What is a Tailings Pond?
A tailings pond is a specific site formed by building dams to block valley mouths or enclosing land, mainly used for storing the tailings generated after the ore separation process in metal and non - metal mines. After mining enterprises successfully separate the useful minerals from the gangue in the ore dressing plant, a large amount of tailings will be produced. These tailings cannot be discarded or discharged randomly and must be centrally stored in the tailings pond. The tailings pond is not only a crucial facility for the production and operation of mining enterprises but also an important environmental protection infrastructure, which can reduce the pollution of tailings to the surrounding environment. However, there are also safety hazards that cannot be ignored.
Safety Hazards Facing Tailings Ponds
Dam Instability
The dam of the tailings pond is a key structure that blocks the tailings and the water in the pond. When the design is unreasonable, the construction quality does not meet the standards, or the later maintenance work is lacking, the dam is affected by factors such as the pressure of tailings accumulation, rainwater scouring, and earthquakes for a long time, and it is very likely to experience dam instability situations such as landslides and collapses. Once the dam bursts, the tailings and water in the pond will rush down like a fierce beast, causing devastating blows to the downstream residents, infrastructure, and ecological environment.
Seepage Failure
The tailings and water in the tailings pond will seep through the dam body and the dam foundation. If the control measures for seepage are not in place, seepage failure phenomena such as piping and soil flow may occur in the dam body, resulting in a gradual decrease in the strength of the dam body and eventually triggering serious dam safety accidents.
Flood Over - topping
During the rainy season or when encountering extreme heavy rainfall weather, if the drainage system of the tailings pond is not smooth enough, the water level in the pond will rise rapidly, and flood over - topping may occur. Over - topping will directly scour the dam body, damage the dam structure, and greatly increase the risk of dam failure.
In summary, we need to establish a complete Tailings Monitoring system to monitor the dam displacement, seepage, water level and other indicators of the tailings pond in real - time and discover abnormal situations in a timely manner. Regularly maintain the dam body, drainage facilities, etc., and repair cracks, collapses, and other problems in a timely manner.
The following are three commonly used monitoring devices.
GNSS Monitoring Station
GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) has high - precision positioning capabilities and provides an efficient solution for dam safety monitoring. Set up multiple monitoring points at key parts of the dam body, and obtain three - dimensional coordinates in real - time through satellite signals. Once the dam body has a slight displacement, the system can monitor it and immediately transmit the data to the background. The background analysis system will compare the data with the safety threshold, and immediately trigger an alarm when the displacement exceeds the limit. After receiving the alarm, the staff can quickly take targeted reinforcement measures to effectively prevent dam instability accidents.
In the actual application of a large - scale tailings pond, the GNSS system accurately monitored the displacement change of one part of the dam body and issued an early warning in a timely manner. The staff carried out reinforcement work accordingly and successfully avoided a possible dam landslide accident, fully demonstrating the value of the GNSS system in dam safety monitoring.
Seepage Monitoring Equipment
Intelligent seepage monitoring equipment is another powerful weapon to ensure the safety of the tailings pond dam. This type of equipment can accurately measure key parameters such as the seepage flow and seepage pressure of the dam body and the dam foundation. Through the built - in data analysis module, in - depth analysis is carried out on the collected data, so as to predict the possibility of seepage failure in advance. Once abnormal seepage data is found, the system will promptly prompt the staff to take effective measures such as blocking and seepage diversion.
Water Level Monitoring Station
The Water Level Monitoring Station uses radar technology to monitor the water level in the tailings pond in real - time and accurately. In the face of severe weather such as heavy rainfall, it can quickly and accurately grasp the changes in the water level in the pond. The equipment is equipped with an automated data transmission and processing system, which can feed back the water level data to the relevant staff in real - time. At the same time, it is linked with the intelligent drainage equipment, and automatically adjusts the drainage flow according to the water level monitoring data to ensure that the water level in the pond is effectively reduced in a timely manner during heavy rainfall and avoid flood over - topping accidents. Combined with big data analysis technology, through the analysis of historical rainfall data and water level change laws, a scientific and reasonable drainage plan is formulated in advance to further improve the safety guarantee ability of the tailings pond.
All in all, the safety of the tailings pond is of great significance. By deeply understanding the safety hazards and making full use of modern equipment such as the GNSS system, seepage monitoring equipment, and radar water - level monitoring stations, the safety management level of the tailings pond can be effectively improved, the risk of safety accidents can be reduced, and the safety of people's lives and property and the stability of the ecological environment can be guaranteed.
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