Closure Advantages of Filtered Tailings Progressive Rehabilitation During Operations One of the strongest advantages of filtered tailings, highlighted in both (Vargas & Campomanes Minerals 2022) and (Carneiro & Fourie 2019), is the ability to conduct progressive closure concurrently with mining operations. As lifts are completed, they can be rapidly graded, capped, and revegetated, reducing the volume of land requiring post-closure intervention. This contrasts sharply with slurry and thickened tailings facilities, which often require: • extensive regrading, • water management infrastructure, • liner and cover systems, • long-term monitoring of decant ponds, • perpetual care to prevent embankment failure. Reduced Long-Term Liabilities The life-cycle studies in (Carneiro & Fourie 2019) show that while filtered systems have higher upfront costs, their closure and post-closure costs are significantly lower. Thickened and slurry facilities may appear cheaper initially because closure is undervalued or underreported, but when closure is properly costed, filtered tailings often emerge as equivalent or favourable over the mine life. Key reductions include: • no need for long-term dam maintenance, • decreased risk of catastrophic failure, • smaller land footprint, • simplified water treatment, • lower long-term monitoring costs. Geochemical and Environmental Stability Co-disposal and co-mixing studies, show that filtered tailings can play a key role in producing low-permeability, geochemically stable landforms when mixed with waste rock. Moisture control and compaction produce blended materials with reduced oxygen ingress, mitigating acid rock drainage risks—one of the most expensive long-term liabilities in mine closure. Integrating Water Efficiency and Closure into Techno-Economic Decisions The (Cox et al. Elsevier 2022) financial model demonstrates that when tailings disposal choices are evaluated using a unified cost metric that includes closure, water use, and long-term risks, traditional wet options lose much of their perceived economic advantage. Wet tailings appear cheaper only when: • closure is discounted or ignored, • long-term water scarcity is undervalued, • dam failure risks are not economically integrated. This reinforces a key conclusion: Filtered tailings become most competitive when viewed through a life-cycle, risk-adjusted, water-inclusive framework.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM0Mzk2