Brazilian Archives

Tailings dam failure and risk confusion

Nosso Senhora do Livramento in Mato Grosso, Brazil is an example of tailings dam failure and risk confusion. The dam failure reportedly injured two. Available optical imagery showed a rather contained spill in a flat area at the toe. What we know on the Nosso Senhora do Livramento in Mato Grosso tailings dam At failure, the structure was reportedly 15 m high with a storage volume of 580,000 m³. The material released by the dambreak spread up to 2km downstream.…

Brazilian Tailings Dam Failure

The short movie below was uploaded in March 2014 (the course was given in Brazil in the Fall 2013). The course was given to over forty Engineers and Technicians in charge of various mines and tailings dams in Brazil. It was followed by a conference we gave at the university of Minas Gerais. Now the catastrophe has occurred. The physical, reputational and social damages are clear to anyone. Let’s see if the Brazilian legal system will actually follow through with…