Lessons from Tailings Dam Failures—Where to Go from Here?

Different regions worldwide have adopted various approaches to tailings management, as a result of the site settings and local practices as they have evolved. Tailings dam failures have continued to occur in both developing and developed countries, necessitating a range of tailings management approaches. These failures, while rare, continue to occur at a frequency that exceeds both industry and society expectations, and there is much to be learned from well-documented cases. Tailings management continues to be overly reliant on a net present value approach using a high discount factor, rather than a whole-of-life approach that may result in safer and more stable tailings facilities and may also facilitate the eventual mine closure. There is a need for the further development and implementation of new tailings management technologies and innovations, and for the application of whole-of-life costing of tailings facilities. Changes in tailings management will most readily be achieved at new mining projects, making change across the minerals industry a generational process.

Recommending assembly points, evacuation routes, and standard operating procedures for potential flooding due to reservoir dam failures: a case study of Gondang Reservoir, Lamongan, East Java

The failures of water-retaining structures, such as reservoirs and lakes, may cause massive flooding. Located in the Gondanglor village, Lamongan, East Java, the Gondang reservoir is approximately 30 years old. Currently, the village does not have an official evacuation Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), a guide needed during disaster emergency responses, including the risk of reservoir failures. The absence of the SOP means that the community members have not prepared themselves to face any hazard that threatens their safety. This research aims to recommend assembly points, evacuation routes, and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) as inputs for the preparedness of reservoir dam failures. Criteria used to determine the assembly point locations are the minimum space per person, accessibility of private vehicles, access to safer places, either a street or open space, minimum distance from buildings, accessibility of disaster response vehicles, safe from falls, and other hazards. The evacuation routes consider road networks and conditions, movement directions, and distance between starting and assembly points. The evacuation SOP focuses on communication flows. Community members and Gondang reservoir’s officers are interviewed, and studies related to evacuation procedures are reviewed to help accomplish the research aim. This study has successfully recommended assembly points, evacuation routes, and SOPs for evacuating villagers when the potential of Gondang reservoir failures is identified. Community members and village officers of Gondanglor were involved in the designing of assembly points, evacuation routes, and the SOP. The study has suggested five assembly points and the shortest possible routes to reach the points from varying locations in the village. SOP suggested communication flows during varying emergency stages, including the “Abnormal” (Level 1), “Alert” (Level 2), “Alert” (Level 3), or “Warning” (Level 4) status. The results are expected to increase the preparedness level of village members to reservoir dam failures.