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Mine tailings are usually produced from the mill in slurry form, which is a mixture of fine mineral particles and water. [2] Tailings are likely to be dangerous sources of toxic chemicals such as heavy metals, sulfides, and radioactive content. These chemicals are especially dangerous when stored in water in ponds behind tailings dams.
After leaving the mine, tailings need to be stored and managed in order to avoid environmental hazards and safety risks. In Brazil, approximately 95% of mining tailings end up in containment dams. [6] Many countries have experienced dam breaks. In 2015, the city of Mariana in Brazil experienced the failure of the Fundão Dam.
However, the greatest danger of tailings ponds is dam failure. Tailings ponds are typically formed by locally derived fills (soil, coarse waste, or overburden from mining operations and tailings) and the dam walls are often built up on to sustain greater amounts of tailings. [75]
Uranium tailings or uranium tails are a radioactive waste byproduct of conventional uranium mining and uranium enrichment. They contain the radioactive decay products from the uranium decay chains, mainly the U-238 chain, and heavy metals. Long-term storage or disposal of tailings may pose a danger for public health and safety.
Coal waste in Pennsylvania. Coal refuse (also described as coal waste, rock, slag, coal tailings, waste material, rock bank, culm, boney, or gob [1]) is the material left over from coal mining, usually as tailings piles or spoil tips.
Drawbacks of leaching include its lower efficiency and the often significant quantities of waste effluent and tailings produced, which are usually either highly acidic or alkali as well as toxic (e.g. bauxite tailings). There are four types of leaching: [not verified in body] Cyanide leaching (e.g. gold ore) Ammonia leaching (e.g. crushed ore)
A tailings dam belonging to copper miner Las Cenizas in central Chile began overflowing overnight on June 13 due to heavy rains and put nearby water sources, including the La Ligua river at risk ...
When a mine is abandoned, the pumping ceases, and water floods the mine. This introduction of water is the initial step in most acid rock drainage situations. Tailings piles or ponds, mine waste rock dumps , [ 3 ] and coal spoils are also an important source of acid mine drainage.