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More than 30 million cubic meters of water and tailings from iron ore mining were released into the environment. [6] Iron ore tailings dam breaks cause serious environmental damage and fatality in humans. Tailings impoundments also have the potential to seep. Seepage can be prevented or at least minimized by creating an impermeable layer. [13]
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.
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 mining produces toxic tailings that are radioactive and may contain other toxic elements such as radon. Dust and water leaving tailing sites may carry long-lived radioactive elements that enter water sources and the soil, increase background radiation, and eventually be ingested by humans and animals. A 2013 analysis in a medical ...
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.
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.
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 ...
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.