Mine Tailings Failure
Background
The Cadia Tails mine is a copper-gold mine located in New South Wales, Australia. It is owned and operated by Newcrest Mining.
March 9th, 2018 the embankment failed resulting in a “limited breakthrough” of tailings material from the northern to the southern tailings dam.
The breach occurred in the northern tailings dam and released approximately 8 million cubic meters of tailings material into the surrounding environment
Insights
Significant subsidence was observed along the main tailings dam for two years leading up to the failure.
Additional subsidence signals were observed along other sections within the TMF.
Satellite data plays a key role as the “first line of defense” in identifying early warning signs of displacement.
