I THINK MINING

The picture above is of the Black Swan causing havoc.  I once wrote a paper that claimed the Black Swan causes tailings failures.  The EPA picked the paper up and used it in their report on the Pebble Mine and Bristol Bay to conclude that tailings dams fail.  So here as an act of contrition are three reports on recent and upcoming tailings activities aimed at killing the Black Swan.

Incidently, I see that Nassim Taleb, the fellow who first brought the Black Swan to my attention has just published another book called Antifragile.  I bought it yesterday and have just started.  Here is a link to a critic who find him and his ideas pompous and maddening.  Still worth reading though. 

First:   I receive the many requests to promote events.  Most I ignore–I cannot promote them all.  Yet on a quiet Monday, it seem just kind to react to a request that reads as follows:

I am a member of the communication team at MWH focused on the Energy and Industry sector.   Tatyana Alexieva is leading  a workshop on Tailing Storage Facility  design at the upcoming USSD conference.  The workshop will include a site visit to Old Dominion, and will be held February 14-15th.   For more information on the workshop I have attached the complete agenda.   Tatyana  requested I reach out to you for assistance in promoting this Workshop.  She mentioned a previous advertising support with a Dambreak Workshop in 2011.   If you have any questions please feel free to call me anytime.   Looking forward to working with you.   Best,  Nicole

This seem like a worthy event.  Here is the agenda:

I post this because it seems good to promote better mine tailings practice.  Here is another event worth considering if tailings is your thing:

On Thursday, February 28, 2013, come join us at the Dewatering in Minerals Applications, Tailings and Concentrates Seminar at the Hilton Garden Inn Denver Downtown, hosted by FLSmidth.   You’ll benefit from participating with industry, product, and technical specialists as they discuss the latest advancements in Tailings Management Solutions.

Then this rather amazing report from South Africa.  I cannot believe we need another set of best practice guideline; there are already so many fine ones out there.  Apart from which, I submit it is impossible to write one guideline that covers all types of tailings and places they are built.  Let us conclude only that hope springs eternal in the human breast.

The establishment of an international best-practices guide for the
design and operation of mine tailings dams to prevent economic,
environmental and human damage arising from dam failures has been
proposed by a leading South African authority on the subject.

Rob Williamson, a local civil engineer who is chairperson of the
tailings dam committee of the International Commission on Large
Dams (Icold), has also raised the issue as to whether the mining
industry should be subjected to the same international scrutiny for
tailings dams as that applying to water dams, as proposed by the
World Commission on Water Dams.

Williamson poses the question of “Why do dam failures keep
occurring?, concluding that there is a wide disparity in the design
and operational standards for tailings dams adopted by various
countries.

This applies equally to the regulations applying in different
countries – if these exist at all.  In some cases, failure may have occurred through the design or
construction having been undertaken by persons or organisations,
which do not have the necessary expertise or experience.

Education and training, risk management, attention to regulatory
process and the importance of independent audits needed close
attention, Williamson urged.  A key factor feature emerging from current tailings dams research
is the need for greater corporate understanding of cost benefit relationships, he said.

“The traditional view has been that a tailings dam is a cost
to the operation which has no financial return, and therefore that
expenditure should be kept to an absolute minimum.

“There is now, however, a growing appreciation that this is
erroneous thinking, since the cost of failure or remedial measures
to correct unsafe conditions can easily exceed the cost of any
savings in capital or operating costs by orders of magnitude.

“In fact, a tailings dam failure can bankrupt or close a mine
totally”.

The engineer added that the conclusion arising from these
observations is that an international best practices guide for the
design and operation of tailings dams would be a major step forward
in reducing tailings dams failures. At the same time, Williamson
noted that many major mining companies working in developing
countries are applying accepted international standards on their
own initiative.

He referred to international debate over the sometimes
controversial recommendations of the World Commission on Dams (WCD)
in 2001, which put strong emphasis on sustainable development, the
protection of human rights and the environment as overriding
factors in any new water dam development.

“Tailings dams are often developed on private mining or
industrial property,” he said.

“Many countries have regulations requiring the preparation of
environmental impact studies and assessments. However, this is not
universal and the people and environment in many countries suffer
as a result.

Even those countries where regulations are in force suffer from the
inevitable impact of mining or industrial development.

“There is always a delicate line to be drawn between
industrial progress, sustainable development, the rights of people
and protection of the environment.

The WCD report highlighted shortcomings in these respects in the
water dam context”.