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We engage with stakeholders throughout the lifecycle of our TSFs, from design to closure. We also collaborate closely with external bodies to improve the way tailings are managed across our industry.
The Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) was developed by the independent Global Tailings Review following the Brumadinho tailings disaster.
Rio Tinto, along with the other members of the International Council on Mining & Metals (ICMM), have committed to implementing GISTM and and we continued to make progress during 2022.
Following the implementation of GISTM across our business, we are committed to cooperating in transparency initiatives that will provide standardised, independent, industry-wide and publicly accessible inventories of information about the safety and integrity of TSFs globally.
We work through technical committees and joint venture relationships to support leading practice in tailings management.
Our facilities are regulated, permitted and have been managed for many years to comply with local laws, regulations, permits, licences and other requirements. Tailings management has been included in the Group risk register since 2010, and our Group safety standard in place for tailings and water storage facilities has been in place since 2015. Our internal assurance processes verify that our managed TSFs operate in accordance with this standard, which we updated in 2020. Our operational TSFs have emergency response plans – tested through training exercises in collaboration with stakeholders such as local emergency services – and follow strict business resilience and communications protocols. There have been no external wall failures at our TSFs for more than 20 years.
We periodically update the list of TSFs to reflect operational and ownership changes, including changes relating to transition of closure or remediation obligations for legacy assets and reclassification of facilities as these develop over the life of operations.
The list of TSFs includes those managed by our joint venture partners and we have provided a link to the tailings disclosures made by the operator of each facility. We work through technical committees and joint venture relationships to support compliance and ensure the data is kept up to date on the operator’s website.
In December 2022, we reviewed previously disclosed information on our global TSFs. All facilities were assigned a consequence classification in accordance with the regulatory or industry body that oversees tailings in each region or jurisdiction. Additional technical data from updated downstream impact assessments, required under the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) and our own internal standard for tailings and water storage facilities, resulted in a modification to hazard classifications of some facilities. Consequence classifications are not ratings of the condition of a facility or the likelihood of failure; instead, they rate the potential consequence if the facility were to fail.
Since the launch of GISTM in August 2020, we have continued work on our implementation plan. We have completed a gap analysis against our internal tailings management, environment, and communities and social performance standards, and developed improvement plans to close identified gaps.
We are working towards having all TSFs with a potential consequence rated “extreme” or “very high” in conformance with GISTM by August 2023, with all remaining facilities in conformance by August 2025.
We played an active role in the ICMM tailings working group in 2022, which published key guidance materials to support the safe, responsible management of tailings with the goal of eliminating fatalities and catastrophic events.
These include:
In 2022, we also:
Tailings are residues created as part of mining, refining, smelting and water treatment processes. These processes are never 100% efficient, nor is it possible to reclaim all reusable and expended processing chemicals. Tailings are discharged – normally as slurry – to a storage facility, where water is subsequently recovered and recycled back into the operation.
Tailings are mainly discharged in two ways. The first is to use below water approaches. The second is to use above water/above ground approaches. Tailings can be modified in other ways, such as:
Dewatering to a wet or dry cake that cannot be transported via a pipeline.
Includes dewatering until the tailings do not segregate.
Dewatering to form a high solids content slurry.
Tailings storage is one of the biggest design decisions in the development of a mine. There are many factors which need to be considered in selecting the optimum site and construction method. Site conditions such as topography, rainfall, seismic activity, mineral characteristics and proximity to people dictate appropriate tailings sites, technology and storage solutions. The aim is to safely contain the tailings under any and all circumstances.
As a result, each tailings storage facility is unique. Depending on the environment and the chemical characteristics of the tailings the tailings impoundment may be lined, using a variety of lining systems which are designed to prevent impacts to surface and groundwater systems. As the tailings slurry is collected in the impoundment, the water separates from the heavier sand and silt particles and is collected at the surface. The tailings pond water is then recycled back into the operation for reuse and the tailings may be reclaimed so as to minimise the impact on the environment.
The construction method is important to ensure safe operation of a facility. Tailings storage facilities follow one of three wall construction designs, or hybrids of these. We also store tailings within some of our completed mining pits or in excavated or underground storage, which generally will not require the construction of the following dam wall options.
Upstream designs start with a free draining starter wall as the foundation. The tailings are then discharged into the dam, which then harden to form the foundation for the next level of wall. Ensuring water is properly removed and recycled is a crucial element of maintaining the structural integrity of the wall. These are suitable for facilities in areas of low rainfall, low seismic activity and relatively flat terrain.
Downstream designs start with an impervious starter wall unlike the upstream design that has a free draining starter wall. The tailings are then discharged into the dam and as the embankment is raised, the new wall is constructed and supported on top of the downstream slope of the previous section. This shifts the centreline of the top of the dam. The downstream design was developed for areas with seismic activity and high rainfall or water collection. A number of our facilities use the downstream construction method with a single embankment.
The centreline method is a hybrid of upstream and downstream designs. When the wall level is raised it is built on top of both the tailings and the existing wall. In contrast to the downstream design, the centreline remains the same throughout the subsequent raises.
Modified centreline construction is a centreline dam that is slightly raised using upstream construction. When the wall level is raised it is built on top of both the tailings and the existing wall, but slopes slightly upstream.
We take into consideration the specific conditions on each site before deciding on the appropriate tailings sites, technology and storage solutions.
We have a structured approach to managing tailings facility risks, underpinned by our safety standard. There are three levels of governance and assurance that we apply to all facilities:
All our managed facilities, whether active or inactive, have an external engineer of record or design engineer.
We aim to protect the health and safety of people, the surrounding environment and conserve water in the best way we can, everywhere we operate. While all of our sites comply with laws, regulations, permits, licenses and regulatory requirements, in 2015, we went further by introducing a Group standard for all tailings and water storage facilities. This ensures all of our managed facilities operate in accordance with one standard.. In 2016, we joined the ICMM’s Tailings Working Committee, which conducted a tailings management review of its member companies. Our work helped inform the ICMM Position Statement, published in 2016, including the six elements of Tailings Storage Facility governance. In 2020, we updated our Group standard and reviewed all our relevant standards to ensure they are well aligned with the new global industry standard on tailings management (GISTM).
We have a responsibility to extract the full value from the minerals and materials we produce in the safest and most sustainable way possible.
Our Group standard is consistent with these six key elements:
Accountabilities, responsibilities and associated competencies are defined to support appropriate identification and management of TSF risks.
Risks associated with potential changes are assessed, controlled and communicated to avoid inadvertently compromising TSF integrity.
Processes are in place to recognise and respond to impending failure of TSFs and mitigate the potential impacts arising from a potentially catastrophic failure.
The financial and human resources needed to support continued TSF management and governance are maintained throughout a facility’s life cycle.
Internal and external review and assurance processes are in place so that controls for TSF risks can be comprehensively assessed and continually improved.
Risk management associated with TSFs includes risk identification, an appropriate control regime and the verification of control performance.
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We are also currently supporting two research projects to better understand how we can manage tailings more effectively.
With the University of Western Australia and other industry partners we are progressing research to better understand the occurrence of Static Liquefaction of tailings to prevent tailings dam failures.
And with the University of Western Australia, BHP and Alcoa we are researching the potential for dry stacking tailings on an existing conventionally developed facility.
While we have controls in place to manage the risks that tailings pose to people and the environment, we are not complacent. We have our processes assured by both internal and independent third parties. We know there is more for us to learn about best practices, so we partner with our peers to research and better understand them.
But where we can make most progress is in moving beyond ensuring our tailings do no harm to putting the land where they are situated – and even the tailings themselves – to productive use.
Since 2010, we have classified tailings management as a risk in the Group Risk Register. Rio Tinto has been part of the ICMM working committee since 2016.
We launched our Group safety standard for tailings in 2015; since then, we have made the following improvements to it:
All managed Rio Tinto joint ventures apply the Group Standard and Procedure. For our non-managed operational sites with tailings facilities, we actively participate in technical committees in an advisory capacity with our joint venture partners. Each of the technical committees has a Tailings Steering Committee, or equivalent, to support the effective management of tailings.
We see ourselves as water stewards and take that commitment seriously
We’re working towards net zero emissions by 2050
We know our operations can have far-reaching impacts on society.
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