Effective tailings management is critical to ensuring environmental safety, operational efficiency, and regulatory compliance in the mining industry.
Tailings, or waste management, is a key part of the mining lifecycle.
Tailings are the waste materials that remain following minerals and metals extraction from ore. While necessary, tailings management can come with a set of risks, including water and soil contamination.
To mitigate these risks, the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) was developed to be the first global framework to improve the safety and governance of tailings storage facilities (TSF) in the mining industry.
Launched in August 2020 by the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), GISTM aims to prevent catastrophic failures and achieve zero harm to people and the environment.
The Standard is a set of 15 principles that includes 77 individual requirements for tailings facilities. Operators conduct self-assessments against the requirements, with a third party auditing the company’s conformance.
Case study: Frieda River hydroelectric project
The up-and-coming Frieda River copper-gold project in Papua New Guinea (PNG) will employ an innovative method to dispose its tailings, involving a key part of its broader project area.
The project encompasses the mine, the Sepik infrastructure project, the Sepik power grid project, and the Frieda River hydroelectric project. The latter will play a crucial role in tailings management.
Within the hydroelectric project, PanAust subsidiary and mine owner Frieda River Limited will build a 191m asphalt core rockfill dam to act as an integrated storage facility.
The dam has been designed in accordance with international standards, using the internationally recognised dam construction method of asphalt core rockfill.
“PanAust does not take lightly its commitment to ensuring the safe design, safe construction, and safe operation of the [tailings] dam,” Frieda River project director Phil McCormack said.
“PanAust is mindful of the ecosystem it is in including its host communities. As a values-driven organisation, it assures its host communities and governments that is committed to sustainably operating its business in an environmentally, socially and culturally responsible way for the benefit of all stakeholders.”
McCormack attributed the environmentally friendly move to PanAust’s success in operating mines with waste rock and tailings storage facilities in Laos.
“We understand the importance of the Sepik ecosystem, where the project is based, and our work is committed to ensuring the safe design, construction and operation of the dam for the long-term benefit of all its stakeholders,” he said.
“It is a transformative approach to the project for the Sepik region and Papua New Guinea, aimed at protecting the environment while enhancing living standards, and general wellbeing in the remote Sepik communities.”
