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Tailings management

Responsible metal production requires responsible waste management. A high level of dam safety is one of our priorities, responsibilities and authority are clearly defined in order to ensure this. Residual products and waste are managed with great care to ensure long-term, sustainable disposal.

Management of mine dams

A particular priority for Boliden is the safe, responsible management of dam facilities. Tailings from the concentrator are deposited in the tailings pond, along with process water created as a result of our operations. In order to reduce the amount of water stored in the tailings pond, excess water is fed from there to the settling pond. This water is reused in the process or treated and returned to the surrounding watercourses. By integrating reclamation work as a natural activity throughout the life cycle of the mine dam facility, we enable the land that we have used to eventually be returned to nature. 

(GISTM) Read our tailings management disclosure

General information on Boliden's dam safety work

 

Two steps ahead in Aitik

Waste management is just as important as the mining of ore in a mine. It is also what claims the most amount of land and will have the greatest impact on how you will be able to treat the mine when it has been shut down. Just south of Gällivare in northern Sweden lies the world’s most efficient open-pit copper mine, Aitik. The sand depository in Aitik is one of the most important parts. 

High-tech monitoring

The tailings dam in Hötjärn, Västerbotten, is equipped with a high-tech monitoring system in which fiber optic cables are placed in the dams to monitor dam safety in real time.

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Procedures for high dam safety

There is a special dam safety organization for Boliden’s dam facilities that is tasked with ensuring that applicable laws, guidelines, and procedures are followed. Dam monitoring and inspections take place regularly and include such things as the collection and analysis of data. In addition, independent audits of dam safety are carried out with input from third parties. Our goal is to implement and abide by the new, global guidelines on dam safety.

Boliden is a member of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), an international organization dedicated to a safe, fair and sustainable mining and metals industry. Through its membership, Boliden undertakes to comply with the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management regarding dam safety.

Read Boliden’s Tailings Governance Commitment

Stekenjokk – One step ahead

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SUSTAINABILITY INDEX

Boliden’s Sustainability Index provides more information about our work to ensure social, economic and environmental sustainability.

Contact

Boliden Head Office

Boliden Group
Klarabergsviadukten 90
P.O. Box 44, SE-101 20 Stockholm
Tel: + 46 8 610 15 00
Fax: + 46 8 654 80 90