Track 3: Environmental Stewardship

98 properties and neglecting negative pore water pressures. This results in a more sharply defined piezometric surface and an abrupt separation between “saturated” and “dry” material, which may not accurately represent actual field conditions, particularly in filtered tailings deposits where unsaturated behavior is relevant. From an engineering perspective, the use of a saturated model may lead to conservative or, in some cases, non-representative estimates of moisture content and pore pressure distributions, whereas an unsaturated model allows for a more accurate assessment of permeability changes, storage capacity, and strength contributions associated with suction, with significant implications for stability analyses, deformation predictions, seepage control, and the design of construction measures such as surface covering during the wet season. Additionally, it should be emphasized that certain zones within the filtered tailings deposit exhibit high degrees of saturation (greater than 85%); under seismic loading, these highly saturated areas may become susceptible to liquefaction, potentially reducing shear strength toward residual values and triggering a residual response in the tailings, which could ultimately lead to instability or failure. REFERENCES Aitchison, G. (1964). Engineering concepts of moisture equilibria and moisture changes in soils. Statement of the Review Panel, In Moisture Equilibria and Moisture Changes in Soils Beneath Covered Areas. A Symposium in Print , 7-21. Copeland, A., Daigle, V., & Strauss, A. (2023). Is the implementation of dry stacking for tailings storage increasing? A Southern African perspective . Paste 2023, 611-619. Davies, M. (2011). Filtered dry stacked tailings: the fundamentals. Proceedings of Tailings and Mine Waste 2011. Fredlund, D., & Rahardjo, H. (1993). Soil Mechanics for Unsaturated Soils. New York.: John Wiley & Sons Inc. Fredlund, D., & Xing, A. (1994). Equations for the soil-water characteristic curve. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 521-532. Fredlund, D., Rahardjo, H., & Fredlund, M. (2012). Unsaturated Soil in Engineering Practice. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Garcia, L., Lemos, M., & Gomes, G. (2024). Compaction Sensitivity in Tailings Stack Infiltration Modeling: Unsaturated Properties Uncertainty Analysis. Tailings and Mine Waste 2024. Genuchten, V. (1980). A closed-form equation for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils. Soil Science Society of America Journal 44, 892–898. ICOLD. (2021). Bulletin 181: Tailings Dam Design - Technology Update. Patterson, K., McLeod, H., Hegaroden, D., Parkinson, G., Williams, P., & Murphy, B. (2016). Are filter tailings practical for a high production mine in a cold, wet climate? Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Tailings and Mine Waste, 359–371. Sanchez, E., & Parra, D. (2024). Proceedings of Tailings and Mine Waste 2024 . Performance assessment of a filtered tailings storage facility partially built with uncompacted tailings . Ulrich, B., & Coffin, J. (2013). Considerations for tailings facility design and operation using filtered tailings. Paste 2013: Proceedings of the 16th International Seminar on Paste and Thickened Tailings, 201–210.

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