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The devastating failure of the tailings dam at Vale’s Córrego do Feijão mine site in Brazil brings into shocking focus a major risk of mining that remains inadequately addressed by many mining companies.

The devastating failure of the tailings dam at Vale’s Córrego do Feijão mine site in Brazil brings into shocking focus a major risk of mining that remains inadequately addressed by many mining companies. Tailings dam facilities – large surface impoundments of pulverised rock, water and processing chemicals – present some of the most common and most high-stakes risks to workers, communities and environments in the vicinity of mine sites. Facilities are potentially prone to seepage, which can result in the contamination of ground and surface water. And as this most recent event clearly illustrates, unstable tailings dams can fail catastrophically, releasing large quantities of waste that can result in fatalities, bury homes, destroy livelihoods, smother rivers, and cause serious long-term impacts on workers, local communities and the environment.

Proven problem in the wider industry

The results of the 2018 Responsible Mining Index (RMI) reveal that, worryingly, many of the world’s largest mining companies are not able to ‘know and show’ how effectively they are addressing the risks of tailings dam failure and seepage. The 30 mining companies assessed in RMI 2018 scored an average of only 22% on tracking, reviewing and acting to improve their tailings risk management, with Vale scoring slightly above average. Fifteen of the 30 companies showed no evidence of keeping track of how effectively they are addressing these risks. And while 17 companies showed some sign of reviewing the effectiveness of their tailings risk management measures, no evidence was found of any of these companies publicly disclosing the extent to which they have taken systematic action on the basis of these reviews, to improve how they address tailings-related risks.

The wider results of RMI 2018 show that companies are often failing to adequately share information on how they are managing social and environmental risks, particularly in providing meaningful site-level performance information. Too often, workers, mining-affected communities, governments and investors are kept in the dark about the risks involved and how well companies are addressing these risks. Companies may be reticent to publicly reveal this potentially detrimental and sensitive information, yet it is workers and communities whose lives and livelihoods depend on adequate protection measures being in place.

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