MAC releases second edition of tailings and water management guide

The recent collapse of the tailings dam at the Brumadinho iron mine in Brazil underscores the urgent need for effective tailings management. The revised OMS Guide and updated Tailings Guide have an important role in ensuring that an important aspect of mining is done in the most responsible way.

“Our industry understands the great responsibility that comes with ensuring tailings are being managed in the most effective way, and MAC’s revised OMS Guide represents an important step in the continual improvement of tailings management. Implementing the Tailings Guide and the OMS Guide together provides a comprehensive framework to optimize tailings facility performance and manage risk,” said Pierre Gratton, president and CEO of MAC.

The revised OMS Guide and updated Tailings Guide mark years of work done in relation to tailings management – partly in response to the 2014 failure of the tailings dam at the Mount Polley copper mine in British Columbia. The original review of that event by a MAC independent task force resulted in 29 recommendations, all of which have been acted on.

The revised OMS Guide provides strengthened guidance on the development of site-specific OMS manuals. Specifically, the second edition of the OMS Guide:

• Provides a mechanism for the effective implementation of a tailings management system;
• Provides a mechanism to meet tailings management performance objectives and manage risk; and
• Supports effective decision making for responsible tailings management

This article first appeared in The Canadian Mining Journal.