Status and development for the prevention and management of tailings dam failure accidents

Tailings dam failure accidents with limited emergency response time and substantial potential threats often lead to heavy casualties and severe financial losses. In recent years, the decreasing trend of tailings dam failure accidents shows the development of modern technology and safety management. However, the frequency of major tailings dam failure accidents has increased, rather than decreased. The 2015 Samarco Accident in Brazil and the 2014 Mount Polley Accident in Canada, along with their disastrous consequences, once again sounded the alarm to improve the safety of tailings ponds. China is now facing a complicated safety situation because there are 8869 tailings ponds throughout the country, including 1425 overhead tailings ponds that represent the tailings ponds located within 1 km upstream of residential areas, workshops, schools, or other important facilities. Based on a large number of relevant research studies, focusing on three main aspects of accident prevention and management that include safety monitoring, early-warning and emergency preparation, safety management codes and standards, the status and frontier progress are reviewed in this paper. Furthermore, the relevant problems in China are discussed, and several improvement recommendations are presented that can provide a reference for theoretical research and technological innovation for preventing tailings pond accidents. The results are as follows:(1) The safety monitoring standards in China are relatively strict. However, the monitoring instruments lack stability, reliability, and practicability. Thus, specific devices and new technologies need to be developed. (2) The current early-warning method lacks diversity and reliability, and using information technology in interdisciplinary applications is becoming the developing trend. (3) The emergency management and decision-making should be based on sufficient scientific proof. However, the relevant research is limited by test methods and simulating algorithms. (4) Lastly, China has established a complete system of safety management codes and standards, but with the current problems of safety level classification, life-cycle management, change management process, and accident investigation, greater progress is needed.