Republished courtesy of Aspermont Media.

Improving tailings dam risk profiles requires a change in mindset and immediate action, according to Luciano Oliveira of our Innovation Practice.

With the tragedies that have plagued the mining industry in the last few years, managing tailings dams has gone from an operational issue to a top priority on the agenda of most CEOs. It is such a high risk that it challenges the industry's license to operate. If another accident happens, it is well understood that communities, shareholders, authorities and all stakeholders will demand action from all players.

As a result, the topic has been at the center of attention at all major mining conferences and earnings calls. Large mining companies have established task forces to search for solutions, while numerous vendors are simultaneously trying to push their solutions. Still, progress has been slow and underwhelming.

Three Key Pitfalls

Three key pitfalls are creating challenges to moving ahead: the complex vendor landscape, organizational fragmentation, and narrow scope initiatives.

The first problem mining task forces find is that there are way too many solutions. Better sensing devices, innovative imaging techniques, data management IT solutions, visualisation tools, academic research projects and cool start-ups all claim to have a magic pill to solve the problem. In addition, for every solution there will be large global players, as well as Canadian, American, European and Australian regional vendors. Most offerings solve specific problems and cannot be considered an end-to-end solution.

Another typical problem is more internal to mining companies. Organizational structures are complex, with different teams covering regions, sites, functions and commodity types. Each of these internal stakeholders has their own set of priorities, distinct operating environments and experience with various technologies. This complexity makes it difficult for teams to narrow down to initiatives that can be properly resourced and executed.

As a result of both external and internal complexity, the projects that do go ahead tend to focus on immediate solutions, leveraging off-the-shelf products. Complex solutions that require deeper collaboration and further technological development may be de-prioritized versus simpler solutions that navigate more easily through internal approval processes.

Finally, mining companies search for solutions almost entirely within traditional sources, consultants, vendors, industry associations and research centers that are well known and respected and have deep roots in the industry. This approach works well for steady-state technology development, but in a moment of much needed disruption, it leaves behind all other solutions developed for similar problems in other industries.

The Solution: Integration

In order to accelerate improvement in tailings monitoring, mining companies need to start from a comprehensive technology scan, develop a technology adoption roadmap and eventually bring R&D efforts together into a cohesive innovation strategy.

Stratalis has developed an approach that can help clients accelerate tailings monitoring solutions by bringing order to the chaos. A systematic categorisation of the solutions according to a value chain enables clients to better understand the problem, and to compare offerings apples to apples. The result is a technology scan that maps the ecosystem and uncovers blind spots, enabling internal teams to have a common basis for discussion.

There can be great disparity in adoption even among sites belonging to the same company. While pilot projects involving satellite interferometric synthetic-aperture radar (InSAR), drone imaging and ground-based radar are becoming more common, experimentation with other technologies such as 3-D seismic, electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), muon tomography and fiber optic are still few and incipient.

While a comprehensive view of how different products and solutions can be used and combined is by itself game-changing, it doesn't address the time component of the problem. A number of new technologies are not market ready yet, and this is a very fast-moving space. Adopt the best solution available today, and it might become obsolete quickly.

Stratalis advises clients to consider a technology roadmap, with technologies at different technology readiness levels. By doing so, companies can anticipate new technologies by following their evolution, or even selectively investing or driving their development.

A technology roadmap implies multi-year projects that require proper governance, funding and cross-functional collaboration. All these execution enablers need to be driven by a cohesive innovation strategy under appropriate leadership.

The Future of Monitoring: Connected, Intelligent, Predictive

A study conducted by Stratalis analyzed thousands of technology solutions in the mining industry, as well as in related industries such as defense, oil & gas, civil construction, food processing and weather forecasting, with similar problem statements. The study showed significant potential for integrated computer model systems to complement expert judgement and be a valuable tool in risk mitigation.

The Stratalis study concluded that the future of monitoring is connected, intelligent, and predictive. Getting there will require companies to go through four stages of evolution, with increasingly powerful sensing devices, connectivity and computer modeling capabilities:

Stage 1 represents the present state for many sites and consists of semi-automated solutions in a traditional set-up.

Stage 2 utilizes connected monitoring, leveraging full connectivity, advanced sensors, 2-D/3-D visualisation tools and centralized 24/7 monitoring centers.

Stage 3 integrates digital twinning, advanced modeling techniques enriched with advanced imaging and detailed characterisation data.

Stage 4 includes advancements such as artificial intelligence (AI), data fusion and advanced predictive models to help geotechnical experts interpret data better, resulting in a constantly updating data loop, real-time risk trees, more reliable anomaly detection, internal and external automated alerts, automated compliance and reporting, among other things.

At its evolved stage, models will seamlessly integrate multiple data inputs, combining detailed structure characterisation, weather APIs, connected sensors and access to external databases. These systems will feed all data into both physical and statistical models, leveraging AI for advanced simulation and predictive features, and providing real-time alerts to centralized monitoring centers staffed 24/7.

Getting Started

Improving tailings dam risk profiles requires a change in mindset and immediate action. Updated risk assessments must be followed by a technology roadmap to continuously deliver state-of-the-art monitoring capabilities. In the short term, these roadmaps should focus on quick wins such as InSAR imaging and upgrades in data logging and connectivity, as well as enablers such as data integration technologies.

For the mid- to long-term, focus should shift to transformational changes that may require deeper coordination and longer lead times, such as pilots with new characterisation technologies, implementation of integrated systems, and modeling projects.

In parallel to internal projects with immediate impact on existing assets, companies should also plan to continuously interact with academic research projects, develop industry-level partnerships and make selective investments in the ecosystem.

"The future of monitoring is connected, intelligent, and predictive. Getting there requires not a single solution, but an integrated strategy, a roadmap that evolves as technologies mature and the risk environment changes."

- Luciano Oliveira, Stratalis

To discuss how Stratalis can help you to define, develop and deliver the future in tailings and technology, contact us at info@stratalisgroup.com