A matter of cost: Brazil dam collapse highlights failings in mining industry

摘要

ACCORDING to experts,cost is holding the mining industry back from achieving safer tailings management,as it is unwilling to spend on more safely storing its waste.Meanwhile,tailings storage facilities(TSFs)continue to collapse,and the rate of failure is increasing.Tailings are the waste product of ore processing.Rock is crushed and put through a chemical process to recover the valuable component,leaving behind a slurry of fine uneconomic rock and chemical effluent that is stored in tailings dams.On 25 January Dam 1 of the Corrego do Feijao iron ore mine collapsed in Brumadinho,Minas Gerais,Brazil.The collapse released a torrent of muddy slurry which buried the surrounding area,including the site's administrative building and canteen,reaching as far as the nearby community.Hundreds of people were affected.As we go to press,169 are confirmed dead,all of them identified.141 people are missing.