TAILINGS MANAGEMENT AND STEWARDSHIP SUMMARY
We recognize that the failure of tailings and other impoundments at any of our mining operations could cause severe, and in some cases catastrophic, property and environmental damage and loss of life. Many of our tailings impoundments are located in areas where a failure has the potential to impact individual dwellings and a limited number of impoundments are in areas where a failure has the potential to impact nearby communities or mining infrastructure. As a result, our programs take into account the significant consequences resulting from a potential failure, and we apply substantial financial resources and technical resources, both internal and external, to materially reduce the likelihood of failures.
Affiliates of our company currently operate 18 tailings storage facilities (TSFs), 16 in the U.S. and two in Peru; and manage 58 in the U.S. that are inactive or reclaimed. Our inventory of TSFs comprises 13 active and 52 inactive or reclaimed facilities with an upstream design, five active and five inactive with a centerline design, and one reclaimed facility with a downstream design.
Our Tailings Management and Stewardship Program was launched in 2004 and has evolved significantly over the last 15 years. Today, through the program, we employ substantial engineering expertise, technological monitoring, as well as local and corporate management oversight to ensure that these facilities are designed, built, operated and monitored to minimize risk to employees, neighboring communities and the environment. These safeguards generally fall within four categories: (1) engineering and design, (2) rigorous adherence to construction and operational parameters through monitoring, (3) multi-tiered oversight and (4) adherence to practices grounded in continuous improvement and learning from past experiences, including industry failures.
We also implement the core elements of ICMM’s Position Statement on Preventing Catastrophic Failure of Tailings Storage Facilities published in December 2016: accountability, responsibility and competency; planning and resourcing; risk management; change management; emergency preparedness and response; and review and assurance.
While we believe our tailings management and stewardship program is robust and mitigates risks, we continue to identify opportunities for continuous improvement in all aspects of our program. Our corporate culture is to communicate critical information upwards so that important matters are identified, evaluated, and acted upon. We have a strong commitment from our Board and executive management team to provide the necessary resources to protect safety.
For more information on this topic please refer to the Tailings Management and Stewardship summary document and site-specific tailings information.
CONTROLLED RIVERINE TAILINGS MANAGEMENT
In 2019, PT-FI produced approximately 39 million metric tons of tailings. PT-FI’s controlled riverine tailings management system is implemented based on methods approved and permitted by the Government of Indonesia. The site-specific system, chosen after extensive evaluations of over a dozen alternatives, uses an unnavigable river to transport tailings out of the highlands (from approximately 3,000 meters elevation) to an engineered deposition area in the lowlands referred to as the ModADA. The river is not used for potable water, agriculture, fishing or other domestic or commercial uses, nor was it used for these purposes before operations began. Levees have been and continue to be constructed to laterally contain the footprint of the tailings and natural sediment within the ModADA while quantities of finer tailings and other sediments deposit in the estuary and the sea. Independent environmental management expert audits have reaffirmed the controlled riverine tailings management system is the best site-specific management alternative considering the topographical, seismic and geotechnical, geological, climatological and environmental conditions of the project area. If any conventional tailings system had been selected and implemented, it likely would have structurally failed by now.
PT-FI and the Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry (the MOEF) MOEF also established a new framework for continuous improvement in environmental practices in PT-FI’s operations, including initiatives that PT-FI will pursue to increase tailings retention and to evaluate large scale beneficial uses of tailings within Indonesia. In addition, PT-FI continues to work with MOEF to finalize environmental permitting related to the rail facilities and certain of the underground mining production operations as well as permitting for the extension of levees to contain the lateral flow of tailings in the lowlands.
Data from biological sampling continue to demonstrate that the estuaries downstream of the tailings deposition area are functioning ecosystems, based on both the number of species and the number of specimens collected of nektonic, or free-swimming, organisms such as fish and shrimp. Large-scale demonstration reclamation projects show that several land-use options are possible after final closure of the deposition area.
In addition to internal and external audits and assessments, PT-FI uses the ModADA Management Board (MMB) for oversight of the tailings system. The MMB is a multi-disciplinary expert panel that meets on site to assess system performance and risks associated with the ModADA and coastal zone area. The MMB focuses on the structural integrity of the levees and the geochemical stability of the deposition area, as well as associated stakeholder engagement. The MMB provides recommendations to PT-FI leadership and engineering teams on priority activities and tracks progress on detailed recommendations. When mining is completed, this area can be reclaimed with natural vegetation or used for agriculture, forestry, grazing of livestock and aquaculture among other options, depending on stakeholder ambitions.
For more information on this topic, including our extensive biological monitoring system and beneficial use of tailings opportunities, refer to the Controlled Riverine Tailings Management at PTFI summary document. In addition, please see our Statement on Future Projects and Riverine Tailings.
© 2020 Freeport-McMoRan