailings consisting of water, silt, clays and other solvents are also created. This solid will become mature fine tailings by gravity. Foght et al (1985) estimated that there are 10 anaerobic heterotrophs and 10 sulfate-reducing prokaryotes per milliliter in the tailings pond, based on conventional most probable number methods. Foght set up an experiment with two tailings ponds and an analysis of

2190-537: The PET4K Processing Plant has been used in a variety of countries for the past 20 years to remediate contaminated tailings. The UN and business communities developed an international standard for tailings management in 2020 after the critical failure of the Brumadinho dam disaster . The program was convened by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) and

2263-497: The Porgera Gold Mine is focusing on developing a method of combining tailings products with coarse waste rock and waste muds to create a product that can be stored on the surface in generic-looking waste dumps or stockpiles. This would allow the current use of riverine disposal to cease. Considerable work remains to be done. However, co-disposal has been successfully implemented by several designers including AMEC at, for example,

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2336-402: The archaea and bacteria metabolize and release bubbles within the tailings, the pore water can go through the soil easily. Since they accelerate the densification of mature fine tailings, the tailings ponds are enabled to settle the solids more quickly so that the tailings can be reclaimed earlier. Moreover, the water released from the tailings can be used in the procedure of refining oil. Reducing

2409-478: The community and create a solution. Second, needs assessments which are structured around, and seek to address a problem facing the community. Third, needs assessments of an organization which serves the community (domestic violence centers, community health clinics, etc.). Consumer leadership assessment is an assessment of the frequency with which community members use or are likely to use an existing or planned service. Burke (2005) examined statistics that showed

2482-511: The dams, causing environmental disasters , such as the Mount Polley disaster in British Columbia . Because of these and other environmental concerns such as groundwater leakage , toxic emissions and bird death, tailing piles and ponds have received more scrutiny, especially in developed countries, but the first UN-level standard for tailing management was only established 2020. There are

2555-416: The demand of water can also protect the environment from drought. As mining techniques and the price of minerals improve, it is not unusual for tailings to be reprocessed using new methods, or more thoroughly with old methods, to recover additional minerals. Extensive tailings dumps of Kalgoorlie / Boulder in Western Australia were re-processed profitably in the 1990s by KalTails Mining. A machine called

2628-407: The desired results; the distance between results is the actual need. Once a need is identified, then a solution can be selected. Extensive research uses a large number of cases to determine the characteristics of a population, while intensive research examines one or a few cases in depth. Once the group has identified needs, they then generally turn to intensive needs assessment in order to rank

2701-491: The filter systems and the increase in operating costs (generally associated electricity consumption and consumables such as filter cloth) of such systems. While disposal into exhausted open pits is generally a straightforward operation, disposal into underground voids is more complex. A common modern approach is to mix a certain quantity of tailings with waste aggregate and cement, creating a product that can be used to backfill underground voids and stopes . A common term for this

2774-405: The future. Paste tailings is a modification to the conventional methods of disposal of tailings (pond storage). Conventional tailings slurries are composed of a low percent of solids and relatively high water content (normally ranging from 20% to 60% solids for most hard rock mining) and when deposited into the tailings pond the solids and liquids separate. In paste tailings the percent of solids in

2847-412: The global average is 1.23. Annual production of alumina in 2023 was over 142 million tonnes (310 billion pounds) resulting in the generation of approximately 170 million tonnes (370 billion pounds) of red mud. Due to this high level of production and the material's high alkalinity , if not stored properly, it can pose a significant environmental hazard. As a result, significant effort

2920-402: The harm the radioactive heavy metals do to the environment. Bauxite tailings is a waste product generated in the industrial production of aluminium . Making provision for the approximately 70 million tonnes (150 billion pounds) that is produced annually is one of the most significant problems for the aluminium mining industry. Red mud , now more frequently termed bauxite residue,

2993-606: The intent was to force the city of Toronto back into Rail Cycle North's proposal for a landfill using the Adams Mine. The provincial government's campaign included a letter from Michigan Governor John Engler which expressed his state's opposition to accepting Toronto's garbage and explicitly supported the Rail Cycle North proposal, despite the fact that this was perceived as being at odds with Engler's usual positions on waste management. Staffers in Engler's office eventually revealed that

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3066-614: The island, and the eventual permanent closing of the mine. As of 2005, only three mines operated by international companies continued to use river disposal: The Ok Tedi mine , the Grasberg mine and the Porgera mine , all on New Guinea. This method is used in these cases due to seismic activity and landslide dangers which make other disposal methods impractical and dangerous. Commonly referred to as STD (Submarine Tailings Disposal) or DSTD (Deep Sea Tailings Disposal). Tailings can be conveyed using

3139-538: The large exposed surface area of the minerals. The fraction of tailings to ore can range from 90 to 98% for some copper ores to 20–50% of the other (less valuable) minerals. The rejected minerals and rocks liberated through mining and processing have the potential to damage the environment by releasing toxic metals (arsenic and mercury being two major culprits), by acid drainage (usually by microbial action on sulfide ores), or by damaging aquatic wildlife that rely on clear water (vs suspensions). Tailings ponds can also be

3212-631: The letter had been written at Premier Harris' request. From 2001 to 2003, Notre Development and the Rail Cycle North consortium continued to pursue avenues to revive the landfill proposal. In 2003, the Ontario Liberal Party , led by Dalton McGuinty , won the provincial election and on April 5, 2004, provincial Minister of Natural Resources David Ramsay and Minister of the Environment Leona Dombrowsky introduced legislation which revoked all certificates and permits related to

3285-570: The mine until 1971 when it was sold to Dofasco Steel of Hamilton Ontario. The mine was operated in tandem with the Dofasco owned Sherman Mine. The mine closed in 1990 when the economically retrievable ore reserves were exhausted. The closure also made the Sherman Mine uneconomic and it was also closed. The closure of the two mines in the Timiskaming District along with the resultant job losses left

3358-471: The mining industry". These tailings contain large amounts of pyrite (FeS 2 ) and Iron(II) sulfide (FeS), which are rejected from the sought-after ores of copper and nickel, as well as coal. Although harmless underground, these minerals are reactive toward air in the presence of microorganisms, which if not properly managed lead to acid mine drainage . Between 100 million and 280 million tons of phosphogypsum waste are estimated to be produced annually as

3431-439: The naphtha, which was considered as waste during the procedure of refining oil. Both of those degraded products are useful. Aliphatic, aromatic hydrocarbons and methane can be used as fuel in the humans' daily lives. In other words, these methanogens improve the coefficient of utilization. Moreover, these methanogens change the structure of the tailings pond and help the pore water efflux to be reused for processing oil sands. Because

3504-399: The natural topographical depression in the ground. Large earthen dams may be constructed and then filled with the tailings. Exhausted open pit mines may be refilled with tailings. In all instances, due consideration must be made to contamination of the underlying water table, amongst other issues. Dewatering is an important part of pond storage, as the tailings are added to the storage facility

3577-438: The necessity to export to distant landfills. The shipping of garbage to Michigan briefly became an issue in the 2004 United States presidential election when John Kerry , on a campaign stop in Michigan, promised to ban the import of Canadian garbage if he was elected. In September, 2005, the Michigan state legislature voted almost unanimously against accepting Toronto's garbage. During Toronto City Council deliberations over

3650-402: The needs. This part of the research is concerned with examining the depth of the need, and potentially required resources. A needs chain model is a framework that allows organizations to simultaneously consider the individuals' needs within an organization, and the organization's needs, in order to prioritise resources and identify areas of improvement for the organization. A needs chain model

3723-632: The ore into fine particles to facilitate extraction of the target element(s). Because of this comminution, tailings consist of a slurry of fine particles, ranging from the size of a grain of sand to a few micrometres. Mine tailings are usually produced from the mill in slurry form, which is a mixture of fine mineral particles and water. Tailings are likely to be dangerous sources of toxic chemicals such as heavy metals , sulfides and radioactive content. These chemicals are especially dangerous when stored in water in ponds behind tailings dams . These ponds are also vulnerable to major breaches or leaks from

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3796-482: The permits that it had previously granted for the site to be operated as a landfill. Before the mine had shut production in the early 1990s, waste management planners from the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto were examining its potential for a massive landfill , with waste to be shipped north in sealed intermodal shipping containers by CN and Ontario Northland on a 700 km (430 mi) route. It would be

3869-449: The pits sustained numerous blasts daily, which some geologists claim have added to natural faults in the rocks. Other geologists and hydrogeologists have claimed that the site is well-situated for hydraulic containment (i.e. water flows in, but doesn't leach into surrounding groundwater or surface water systems). There are significant tailings left from the manufacture of ore concentrate at the site. The Ontario Northland Railway operated

3942-513: The plant's roots can prevent water erosion, immobilise metals by adsorption or accumulation, and provide a zone around the roots where the metals can precipitate and stabilise. Pollutants become less bioavailable and livestock, wildlife, and human exposure is reduced. This approach can be especially useful in dry environments, which are subject to wind and water dispersion. Considerable effort and research continues to be made into discovering and refining better methods of tailings disposal. Research at

4015-442: The potential to spontaneously ignite. Because most coal refuse harbors toxic components, it is not easily reclaimed by replanting with plants like beach grasses. Early mining operations often did not take adequate steps to make tailings areas environmentally safe after closure. Modern mines, particularly those in jurisdictions with well-developed mining regulations and those operated by responsible mining companies, often include

4088-414: The region in economic hardship from which it has never fully recovered. Perched at one of the highest elevation points in the region, the mine stretched over 4,000 acres (16 km) and had six pits, the largest measuring over 1.6 km (0.99 mi) in length and the deepest being 183 m (600 ft), placing it below the water table; it is currently half filled with water. Over 27 years of mining,

4161-537: The rehabilitation and proper closure of tailings areas in their costs and activities. For example, the Province of Quebec , Canada, requires not only the submission of a closure plan before the start of mining activity, but also the deposit of a financial guarantee equal to 100% of the estimated rehabilitation costs. Tailings dams are often the most significant environmental liability for a mining project. Mine tailings may have economic value in carbon sequestration due to

4234-437: The same time, opponents focused on lobbying the recently amalgamated city of Toronto to not accept the Rail Cycle North proposal. On August 3, 2000, Toronto City Council voted to approve the plan to transport the city's waste to Adams Mine. However, due to the volume of community opposition, council reviewed the issue and voted the proposal down that October. Toronto subsequently pursued a proposal to have its garbage shipped to

4307-505: The same vote, the Chair, Alan Tonks also changed his position from support of the project to voting against. The final vote was 19–13 against the proposal to extend Toronto's option to use the site. This vote eventually led to Toronto shipping garbage to the US. In 1996, the mine's owner, Notre Development, announced plans to revive the Adams Mine proposal through the private sector. Later the same year,

4380-399: The slurry produced from tar sands mining. Tailings are sometimes mixed with other materials such as bentonite to form a thicker slurry that slows the release of impacted water to the environment. There are many different subsets of this method, including valley impoundments, ring dikes, in-pit impoundments, and specially dug pits. The most common is the valley pond, which takes advantage of

4453-469: The sole authority to impose time and service limits on environmental assessments. Investors involved in Notre Development included North Bay businessman Gord McGuinty. Peter Minogue, Harris' best friend whose wife was Harris' local campaign manager, is often mentioned as being involved with Notre but there is no evidence that he ever was. Notre Development's 1996 proposal involved a consortium that

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4526-441: The surface. This method is used by the gold mine on Lihir Island ; its waste disposal has been viewed by environmentalists as highly damaging, while the owners claim that it is not harmful. Phytostabilisation is a form of phytoremediation that uses hyperaccumulator plants for long-term stabilisation and containment of tailings, by sequestering pollutants in soil near the roots. The plant's presence can reduce wind erosion, or

4599-514: The surrounding environment. The removal of water not only can create a better storage system in some cases (e.g. dry stacking, see below) but can also assist in water recovery which is a major issue as many mines are in arid regions. In a 1994 description of tailings impoundments, however, the U.S. EPA stated that dewatering methods may be prohibitively expensive except in special circumstances. Subaqueous storage of tailings has also been used. Tailing ponds are areas of refused mining tailings where

4672-425: The tailings slurry is increased through the use of paste thickeners to produce a product where the minimal separation of water and solids occurs and the material is deposited into a storage area as a paste (with a consistency somewhat like toothpaste). Paste tailings has the advantage that more water is recycled in the processing plant and therefore the process is more water efficient than conventional tailings and there

4745-415: The toxic chemicals could be potentially hazardous to human health; however, it is also harmful to the environment. Tailing ponds are often somewhat dangerous because they attract wildlife such as waterfowl or caribou as they appear to be a natural pond, but they can be highly toxic and harmful to the health of these animals. Tailings ponds are used to store the waste made from separating minerals from rocks, or

4818-497: The waste site proposal, then-councillors Jack Layton and Olivia Chow surprised their council colleagues by playing The Simpsons 200th episode, " Trash of the Titans ", in which the comically inept Homer Simpson becomes sanitation commissioner of Springfield and ends up shoving trash from his own and many other communities into a mine, to deleterious effect. "It was absolutely stunning," Layton later told The Globe and Mail . "It

4891-400: The water is removed – usually by draining into decant tower structures. The water removed can thus be reused in the processing cycle. Once a storage facility is filled and completed, the surface can be covered with topsoil and revegetation commenced. However, unless a non-permeable capping method is used, water that infiltrates into the storage facility will have to be continually pumped out into

4964-449: The waterborne refuse material is pumped into a pond to allow the sedimentation (meaning separation) of solids from the water. The pond is generally impounded with a dam, and known as tailings impoundments or tailings dams. It was estimated in 2000 that there were about 3,500 active tailings impoundments in the world. The ponded water is of some benefit as it minimizes fine tailings from being transported by wind into populated areas where

5037-606: Was expressed in the hearings, but on June 19, 1998, the EAB approved the project. The opponents filed an appeal with the provincial cabinet , which was subsequently rejected that August. An appeal was then filed for a judicial review. In July 1999, that appeal was rejected by the Divisional Court of Ontario and was similarly rejected by the Court of Appeal for Ontario in October of that year. At

5110-412: Was known as "Rail Cycle North"; this included the mine's owner, Notre Development, along with waste management companies Canadian Waste Services and Miller Waste Services , and Ontario Northland Railway and CN . On December 16, 1997, the provincial Ministry of the Environment permitted only a limited Environmental Assessment Board hearing on the site's hydraulic containment system. Heavy opposition

5183-465: Was so accurate to what was going on." 48°04′01″N 79°54′58″W  /  48.067°N 79.916°W  / 48.067; -79.916 Tailings In mining , tailings or tails are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction ( gangue ) of an ore . Tailings are different from overburden , which is the waste rock or other material that overlies an ore or mineral body and

5256-580: Was the country's biggest environmental disaster. The dam breach caused the death of 19 people due to flooding of tailings slime downstream and affected some 400 km of the Doce river system with toxic effluence and out into the Atlantic Ocean. Tailings deposits tend to be located in rural areas or near marginalized communities, such as indigenous communities . The Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management recommends that "a human rights due diligence process

5329-525: Was to contain the tailings slurry with locally available earthen materials. This slurry is a dilute stream of the tailings solids within water that was sent to the tailings storage area. The modern tailings designer has a range of tailings products to choose from depending upon how much water is removed from the slurry prior to discharge. It is increasingly common for tailings storage facilities to require special barriers like Bituminous Geomembranes (BGMs) to contain liquid tailings slurries and prevent impact to

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