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The Development and Demonstration of a Semi-Automated Regional Hazard Mapping Tool for Tailings Storage Facility Failures Innis, Sally; Ghahramani, Negar; Rana, Nahyan; McDougall, Scott; Evans, Stephen G.; Take, W. Andy; Kunz, Nadja C.

Abstract

Tailings flows resulting from tailings storage facility (TSF) failures can pose major risks to downstream populations, infrastructure and ecosystems, as evidenced by the 2019 Feijão disaster in Brazil. The development of predictive relationships between tailings flow volume and inundation area is a crucial step in risk assessment by enabling the delineation of hazard zones downstream of a TSF site. This study presents a first-order methodology to investigate downstream areas with the potential of being impacted by tailings flows by recalibrating LAHARZ, a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based computer program originally developed for the inundation area mapping of lahars. The updated model, LAHARZ-T, uses empirical equations to predict inundated valley planimetric and cross-sectional areas as a function of the tailings flow volume. A demonstration of a regional application of the LAHARZ-T model is completed for 46 TSFs across Canada. Although the variability in tailings properties and site characteristics cannot be perfectly incorporated or modelled, the LAHARZ-T model offers an efficient method for high-level, regional scale inundation mapping of several potential TSF failure scenarios.

Item Metadata

Title
The Development and Demonstration of a Semi-Automated Regional Hazard Mapping Tool for Tailings Storage Facility Failures
Creator
Innis, Sally; Ghahramani, Negar; Rana, Nahyan; McDougall, Scott; Evans, Stephen G.; Take, W. Andy; Kunz, Nadja C.
Contributor
University of British Columbia. School of Public Policy and Global Affairs
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Date Issued
2022-09-25
Description
Tailings flows resulting from tailings storage facility (TSF) failures can pose major risks to downstream populations, infrastructure and ecosystems, as evidenced by the 2019 Feijão disaster in Brazil. The development of predictive relationships between tailings flow volume and inundation area is a crucial step in risk assessment by enabling the delineation of hazard zones downstream of a TSF site. This study presents a first-order methodology to investigate downstream areas with the potential of being impacted by tailings flows by recalibrating LAHARZ, a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based computer program originally developed for the inundation area mapping of lahars. The updated model, LAHARZ-T, uses empirical equations to predict inundated valley planimetric and cross-sectional areas as a function of the tailings flow volume. A demonstration of a regional application of the LAHARZ-T model is completed for 46 TSFs across Canada. Although the variability in tailings properties and site characteristics cannot be perfectly incorporated or modelled, the LAHARZ-T model offers an efficient method for high-level, regional scale inundation mapping of several potential TSF failure scenarios.
Subject
tailings flows; dam breach; mine waste hazards; risk assessment; tailings
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2024-12-18
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
CC BY 4.0
DOI
10.14288/1.0447533
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/89910
Affiliation
Applied Science, Faculty of; Science, Faculty of; Non UBC; Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of; Mining Engineering, Keevil Institute of
Citation
Resources 11 (10): 82 (2022)
Publisher DOI
10.3390/resources11100082
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty; Researcher
Rights URI
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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DSpace

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Rights

CC BY 4.0