Update on independent panel recommendations

VICTORIA – Minister of Energy and Mines Bill Bennett provided an update on the actions that government is taking to implement the recommendations of the independent panel that investigated the Mount Polley tailings storage facility failure. Government is committed to implementing all of the panel’s recommendations.

The Chief Inspector of Mines has now sent a letter requiring mines to provide information by June 30, 2015 that confirms whether foundation materials similar to those at Mount Polley exist below any of their dams and if so, whether sufficient testing has been completed and if the dams have been designed to account for those conditions.

Given the panel’s finding that the dominant contribution to the failure resides in the original design and that subsurface investigations during the design process were not sufficient to detect the unstable materials underneath the dam or understand their nature, government supports the recommendation that the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists develop guidelines to support improved site investigations when designing TSFs.

Government has also confirmed that independent tailings dam review boards will be mandatory for operating mines and supports the adoption of industry best practices such as the “Towards Sustainable Mining” program.

In the weeks ahead, government will initiate a code review to determine how to best implement the panel’s recommendations regarding best available technology and practices, additional permit application requirements and safety standards that are tailored to British Columbia.

The panel recommended the adoption of best available technology, including filtered tailings (dry stack) technology where appropriate. The panel also noted that there are circumstances where other technologies are more appropriate due to the need to neutralize chemicals in the tailings or challenges with dewatering the tailings.

The code review will include a consultation process to determine how to implement best available technology and practices in British Columbia.

Quote:

Bill Bennett, Minister of Energy and Mines –

“We now know the cause of the failure at Mount Polley but the work doesn’t stop there. What we learn from this incident and how we respond to ensure it never happens again is profoundly important to British Columbia and to the mining industry here and around the world.”

“The panel identified the cause of the failure and also raised other issues around the design, construction and operation of the tailings storage facility. Both the cause of the failure and these other issues are addressed through the panel’s recommendations. We will implement all of these recommendations to ensure our mining industry is safe and can continue to grow and create jobs for families.”

A backgrounder follows.

Media Contacts:

Jake Jacobs
Media Relations
Ministry of Energy and Mines
250 952-0628

BACKGROUNDER Independent Panel recommendations

The Independent Panel made seven recommendations to improve practice and reduce the potential for future failures. Government accepted all of the recommendations and has committed to implementing them. Recognizing that the path to zero failures involves a combination of best available technology (BAT) and best applicable practices (BAP), the Panel recommended the following:

1. Implement BAT using a phased approach:
   • For existing tailings impoundments. Rely on best practices for the remaining active life.
   • For new tailings facilities. BAT should be actively encouraged for new tailings facilities at existing and proposed mines.
   • For closure. BAT principles should be applied to closure of active impoundments so that they are progressively removed from the inventory by attrition.
2. Improve corporate governance:
   • Corporations proposing to operate a tailings storage facility (TSF) should be required to be a member of the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) or be obliged to commit to an equivalent program for tailings management, including the audit function.
3. Expand corporate design commitments:
   • Future permit applications for a new TSF should be based on a bankable feasibility that would have considered all technical, environmental, social and economic aspects of the project in sufficient detail to support an investment decision, which might have an accuracy of +/- 10-15%. More explicitly it should contain the following:
     • A detailed evaluation of all potential failure modes and a management scheme for all residual risk
     • Detailed cost/benefit analyses of BAT tailings and closure options so that economic effects can be understood, recognizing that the results of the cost/benefit analyses should not supersede BAT safety considerations
     • A detailed declaration of Quantitative Performance Objectives (QPOs).
4. Enhance validation of safety and regulation of all phases of a TSF:
   • Increase utilization of Independent Tailings Review Boards.
   • Utilize the concept of Quantitative Performance Objectives to improve regulator evaluation of ongoing facilities.
5. Strengthen current regulatory operations:
   • Utilize the recent inspections of TSFs in the province to ascertain whether they may be at risk due to the following potential failure modes and take appropriate actions
     • Filter adequacy
     • Water balance adequacy
     • Undrained shear failure of silt and clay foundations
6. Improve professional practice:
   • Encourage the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (APEGBC) to develop guidelines that would lead to improved site characterization for tailings dams with respect to the geological, geomorphological, hydrogeological and possibly seismotectonic characteristics.
7. Improve dam safety guidelines:
   • Recognizing the limitations of the current Canadian Dam Association (CDA) guidelines incorporated as a statutory requirement, develop improved guidelines that are tailored to the conditions encountered with TSFs in British Columbia and that emphasize protecting public safety.

Media Contacts:

Jake Jacobs
Media Relations
Ministry of Energy and Mines
250 952-0628