By What is a tail dam?
A tailings dam is typically an earth-fill embankment dam used to store byproducts of mining operations after separating the ore from the gangue. Tailings can be liquid, solid, or a slurry of fine particles, and are usually highly toxic and potentially radioactive.
What tailing means?
1 : residue separated in the preparation of various products (such as grain or ores) —usually used in plural. 2 : the part of a projecting stone or brick inserted in a wall.
Why are tailing dams unsafe?
The following points are the reasons why tailings dams are more susceptible to damage than other types of water storage structures: (1) embankments constructed with soil, coarse waste, and residual materials from the mining operations; (2) the number of wastewater increases as the height of the tailings dam increases; …
How many tailing dams are there in the world?
Tailings, most often in the form of a wet slurry, are conventionally stored above-ground behind earthen dams. There is no comprehensive global registry of tailings dams. It is estimated there are around 18,000 dams, 3,500 of which are active.
What is meant by tailwater?
1 : water below a dam or waterpower development. 2 : excess surface water draining especially from a field under cultivation.
What happens to tailing ponds?
Tailings ponds are engineered dam and dyke facilities used for storage of tailings materials. Tailing ponds are also used to enable water to separate from the tailings. Water from the tailings ponds is recycled back into the extraction process, reducing the use of fresh water from the Athabasca River and other sources.
What does tailing mean in gambling?
To fade means not to follow, or to shun or avoid playing a certain team or play. Its antonym, in gambling circles, is “tail.” To tail means just that: to follow / do what others are doing, as in to have the same bets as them.
What does Taling mean?
1. A recital of events or happenings; a report or revelation: told us a long tale of woe. 2. A malicious story, piece of gossip, or petty complaint.
Has any dam broken?
Dam failures are comparatively rare, but can cause immense damage and loss of life when they occur. In 1975 the failure of the Banqiao Reservoir Dam and other dams in Henan Province, China caused more casualties than any other dam failure in history.
What country has the most high risk upstream dams?
South Africa
South Africa has the highest number of dangerous tailing dams—structures constructed, often by mining companies, to store waste in liquid form. The dams are considered hazardous if improperly handled and have resulted in environmental disasters and deaths many times around the world.
Why do mines need dams?
Tailings dams are used to store water and waste that come as by products from the mining process. It is estimated there are at least 3,500 tailings dams around the world.