Stability Analysis of Upstream Tailings Dam Using Numerical Limit Analyses
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VIEW THE REPLYPublication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 148, Issue 6
Abstract
The catastrophic failure of the Córrego do Feijão Dam 1 in January 2019 has raised many questions regarding the safety of tailings storage facilities constructed by upstream methods. The stability of these structures is strongly affected by the internal stratigraphy and properties of the hydraulically deposited, segregated tailings materials (from slimes to coarse sands) and by control of seepage conditions. The authors conducted an independent review of site investigation data reported by an Expert Panel (December 2019) and evaluated the stability for a critical section of the Feijão Dam 1 using 2D numerical limit analyses under various representations of fill stratigraphy and shear strength properties. The results show that the structure has a low factor of safety, on average, based on conventional assumptions of drainage conditions for fill strata. The computed failure mechanism is strongly affected by the presence of a layer of normally consolidated, low permeability slimes near the base of the fill, and by the lack of drainage provisions within the starter dam. The analyses show a clearly defined critical mechanism of failure over the full height of the fill and suggest that the dam has smaller margins of safety than previously published limit equilibrium results. The analyses do not resolve or identify causes of the actual dam failure, which occurred more than three years after the end of construction but do suggest that more reliable methods of slope stability are needed in design.
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Data Availability Statement
The interpreted 2D stratigraphic profiles (CAD files) and OptumG2 input files are available from the Corresponding Author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This research was initiated while the second author (HME) was a visiting Ph.D. student at MIT, supported by a scholarship from the Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education. The first Author (AJW) became interested in this topic through participation as a contributing lecturer for a workshop (January 2020) on Mining Innovation for a New Environment (MINE; organized jointly by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative and Vale SA). The authors are grateful to the Feijão Expert Panel for making their report and supporting data publicly available. Special thanks to Jørgen Krabbenhoft for providing access to the OptumG2 software through a licensing agreement with OptumCE. The opinions expressed in this paper are exclusively those of the authors and are in no way connected to any investigations and/or litigation activities associated with the Feijão failure.
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Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 148 • Issue 6 • June 2022
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© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Apr 2, 2021
Accepted: Jan 20, 2022
Published online: Mar 24, 2022
Published in print: Jun 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Aug 24, 2022
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