Physical Stability Index - A Tool for the Preventive Operation of Tailings Deposits
Abstract
The operation of tailings dam deposits is crucial not only for ensuring operational continuity but also for strengthening the industry's relationship with the environment and the communities. In recent years, international incidents have highlighted the relevance of preventive controls of physical stability. Within the framework of the Program "Programa Tranque", a major public-private initiative to enhance tailing storage facility monitoring, a methodological tool is being developed that will allow verifying, monitoring, and predicting the physical stability of tailings deposits by analyzing the controlling parameters of the main failure mechanisms. The physical stability index will be part of a global monitoring system that uses the best available technologies and proposes innovative mechanisms to measure the controlling parameters, in order to strengthen the operation and provide reliable and timely communication, based on information processing platforms. The proposed index evaluates the condition of the deposit in three sequential levels, which are differentiated by the frequency, amount, and complexity of the required information, regarding three failure mechanisms: slope instability, overtopping, and internal erosion. The first level (M1) is a qualitative verification module that is divided into two parts: the assessment of vulnerability, which classifies the deposit according to its type of construction, exposure to external hazards, extend of instrumentation and monitoring, among other characteristics; and the assessment of aggravating factors, which verifies if a specific event or design deviations can trigger a failure mechanism. The second module (M2) verifies the state of the deposit by analyzing the information of the monitoring system, provides alarm and / or alert signals according to predefined thresholds and the trends of the controlling parameters in time, and issues emergency signal if risk scenarios for each failure mechanism are met. Finally, level 3 (M3) integrates the results from previous levels and predicts the physical stability of the deposit through models and fault tree analysis.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFMGH43B1464P