Impounding of tailings at Jaduguda : planning, design and management

The tailings are the waste product of the ore processed by the industry which consists of ground up rock that remains after the mineral values have been recovered from the ore. Tailings dam is constructed to impound these tailings for pollution hazards which are very severe for the radioactive wastes associated with the uranium ore processing. The tailings dam is an important structure in view of the structural stability as its failure will release a very large amount of water and semi-fluid tailings which can, not only cause the severe threat to life and property of nearby area but also can cause extensive down stream pollution. The planning, design and management of tailings dam requires careful consideration of many factors to make the system economical as well as safer on long term basis. The paper explains these factors and consideration of same in planning, designing and managing the tailings dam at Jaduguda from inception to the future planning. This also highlights the problem faced in present tailings dam endangering the stability of the dam, corrective action taken and studies conducted to improve the stability of the same in future. It further deals with the planning and design of new proposed dam for future Jaduguda requirement incorporating changes in design based on experience gained in managing the present dam. (author). 1 ref