Tailings facilities update
27 February 2019
BHP
has significantly increased the rigour of its assessment and management
of
tailings storage facilities since the failure of the Fundão
dam at
Samarco in 2015.
Following that event, BHP completed Dam Risk Reviews for active,
inactive and closed tailings storage facilities across our business.
These reviews included a thorough evaluation of risks, and identified no
significant deficiencies to the stability or management of our tailings
storage facilities.
The risk reviews also highlighted new opportunities to improve the
design, construction and operation of our facilities. In total, more
than 400 actions were assigned to BHP Assets. These actions are 93 per
cent complete, with the remaining actions considered low priority such
as administrative actions and long-lead items regarding closure and
climate change impacts. None of these actions is overdue.
Dam Safety Reviews were then completed following the guidelines
recommended by the Canadian Dam Association (CDA) – widely regarded as
the most rigorous in the industry.
Monitoring and alarm systems at all sites were reviewed, and
supplemented where new opportunities to improve were identified. All
significant tailings storage facilities have emergency response plans in
place.
As part of our ongoing process of continuous improvement, external Dam
Safety Inspections are conducted annually and risk-based Dam Safety
Reviews every three to seven years, in line with CDA guidelines.
BHP’s tailings storage facilities are located at seven operated sites in
Australia and Chile, with a further seven closed sites throughout North
America, and four non-operated joint ventures in North America and South
America.
We have a number of facility designs within our portfolio, and we have
an assurance process in place that seeks to identify and manage the
risks associated with each.
In total, there are 115 tailings storage facilities across these sites
(including non-operated joint ventures) of which 20 are active. In
total, 47 of these storage facilities have been constructed using the
upstream method, of which 13 are active.
Those 13 operational upstream tailings storage facilities are located at
the following operated sites: one at
Mt Whaleback (Western Australia),
two at
Olympic Dam (South Australia), two at Goonyella and one at
Blackwater (Queensland), and seven at
Nickel West (Western Australia).
We have 26 upstream facilities at our closed sites in North America, and
a further eight inactive upstream facilities at our operated sites.
The number of tailings storage facilities is calculated based on the
definition used by the Responsible Dam Engineers at our sites. We keep
this definition under review.
BHP will continue to accelerate its work with the industry to advance
the science and
technology required to improve the safety of tailings storage
facilities. This includes existing workstreams such as early warning
technologies, better models and monitoring of possible modes of failure,
tailings dewatering options, and dry tailings storage viability at
scale.
BHP will meet with a number of global bodies this month to expedite this
work. BHP welcomes a common, international and independent body to
oversee integrity of construction and operation of all tailings storage
facilities across the industry.
In addition, BHP supports calls for greater transparency in tailings
management disclosure and will work with the industry to make sure the
disclosure is consistently applied and informs better tailings dam
stewardship.
For more information, visit the Dams and tailings management page, https://www.bhp.com/environment/dams-and-tailings-management or the 2018 Sustainability Report, https://www.bhp.com/investor-centre/sustainability-report-2018
--ENDS--
Source: BHP Billiton - www.bhpbilliton.com
Contact: N/A
External Links:
https://www.bhp.com/environment/dams-and-tailings-management
https://www.bhp.com/investor-centre/sustainability-report-2018
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