Here is a link to a paper that I and a fellow author wrote for the conference on tailings and mine waste 2010. This is not the version published in the proceedings. Rather it is an updated version, now made more publically available.
The paper seeks to record some of the many people who contributed to the development of slimes dam practice in South Africa over the past one hundred years. It is a fascinating story that culminates in the grand book by Geoff Blight on the topic of South African tailings practice.
All I ask here is that if you have more information on the history of South African slimes dams, please send it along, and we will continue to collate the information. Thanks.
