Tailings Management, Meet Science Fiction

By Amanda Adams, Debra Johnson, and Kwestan Salimi 

What if we had a simpler way to assess the safety and stability of a tailings dam? Stantec’s Amanda Adams, Debra Johnson, and Kwestan Salimi describe a futuristic tool. This tool would provide a full picture of conditions at a tailings storage facility. Systems exist for monitoring individual components of a storage facility - like changes in the characteristics of the tailings, or how changes in weather patterns could affect the facility. But one comprehensive tool that can simultaneously check all aspects of a facility does not exist… yet.