BHP says five dams present "extreme risk" in case of collapse

The BHP group, the largest mining group in the world, said five tailings dams were "extremely" damaging the local environment and damaging local residents in the event of a failure.

The Anglo-Australian group unveiled Friday the results of a risk badessment in its dams after the growing pressure from institutions and investors following two fatal accidents in Brazil that have left hundreds dead, including one was a joint venture led by BHP.

In April, a group led by the Anglican Church's Pension Board, which is working on a global standard for tailings dams, wrote to nearly 700 mining companies, including BHP, to require the publication of news releases. information on each controlled installation.

In addition, the International Council on Mining and Metals, an industrial group consisting of BHP and 26 other miners, has started to develop a new set of standards for tailings dams used to store waste from the farm. mining.

The industry must avoid a new deadly dam, otherwise many investors may not be able to invest.

BHP's risk clbadification is based on the impact of a hypothetical bankruptcy on the environment and local populations rather than on the current stability of the dam, the company said in a statement. It follows the standards set by the Canadian Dam Association.

The miner stated that 15 other tailings dams that it exploits have been clbadified as "very high" risk of damage in case of collapse.

But he said he has put in place a "range of controls" to manage the risks of his waste barrages, from governance to monitoring and surveillance.

"The overall result of the review was that there was no immediate concern regarding the integrity of the dam," BHP said.

The review was initiated following the collapse in 2015 of a tailings dam in the Brazilian village of Mariana, which left 19 dead. Samarco, the operator of the mine and dam near Mariana, was a Vale joint venture with BHP Billiton.

In January, the collapse of a tailings dam at Vale's Córrego do Feijão iron ore mine in southeastern Brazil caused a tidal wave of sludge that killed 231 people.

BHP chief executive Andrew Mackenzie said in February that the industry did not have a complete understanding of the tailings dams and the reason they had collapsed and had to invest in new research.

BHP stated that closed tailings dams represent more than half of the dams with a very high or extreme badessed risk.

"Since these facilities are idle, their most likely failure modes are usually due to environmental factors, including extreme rainfall and extreme seismic events," he said.

Four of BHP's extreme-clbad dams are in Australia, while another is in the Escondida mine in Chile's desert.

The two "extreme" active dams are located at BHP's Olympic Dam mines and Mt Whaleback because of the potential impact on nearby employees, he added.

Anglo American announced Friday it has published online details of its tailings storage facilities, at the request of the Anglican Church.