Reported tailings dam failures

• Published in: Journal of hazardous materials Vol. 152; no. 2; pp. 846 - 852
• Main Authors: Rico, M., Benito, G., Salgueiro, A.R., Díez-Herrero, A., Pereira, H.G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.04.2008
• Subjects: Environmental hazards; Europe; Mine tailings; Mono and multivariate statistical analysis; Tailings dam failures; Europe; Mine tailings; Tailings dam failures; Europe; Mono and multivariate statistical analysis; Environmental hazards
• ISSN: 0304-3894; 1873-3336
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2007.07.050

A detailed search and re-evaluation of the known historical cases of tailings dam failure was carried out. A corpus of 147 cases of worldwide tailings dam disasters, from which 26 located in Europe, was compiled in a database. This contains six sections, including dam location, its physical and constructive characteristics, actual and putative failure cause, sludge hydrodynamics, socio-economical consequences and environmental impacts. Europe ranks in second place in reported accidents (18%), more than one third of them in dams 10–20 m high. In Europe, the most common cause of failure is related to unusual rain, whereas there is a lack of occurrences associated with seismic liquefaction, which is the second cause of tailings dam breakage elsewhere in the world. Moreover, over 90% of incidents occurred in active mines, and only 10% refer to abandoned ponds. The results reached by this preliminary analysis show an urgent need for EU regulations regarding technical standards of tailings disposal.