276 Building Trust in Tailings Risk Management: DFOS Monitoring Architectures That Support Transparent Decision-Making *Zara Anderson1 Jon Furlong 1 David Hill 2 1Sintela Inc. Canada, (*Presenting author: zara.anderson@sintela.com) 2Sintela ltd. UK ABSTRACT Tailings Storage Facilities (TSFs) are long-lasting safety-critical infrastructures where monitoring must do more than collect data: it must enable timely, defensible decisions and build trust with Engineers of Record (EoR), Boards, regulators, and affected communities. This paper presents a systems approach to TSF monitoring that treats the facility as a living asset with an embedded ‘nervous system’ implemented using Distributed Fibre Optic Sensing (DFOS: DTS, DAS, and DSS). DFOS provides continuous high‑density data streams that can be linked to key failure modes: thermal patterns associated with seepage and internal erosion risk, strain/deformation trends, and dynamic responses across large spatial sub-surface zones where it is impractical to monitor with conventional point instruments alone or detect via InSar methods. This paper describes how DFOS measurements can be merged with site context, conventional instrumentation, and operational data to produce transparent, auditable hazard layers and early‑warning indicators aligned with Trigger‑Action‑Response Plans (TARPs) and routine Engineers of Record (EoR) review workflows. As DFOS solutions have matured, adoption is accelerating across adjacent civil infrastructure monitoring and are becoming increasingly proven in mining geotechnical and sub‑surface monitoring applications. Advances in DFOS interrogator hardware, established deployment methods, and innovative visualization and analytics data platforms (edge processing, dashboards, and automated detection) have led to cost-efficient, solution-ready DFOS platforms in key geohazard monitoring applications. The paper outlines methodology and deployment pathways for greenfield and brownfield TSFs, and highlights the importance of partnership between TSF operators, EoRs and competent DFOS solution provider in the mining space, combining fibre engineering, geotechnical interpretation, and governance integration to co‑design a TSF‑tailored monitoring architecture that can be scaled during raises and maintained over the lifecycle and post-closure of a TSF.
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