Presentation by Ms. Claudia Kamke, Environmental Affairs Officer, Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

1. .
5. Tailings management, orphaned
mine sites, and future proofing
Claudia Kamke
Environmental Affairs Officer
UNECE Convention on the Transboundary Effects
of Industrial Accidents
Paris, France, 19 April 2019

2. Speaker
• UNECE Industrial Accidents Convention secretariat
• Manager of two projects on improving mining/tailings safety in
Kazakhstan (2018-2019) and Tajikistan (2019-2020) and
beyond in Central Asia, financed by Switzerland
UNECE Industrial Accidents Convention
• Adopted in 1992, entered into force in 2000
• 41 Parties, incl. the European Union
• Designed to protect people and the environment against
industrial accidents (with transboundary effects)
• Active international cooperation between Parties
before, during and after an accident, incl. TMF accidents
• UNECE Safety Guidelines and Good Practices for Tailings
Management Facilities (TMFs)
Background and introduction

3. Tailing Management Facilities (TMFs)
Tailings are large amounts of mining waste which are generated as a by-product
when extracting minerals.
TMFs
Active
Inactive /
Idle
Abandoned
Legal owners
exist and can be
located
NeglectedClosed
Orphaned
Responsible party non
existent/not located

4. What risks do TMFs pose?
• Failures can release a tsunami-like wave of mine waste
capable of killing and destroying everything in its path
• Damage or risk to human health, infrastructure and
environmental resources and neighbouring countries
• Accidental water pollution and environmental degradation
of transboundary watercourses / international lakes
• Significant costs for emergency response, clean-up,
repairs, disruption of economic activity, claims for damages,
and legal costs for governments and businesses
• Negative consequences for the social acceptance of mining

5. • Brazil: Brumandinho (2019)
• Kazakhstan: Ridder (2016)  Transboundary effects
• Brazil: Bento Rodrigues (2015)
• Canada: Mount Polley (2014)
• Armenia: Kajaran (2013)
• Finland: Sotkamo (2012)
• Ukraine: Nikolaiev (2012/2011), Kalush (2005)
• Hungary: Kolontár (2010)
• Russia: Karamken (2009)
• Romania: Baia Mare (2000)  Transboundary effects
Past TMF accidents (overview)

6. Brazil: Brumadinho, Minas Gerais (2019)
• Brumadinho dam failed at an iron ore mine in the South East of Brazil
• 186 deaths, at least 122 still missing
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=lCoTcIMQ27k

7. Kazakhstan: Ridder (2016)
• Pollution from a zinc mine waste dump in Ridder, Kazakhstan spilled
into the Ulba and Filippovka Rivers, flowing into Siberia 
Transboundary water pollution
Source: https://siberiantimes.com/ecology/others/news/n0671-stinking-poisoned-
water-flows-towards-siberia-from-mining-city-ridder-in-kazakhstan/

8. Canada: Mount Polley (2014)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Polley_mine_disaster#/media/File:Mount_Polley_Mine_dam_breach_2014.
jpg
24 million m3 of mining waste released into nearby lakes and rivers

9. Ukraine: Nikolaiev (2012/2011),
Kalush (2005)
• Nikolaiev 2011: Nikolaiev Alumina plant tailings got dried and the
wastes were released in the form of dry red dust
• Nikolaiev 2012: Red dust, melted ice and spring rains flushed all this
multi-ton mass of red mud into the water of Bug river
• Kalush 2005: Several hundred kilograms of calcium hypochlorite were
released into the Sivka River, causing massive fish death
Source:
www.umweltbundesamt.de/sites/default/files/medien/378/publikationen/doku_01_2016_annex_1_improving_the_safety_of_industrial_tailings_management_facilities.pdf

10. Romania: Baia Mare (2000)
• “The second Chernobyl”
• 100,000 m3 of cyanide contaminated water released into the
Someş River
• Affected countries: Romania, Hungary, Republic of North
Macedonia  Transboundary effects
• Death of fish and wildlife, over 100 people hospitalized
Source: UNEP, 2017

11. Main causes of TMFs failures (1 / 2)
Inadequate
management
over a period of
time
TMF design
(managemen
t
consideratio
n)
(UNEP, 2017)

12. Main causes of TMFs failures (2 / 2)
• Lack of management continuity and inadequate resourcing
(especially financial) for the facility (UNEP Report, 2017)
• Poor management combined with inadequate commitment to
safety was the cause of most failures (ICOLD, 2001)
• All failures were avoidable (ICOLD, 2001)
• Climate change and extreme weather events: 25% of global and
35% of European TMF failures due to heavy rain (NATECH
accidents)
Mining industry needs to put safety first => zero-failure
objective
TMF failures can be prevented => life-cycle approach

13. TMF life cycle
Mine Approval, Design
& Construction
Operation &
Management
Site
rehabilitation
Orphaned /
Abandoned
mine site
Reprocessin
g non-
operational
sites
Mine Closure

14. 1. Mine Approval, Design & Construction
• Land-use planning and siting
• Permitting / licensing
• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and SEA
• Identify/assess environmental risks and mitigation measures
• Public participation/ stakeholders consultation
• Operation and Management Plan (operating manual)
• Closure and post-closure plan -> needs to be planned for from the
beginning on
• Emergency plans
• Dam safety
(Source: UNECE Safety guidelines and good practices for TMFs / OECD
Mining, the environment, and green growth in the EECCA region)

15. • Operator responsible for the safe performance of the mine/TMFs
• Compliance monitoring and enforcement  Inspections by authorities
• Update Operation and Management Plan, Emergency Plan and
Closure Plans, as needed
• Training of personnel and inspectors
• Transparent compliance activities to promote public knowledge of
mining operations
• Opportunity:
 Encouraging compliance rather than punishing non-compliance (shift
in regulatory system)
(Source: UNECE Safety guidelines and good practices for TMFs / OECD
Mining, the environment, and green growth in the EECCA region)
2. Operation & Management

16. 3. Mine Closure
• Continued environmental monitoring and maintenance are needed
(regular and on-going)
• Updated Closure plan
• Updated Emergency plans
• Site rehabilitation: intended post-operational land use and long-term
physical, geotechnical and biological stability, ecosystem rehabilitation
• Opportunity: Reprocessing of tailings and waste (circular economy)
(Source: UNECE Safety guidelines and good practices for TMFs / OECD
Mining, the environment, and green growth in the EECCA region)

17. Challenges – closed and neglected TMFs
• Mines/TMFs were built at a time when planning the end-of-life
management was not well established
• Most of the significant environmental impacts occur beyond the active
life of the mine, when monitoring and scrutiny weakens
• Neglected TMFs are “ticking time bombs”, especially in countries in the
EECCA region, faced with the ongoing legacy from the Soviet-era
• Liability passes to the state when operator no longer exists or cannot
be located: site rehabilitation is very costly and governments lack funds
• Climate change and extreme weather events (heavy rain, landslides,
earthquakes) can trigger major accidents –> key: risk management and
sustainable infrastructure
• Extensive technical and management guidance for TMFs exist 
greater focus on governance and applying existing guidance needed
(ICMM 2016 Global TMF Review)

18. UNECE Safety Guidelines and good
practices for TMFs and related methodology
To support countries in the practical application of the guidelines, a related
methodology was developed.
Tailings Hazard Index (THI) Method
• Ranking TMFs according to their
hazard
• Basic data needed to determine it
(volume, toxicity…)
TMF Checklist
• Questionnaire
• Evaluation Matrix for the TMF
safety level
• Measure Catalogue

19. Measure catalogue example

20. Practical application in Ukraine
The map of 344 TMFs, ranked by THIBasic (accounting for volumes of tailing
materials and their toxicity) developed in the framework of UBA project - Raising
Knowledge of Students and Lecturers on TMFs Safety and its Legislative Survey in
Ukraine (2016-2017)
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?amp%3Busp=sharing&mid=1RFomCn9uKponcHnFrK3XG997AEU&l
l=48.74972991354911%2C30.694941406249995&z=6

21. UNECE projects on mining/
tailings safety in Central Asia
Implemented with the support of the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment
Kazakh project (2018-2019)
• Objective: Strengthen the safety
of TMFs in Kazakhstan
• Beneficiaries: Kazakhstan and
competent authorities and
operators; other countries in
Central Asia.
Tajik project (2019-2020)
• Objective: Strengthen the safety
of TMFs in Tajikistan
• Beneficiaries: Tajikistan and
competent authorities and
operators; other countries in
Central Asia.

22. Need for further action
• SDG Target 12.4 will not be achieved (GCO II, 2019) => need to
accelerate progress and ensure higher level of governance
• UNEA4 resolution on mineral resource governance (2019)
– Sustainable management of metal and mineral resources
– Need for sharing experience on regulatory approaches, good practices
and to raise awareness on impacts and benefits of mining
• Need for inter-agency cooperation and a coordinated approach
– Global Multi-Stakeholder Forum to strengthen TMF
regulation/governance
– Establishing an International Minerals Agency or signing an
agreement? (IRP, 2019)
• Focus on implementation of existing international instruments / guidance
– Apply existing guidance and build capacity
– Adopt a full life cycle approach

23. For more information please visit:
• www.unece.org/env/teia
Or contact:
Ms. Claudia Kamke
Environmental Affairs Officer
UNECE Convention on the Transboundary Effects of
Industrial Accidents
claudia.kamke@un.org
Thank you for your attention!

24. Questions for discussion
1. What policy tools can governments use to ensure the
integrity of tailing sites and avoid disasters beyond the
active life of the mine?
2. How can mining jurisdictions with significant numbers of
environmentally damaging orphaned mine sites approach
their rehabilitation?
3. How can regulation encourage the reprocessing of closed
mining sites in ways that is both economically and
environmentally productive?