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TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) has committed to reviewing the information and recommendations of the Friday-released report examining the August 2014 tailings dam failure at the Mt Polley mine, in British Columbia, with a view to enhancing tailings dam safety.
The report, compiled by the British Columbia government-appointed independent panel, concluded that the cause of the tailings dam breach was a layer of clay underneath the dam that was not taken into account in the original design. The panel stated that the failure occurred notwithstanding effective regulatory oversight.
“The tailings dam failure at the Mt Polley mine was an unfortunate incident that has been taken seriously by the entire industry. While a necessary component of mining, tailings facilities create risks that need to be effectively managed. We believe that every effort must be taken to prevent failures and we support continual advancement in their design, operation and management,” MAC president and CEO Pierre Gratton said.
Immediately following the breach, while the cause was still unknown at the time, MAC proactively initiated a review of its tailings management programme. This included a review of the tailings management requirements of MAC’s mandatory Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) initiative, as well as the association’s three tailings management guides.
The guides were implemented by MAC members as a requirement under TSM, which was considered industry best practice around the world, a point acknowledged by the independent review panel. In consultation with some of the best professionals in this field, this work remained ongoing. MAC added that the organisation and its members, including technical experts in tailings management, would evaluate the panel’s recommendations to see if there were opportunities to incorporate important findings from their work.
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