interdisciplinary collaboration

Starting tailings closure decades early could save millions, boost trust and turn mine waste into long-term assets worth talking about

What if the key to slashing tailings closure costs and winning community trust is to start the work decades before the mine shuts down? For Justin Walls, Principal Consultant (Tailings Engineering) at SRK Consulting, the best time to plan for tailings storage facility (TSF) closure is now – not when the mine is about to shut down.

Tailings are forever so let’s talk about the people who live with them and why mining needs memory systems as enduring as the waste it leaves behind

At the AusIMM Life of Mine - Mine Waste and Tailings 2025 conference in Brisbane, Professor Deanna Kemp delivered a keynote address that cut to the core of one of mining’s most pressing and under-examined challenges: how tailings governance is - and isn’t - working when it comes to people.