SLOPE STABILITY MONITORING
Millimetre accuracy
Paul Moore looks at
slope stability
monitoring, focussing
on methods being
deployed to monitor
tailings storage
facilities in the wake of
the Brumadinho TSF
failure but also the
latest in open pit wall
surveying with radar
and laser
On a global scale, tailings dam breaches
are increasing in frequency, causing
significant damage to the environment
and even loss of life. This has led to a massive
industry inward focus, with all the mining majors
carrying out reviews of how their tailings facilities
are managed and monitored, while the ICMM
publication of the Global Tailings Standard, which
has been developed through an independent
review co-convened by the United National
Environment Programme, Principles for
Responsible Investment and ICMM, is a vital step
towards improving the safety and security of
tailings facilities, and rebuilding public trust in
the sector.
To mitigate these catastrophic events in the
future, numerous technologies and approaches
are being developed and deployed. Tetra Tech, a
leader in developing solutions to support the
operational safety of geotechnical and natural
structures, says it has developed microseismic
technology that can monitor the structural
stability of tailings dams and identify parameters
that may cause a failure.
Tetra Tech’s microseismic technology uses
ambient seismic noise to detect internal changes
in a tailings dam, observing velocity changes in
the whole structure. This indirect technique
measures the rigidity variation of the dam, and by
continuously monitoring the change in wave
velocity of the structure, identifies sources that
may cause a failure. This method also identifies
any anomalous behaviour, creating real-time data
for Tetra Tech’s geotechnical engineers to make
decisions with confidence.
Tetra Tech says has recently implemented the
microseismic technology to monitor tailings
dams in Brazil, commissioning more than 20
tailings dams and installing more than 180
geophones connected to 50 seismic stations.
These systems are processing data collected
continuously to support the safety of miners and
dams in varying locations and ground conditions.
The systems provide an extensive flow of data to
identify early warnings about the integrity of
tailings dams and allow its geotechnical
engineers to remotely monitor each dam’s
structural stability and mitigate breaches.
Inmarsat brings new IoT options
Inmarsat, the world leader in global, mobile
satellite communications, recently announced
the launch of Tailings Insight, a new Internet of
Things (IoT) solution for monitoring mining
tailings storage facilities (TSFs). The solution
GroundProbe’s aim is to tailor a monitoring
solution to the customer’s specific needs rather
than providing a blanket system
builds on and upgrades its Tailings Dam
Monitoring Solution and is available in two new
propositions: Tailings Insight – Cloud and Tailings
Insight – Plus. The flexible propositions are
designed to respond to the differing needs of
miners, and reflect Inmarsat’s commitment to
building more transparent, safer management of
TSFs globally.
Inmarsat launched its Tailings Dam Monitoring
Solution in March 2019 after several years of
development with industry partners. As a fully
managed service, the solution worked by
collecting data from a range of industryestablished
sensors via Long Range Wide Area
Tetra Tech’s microseismic technology uses ambient seismic noise to detect internal changes in a
tailings dam, observing velocity changes in the whole structure
JULY/AUGUST 2020 | International Mining 71