Tailings Masterclass

A Journey from Failure Modes to Trigger Levels Designing Effective Monitoring

Objective
This short course provides a structured framework for identifying failure modes in tailings dams and translating them into effective monitoring and trigger level strategies. Participants will gain practical knowledge on assessing failure mechanisms, selecting appropriate instrumentation, and establishing trigger levels to enhance dam safety and risk management. The course will combine theoretical insights with interactive workshops, focusing on real-world applications for tailings dams with complex failure mechanisms, such as upstream-raised facilities.

Participants
The course is preliminary designed for a maximum of 60 trainees arranged in groups of 6-8. This course is designed for engineers, geotechnical specialists, dam operators, regulators, and risk managers involved in tailings dam design, monitoring, and safety management.

Delivery
The course will comprise lessons, team tasks, and a discussion exercise. It will require a high level of interaction from the participants.

From the content
The course will be delivered through a combination of lectures, interactive group exercises, and hands-on workshops to ensure an engaging and practical learning experience. The structure will include:

• Presentations to introduce theoretical concepts.
• Breakout group discussions to apply knowledge to a case study.
• Workshop activities to simulate decision-making in real-world dam monitoring scenarios.
• Q&A sessions to facilitate discussion and clarification.

Facilitation
The course will be facilitated by Edgar Salas (Technical Director) and Malcolm Baker (Senior Technical Director) from GHD, along with Leandro Santos (Senior Geotechnical Engineer) from KCB.

Documentation
Participants will all receive pdf copies of the slides used during the training immediately following the course.

Expected Outcomes
By the end of the course, participants will:

• Have a clear understanding of failure modes in tailings dams and their implications for risk management.
• Be able to identify and analyze failure modes in a complex tailings dam scenario.
• Understand instrumentation selection and its applications for monitoring specific failure mechanisms.
• Gain hands-on experience in choosing appropriate instruments based on failure modes and site conditions.
• Learn how to develop and implement effective trigger levels for dam monitoring programs.
• Be equipped with practical skills to apply failure mode assessment, instrumentation strategies, and trigger level development in their own projects.