The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) has put together a task to review its current tailings management program in an effort to prevent future tailings dam failures.
In August 4, the tailings dam at Imperial Metals’ (TSX:III) Mount Polley mine collapsed due to what has since been determined to be a design flaw . The breach led to the release of 4.5 million cubic metres of slurry into Polley Lake and Hazeltine Creek and raised serious concerns about the safety of other tailings ponds in the province.
The task force task has been established to review the MAC’s current requirements under its Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) program and recommend possible improvements.
“We believe there is always room for improvement and we are committed to learning from the Mount Polley incident with the goal of ensuring we never have another one,” said MAC president and CEO Pierre Gratton.
“If anything can be changed within the TSM system to improve safety, we want to know about it.”
The panel will include representatives from industry, First Nations and environmental groups.
MAC said it will publish the final report at the end of the year.
- With files from Nelson Bennett
