Knowra Mine tailings Mine tailings Mine tailings are finely ground waste materials left after valuable minerals are separated from mined ore. They may contain residual metals, processing chemicals, and sulfide minerals that can generate acidic drainage.
Mineral processing : The physical and chemical processes used to separate valuable minerals from ore. Crushing, grinding, and separation create the waste stream called tailings.
Brumadinho dam disaster : The 2019 failure of a tailings dam at the Córrego do Feijão mine in Brazil, which killed 270 people. The disaster shows the human cost of a sudden release of stored tailings.
Paste backfill : A thick mixture of tailings, water, and binder placed underground to fill mined-out spaces. It uses some tailings underground instead of storing them at the surface.
Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management : A global framework for managing tailings facilities across their life cycle, published in 2020. It sets expectations for governance, risk assessment, and disclosure beyond engineering design alone.
Waste rock : Rock removed during mining because it contains too little valuable material to process economically. Waste rock is excavated material, whereas tailings are produced by processing ore.
Tailings storage facility : An engineered structure or impoundment designed to store mine tailings and associated water. This is the main engineered system used to contain tailings on many mine sites.
Mariana dam disaster : The 2015 failure of the Fundão tailings dam in Brazil, which released mine waste into the Doce River basin. Its downstream contamination illustrates how a tailings release can spread far beyond a mine.
Dry stacking : A method that dewaters tailings and places the resulting material in compacted layers. It offers an alternative to conventional slurry impoundments, though it still requires careful management.
Tailings dam monitoring : The measurement and interpretation of a tailings facility’s condition using instruments, inspections, and remote sensing. Monitoring can reveal movement or water changes, but warning thresholds and responses remain critical.
Slag : A nonmetallic byproduct separated from metal during smelting. Slag forms during high-temperature metal extraction, not mineral separation at the mine.
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