Tailings Explained
- Mine Tailings Storage: Safety is No Accident UNEP and GRID Aredenal 2017
- The Risk, Public Liability, and Economics of Tailings Storage Facility Failures Bowker Chambers. 2015
- Root Causes of Tailings Management Failures: The Severity of Consequence of Failures Attributed to Overtopping 1915–2015 Bowker Chambers. 2016
- In The Dark Shadow of The Supercycle: Tailings Failure Risk & Public Liability Reach All Time Highs Tailings Regulations and Standards Bowker Chambers. 2017
- Tailings.info
Guidelines and Standards
- Safety First: Guidelines for Responsible Mine Tailings Management
- Global Tailings Review – Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management – August 2020
- The Australian National Committee On Large Dams (ANCOLD)- Guidelines On Tailings Dams – Planning, Design, Construction, Operation And Closure – Revision 1 (July 2019)
- Mining Association of Canada- A Guide to the Management of Tailings Facilities 3rd Edition
- The International Committee on Large Dams- Bulletins 45, 74, 97, 98, 101, 103, 104, 106, 121
- Global Mining Guidelines Group Mine Tailings: A Review of Guidelines, Initiatives and Standards
- Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance: IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining IRMA-STD-00
Reports on Tailings Dams Failures
- Report of the Expert Panel on the Technical Causes of the Failure of Feijão Dam I -Expert Panel: Robertson, de Melo, Williams, and Wilson-December 2019
- Executive Summary of the Independent Investigation Report Failure of Dam 1 of the Córrego do Feijão Mine – Brumadinho, MG Comitê Independente de Assessoramento Extraordinário de Apuração – CIAEA February 2020
- The River is Dead: The Impact of the Catastrophic Failure of the Fundão Tailings Dam. Paul Robson for London Mining Network, 2017
- Fundão Tailings Dam Review Panel Report on the Immediate Causes of the Failure of the Fundão Dam Panel: Morgenstern, Vick, Viotti and Watts
- Independent Expert Engineering Investigation and Review Panel Report on Mount Polley Tailings Storage Facility Breach January 30, 2015
- Post-Mount Polley: Tailings Dam Safety in British Columbia. Chambers. 2016
- Reported tailings dam failures A review of the European incidents in the worldwide context Rico, et al. November 2006.
Tailings Databases
- World Mine Tailings Failures Database
- Global Tailings Dam Portal Project (self-reported by mining industry)
- Integrated Management System for Mining Dams- Brazilian Mining Agency (self-reported by mining industry)
- Chronology of Major Tailings Dam Failures– WISE Uranium Project
Earthworks Press Releases
- Safety First: New Report Outlines Guidelines To End Mine Waste Disasters, 2020
- Communities & Civil Society Call for Action to Prevent More Mine Waste Disasters on First Anniversary of Deadly Brazilian Spill 2020
- Latest mining waste dam failure was preventable, foreseen 2019
- San Carlos Apache, Community & Environmental Groups Challenge Plans for Resolution Copper Mine Waste Site 2016
- Hundreds of mines around world at risk of catastrophic waste dam failure 2015
- Fatal Brazilian mine waste disaster shows modern mining is increasingly dangerous 2015
- Obama administration must act to avoid mine waste disasters 2015
- Catastrophic waste spill in Hungary shows risks of irresponsible metals production 2010
2020 Tailings Spills
- China Sees 2020’s First Tailings Spill
- Tailings Spill Exposed at Mexican Mine
- When it Comes to Storing Mine Waste, Safety Must Come First
- We’re Going to See More Failures: Central Asia Metals’ Tailings Spill
For More Information
- Preventing Mine Waste Disasters (main Earthworks campaign page)
- Tailings and Disposal
- Communities at Risk
- Safety First: Guidelines for Responsible Mine Tailings Management. Earthworks & MiningWatch Canada, 2020.