Over the past 5 years there have been several large scale failures with significant environmental damage and financial impacts. Over the longer term, industry has typically seen failures of tailings infrastructures on an average of 2-2.5 per year - this nearly 10x greater a failure rate than conventional water containment facilities. None of this is acceptable, and investors and general society alike are taking a stand.
With the last major tailings dam failure in Brazil, the industry set a new record for fatalities, and caused catastrophic impacts to the downstream environment, drawing significant attention from the global investment community and general society too. Finally, the scale has tipped and more attention is being paid to our waste management practices.
Increased transparency is in demand, global standards are being developed for the management of our infrastructure, and the technical mining community is coming together to look for alternative solutions, pushing for stabler wastes, or waste elimination altogether.
Risks aren’t Managed on Paper
Don’t get us wrong - we are playing an active part of all of these initiatives - commenting on draft standards, and involving ourselves in national and global committees to improve best practices and the resources available to industry. And documented Tailings Management Systems, governance programs, reporting and audits, should be implemented everywhere. But,
Your frontline is your first line of defense - do they know it?
Our focus is working through processes to help tailings management teams review, understand, and assess the levels of risk, so that they can take action and address their weak spots. We’re developing programs to educate operators and management about the complexity of their systems, so that your team members really get it. So they know just how critical their jobs are.
We are also exploring opportunities to shift industry from the modus operandi of managing wastes to innovative value creation. We’d like to see mine wastes assessed for all of their potential mineralogical value, and existing sites and infrastructure evaluated for post-mining alternative uses.
With our past experience founded in tailings and mine waste management, from siting and conceptual design through on-site construction and TSF management to closure planning, we can help your organization take a deeper look at the risks you face, and take action to address them. And if you’re willing to take a step further, to look at the additional value-add opportunities that might be in front of you.
Our COLLABORATIVE Process
We work directly with your teams, engaging them to gain an understanding of the complexity of risks and interdependencies of the system that they are managing, in order to co-develop improved management strategies.
From identifying risks and their links between each other, understanding controls and surveillance requirements, determining roles and responsibilities of appropriate managers and operators, and facilitating the development of operating, maintenance, and surveillance programs, we can help. Give us a call about:
Facilitated Tailings and Critical Infrastructure Portfolio Risk Evaluation Technology
Facilitated Co-development of Improvement Action Plans
Integrated Development & Training, to produce user-friendly Operations, Maintenance & Surveillance Manuals
“We had a project to upgrade our risk assessment tools for all of our critical infrastructure for the company....
This little firm has been instrumental in achieving this objective. ”
Thought Leadership
A Risk Assessment Tool for Tailings Storage Facilities, Chovan et al., Canadian Geotechnical Journal December 2021
TSF Score Cards and Risk Assessments, Behind the Scenes Podcast Interview by Bryan Ulrich
A New Tool in the Tailings Risk Management Arsenal, Chovan, CIM Magazine May 2021
Risk Assessment for Tailings Management, Chovan et al., CIM Journal March 2021
Risk-Based Prioritization of Improvement Plans for Critical Infrastructure, co-authored with Agnico Eagle Mines, published in proceedings for Tailings and Mine Waste Conference, November 2020
A Rational Method of Risk Assessment for Mine Waste Storage Facilities, presented by Michael James, Agnico Eagle Mines, published in proceedings for Planning for Closure Conference, August 2020
A Strategic Risk-Reducing Planning Framework for Industrial Projects, designer & facilitator, EIT Raw Materials Pro-School Virtual Workshop Series 2020
Effective Tailings Stewardship, a contribution to the AusIMM Professional Certificate in Tailings Management, AusIMM 2020
Effective Tailings Stewardship & Risk Management, Mine Your Potential, WIM/WiN-SK Conference 2020
The Systematic Approach to Tailings Management, designer & facilitator, ESRS Virtual Workshop Series, CIM Academy 2020
A TSF Portfolio Risk Evaluation Approach, co-authored with Agnico Eagle Mines, ESRS Virtual Workshop Series, CIM Academy 2020
Using Innovation for More Effective Tailings Management, CIM Canadian Mineral Processors MB/SK Regional Conference 2017
Evaluating the Impact of Technology for Tailings Disposal, Panel Moderator, Mines & Technology Conference Toronto 2017