REVIEW OF TAILINGS DAM FAILURES IN BRAZIL

Código

XXIII-SBRH0464

Autores

Marcos Cristiano Palú, Pierre Y. Julien

Tema

04 - Reservatórios e Aproveitamentos hidrelétricos

Resumo

Accidents with tailings dams have been occurring worldwide at alarming rates. In the last decade, there were 18 accidents in 12 different countries. However, the last two accidents in Brazil, i.e., the Mariana dam and the Brumadinho dam cases, changed the perception about the safety of this type of the structures in Brazil and around the world. After these accidents, the National Mining Agency in Brazil banished the design of upstream dams and announced a mandatory decommissioning of same type of dams up to 2021. Internationally, the International Committee on Large Dams (ICOLD) announced the publication of technology update on tailings dam design and the Worldwide the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) announced the establishment of an independent panel of experts to develop an international standard for storage tailings facilities.