ICOLD – sustainable design and post-closure performance of tailings dams (original) (raw)

2011, Proceedings of the International Conference on Mine Closure

The International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) is a non-governmental international organisation that was established in 1928 as a forum for the exchange of knowledge and experience in dam engineering. This organisation is made up of various subcommittees, one of which is the Committee on Tailings Dams and Waste Lagoons. Formed in 1928, this subcommittee has produced a number of bulletins related to tailings dam design. The next bulletin, "Sustainable Design and Post-Closure Performance of Tailings Dams", will be published in 2011/12 for tailings dam designers intending to achieve sustainable development. Sustainable development in this paper is defined according to the Bruntland Report (UNWCED, 1987): "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". This means that mining projects, including tailings management facilities (TMFs), should be financially viable, technically appropriate, environmentally sound and socially responsible (ICMM, 2008). In order to fulfil that brief, closure of TMFs need to be managed carefully. This new ICOLD Bulletin is intended to be a guide in this process. The Bulletin is compiled into three major sections, with in-depth discussion on the following:  Sustainable closure principles, covering closure objectives, closure design life, the influence of deposition methods, financial principles, regulations and risk management principles.  Sustainable design considerations, covering consequence classification at closure, long term physical stability, ecological and social stability.  Long-term monitoring: covering instrumentation and control after remediation has taken place. This paper sets out some of the guiding principles and details that will be contained in the new ICOLD bulletin.