Edwards, Stephen; Herrera, Leandro; Liu, Yixuan; Ryder, Rebecca; Stile, Luke; (2022) Exposure and susceptibility of inactive and abandoned tailings to flash floods in Chile. In: Proceedings of the Tailings2022: 8th International Conference on Tailings Management. (pp. pp. 424-432). ICCM (In press).

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Abstract

The 2020 Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management exemplifies the move to reduce risks posed by tailings worldwide. However, inadequate attention focuses on various non-active tailings, which may ultimately become the responsibility of national or state regulators. This challenge is particularly evident in Chile, which hosts 467 inactive and 173 abandoned tailings according to Chile’s National Geology and Mining Service (SERNAGEOMIN). The two drivers of tailings failures globally are heavy precipitation and seismic activity. In Chile, from 1915 to 2010, earthquakes accounted for about 80 per cent of recorded major tailings failures, with heavy rainfall mainly responsible for the remainder. Since 2015, however, there have been several extreme rainfall and associated flash flood events in northern Chile that have mobilized tailings. Events in 2015 and 2017 have been analyzed remotely to understand the mechanisms and magnitudes of tailings erosion and mobilization. The 24–26 March 2015 intense rainfall event most affected the Salado river basin and led to significant modification of the tailings beach at Chañaral in the Atacama Region. At least several 100 000 m3 of tailings were scoured from the beach and transported into coastal water. Another inundation event on 11–13 May 2017 caused erosion, undercutting and partial collapse of several inactive and abandoned tailings deposits along the Marquesa river channel, which is a tributary of the Elqui river in the Coquimbo Region. The total volume of missing tailings is of the order of 100 000 m3 . These volumes are of magnitudes equivalent to those reported for some of the most significant tailings failures in Chile and highlight the urgency to systematically assess the exposure of Chile’s tailings to floods, particularly in the context of changing climate and weather patterns.

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