Nearly a third of the world’s mine tailings are stored within or near protected conservation areas, University of Queensland research has found.
A study led by UQ’s Bora Aska, from the Sustainable Minerals Institute and School of the Environment, said these waste facilities pose an enormous risk to some of earth’s most precious species and landscapes.
“Mine tailings contain the waste and residue that remains after mineral processing, and the storage facilities built to contain it are some of the world’s largest engineered structures,” Ms Aska said.
“We found of the 1,721 disclosed tailings facilities, 9 per cent were within declared protected areas and 20 per cent were within five kilometres.
Read more at University of Queensland
Image: An example of a tailings dam. (Credit: Ferenc)