Making tailings and water decisions count in mining operations

Tailings dams account for the most water losses at most mining operations. Recovering that water can significantly reduce both environmental impacts and freshwater costs. Yet the feasibility of tailings water recovery depends on factors largely beyond the tailings engineer’s control—from the scale of operations and climate to ore characteristics and regulatory constraints.

Take the size of the mine: larger hard-rock and industrial mineral operations use more water than smaller precious metals mines. Yet smaller operations can deploy a wider variety of recovery technologies precisely because they implement them at smaller scales.

In North American Mining Magazine, Amanda Adams and Nicholas Brink discuss why tailings water management demands careful, site-specific decision-making—and how differences in climate, geology, and operations mean there is no one-size-fits-all approach.