Rio Tinto Reviews Global Standards for Tailings Facilities Following Brazil Disaster
February 20 2019 - 9:46AM
Dow Jones News
By Oliver Griffin
Rio Tinto PLC (RIO.LN) is reviewing its global standards for
tailings facilities in the wake of the January disaster when a dam
belonging to Vale SA (VALE) burst in Brazil's Minas Gerais
state.
The Anglo-Australian miner said Wednesday that it has 100
tailings facilities--structures made up of dams for storing
uneconomical ore--across 32 sites, as well as a further 36 tailings
facilities that are closed or under rehabilitation. Of its 100
tailings facilities, 21 are upstream construction facilities, Rio
Tinto said.
The upstream design, which refers to the direction in which the
dam is raised, is the most widely used method for permanently
storing waste from mines. The design, under which the dam is
gradually built upon a reservoir of tailings, is also the cheapest
one but experts say it is the most prone to failure.
Rio Tinto CEO Jean-Sabastien Jacques said the company is
assessing how it can further strengthen the existing external audit
of facilities.
"We fully support the need for greater transparency which is why
today we disclosed detailed information on our tailing facilities
and how they are actively managed," Mr. Jacques said.
Write to Oliver Griffin at oliver.griffin@dowjones.com;
@OliGGriffin
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 20, 2019 09:31 ET (14:31 GMT)
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