There have been considerable changes in the approach to tailings management over the past 30 years or so, with learnings from previous global disasters informing new legislation, engendering several success stories, and the landscape continuing to evolve, with innovation and technology advancements.

This was the key message by speakers in Creamer Media’s webinar on tailings success stories and the benefits of well managed land rehabilitation, held on October 8.

Agreenco Group executive director Fanus van Wyk said environmental, social and governance measures had come a long way over the past few decades and standards for tailings management had changed considerably, which required realignment of how these were approached and designed, to ensure compliance.

He averred that sustainable tailings management entailed a guarantee that the facility would remain intact, that there was no water contamination and that it was commercially viable.

Van Wyk mentioned innovations as including a shift from ‘green covers’ to brown or even grey cover systems, with considerable potential and benefits if these were advanced, priced and implemented properly.

Meanwhile, Harmony Gold Mining Company North West Operations metallurgy head Rollet Masakona said there were a range of stakeholders involved in the process of rehabilitating and reclaiming land, including environmental, mining and water departments, local authorities, surrounding communities, technical experts and environmental specialists, and a need to engage all of these and find balanced solutions for everyone’s interests.

Knight Piésold South Africa director Andries Strauss emphasised the importance of community engagement and buy-in, to discern what they needed from reclaimed and rehabilitated land. 

Another area that presented potential was in geomorphic design, Van Wyk said, with this able to reduce costs over time. However, this was still in the inception phase in the country.

Strauss mentioned technology advancements in terms of real-time monitoring of operations, as well as improvements in terms of removing personnel from dangerous environments.

Masakona highlighted that rehabilitation and tailings risk management offered considerable benefits for communities, to extend mining activities in towns where mining activity was dying down.

He indicated that tailings reclamation offered a “second life”. Masakona said there was scope to use reclaimed and rehabilitated land for things such as solar PV builds and biofuel facilities, thereby creating additional value and benefits for communities that lasted beyond mining.

He said that the company had enjoyed several success stories over the years, with notable ones including in Klerksdorp, North West, where two tailings dams were located close to a community, and it was able to mitigate dust and environmental concerns, as well as freeing up land.