DAM SAFETY AND PORTFOLIO RISK MANAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES AND ...€¦ · dam safety and portfolio...

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UNCLASSIFIED

DAM SAFETY AND PORTFOLIO RISK MANAGEMENT

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

IBRAM / MAC Panel Session on Tailings Management

24th World Mining Congress, Rio de Janeiro, 19 October 2016

Caius Priscu, Ph.D, P.Eng, Head of Mineral Residue Facilities

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UNCLASSIFIED

ANGLO AMERICAN PORTFOLIO OF DAMS

• Total of 337 TSFs and water retaining dams across South

America, Southern Africa, Canada and Australia

• Governed centrally via globally experienced team

• Close collaboration with Business Unit Champions

• Internal standard for all facilities (tailings dams, water dams,

waste rock, discard dumps and stockpiles)

• Surface Flooding Standard

A global team responsibility

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0 1 00

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

NoDam

< 5 5 to 10 10 to15

15 to20

20 to30

30 to40

40 to50

> 50

Nu

mb

er

of

da

ms

Height of dam (m)

Water dam heights across the Group

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UNCLASSIFIED

THE MINERAL RESIDUE AND WATER CONTAINMENT STANDARD

1. CCS ratings for each structure

- Five classes: Insignificant, Minor, Moderate, High and Major

- Directly impacts design criteria, monitoring and surveillance practices,

including frequency

- Focused on consistency in classification of all structures

2. Competent Person

- Minimum of 1 person per BU

- All Major CCS rated facilities require a dedicated person

- Standard defines competency requirements

3. Engineer of Record (EoR)

- Typically an engineering firm, and not an individual

- w/ firm contract and clear involvement in supervision and surveillance

4. Technical Review Panel (TRP) for Mineral Residue Facilities

- One per BU, minimum 3 person of mixed technical specialties

- Independent and advisory in nature

5. Documentation requirements (25 key documents w/ sign-offs)

- Part of the standard and its associated metrics

- Non-negotiable; not just documents – it is their content and quality that

matter

The five pillars

Insignificant3 Minor

18

Moderate17

High20

Major 48

Consequence ClassificationTailings Dams Ratings at Group Level

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BU / OPS

RISK

ASSESSMENT

PROCESS

IMPLEMENT RISK

MITIGATION MEASURES

& CONTROLS

MONITOR &

REVIEW

Identify

Hazards

Analyze/

Evaluate

Risks

Establish

Controls

CORRECT &

LEARN

Business Unit /

Operation Level

T&S Group

Projects

MRF Discipline

BU RISK PROFILE -

MRF RISK TABLES (ANNUAL)

MINERAL RESIDUE FACILITIES DISCIPLINE - SUPPORT AND

PORTFOLIO OVERSIGHT PROCESS (HIGH LEVEL)

Tan color – BU / Operation activity

Dark blue color – T&S Group Projects, Mineral Residue Facilities team

RANK, CLASSIFY STRUCTURES &

PRIORITIZE FIELD WORK FOR:

• Site visits & support

• Audits and reviews

ANNUAL MRF OVERSIGHT REPORT

TO:

Board Sustainability Committee

REVIEW & ANALIZE DATA

• Risk tables from BUs

• Site visits

• Audits and review processes

COMPLETE SITE VISITS,

BU & OPERATIONAL SUPPORT, PROJECT

REVIEWS & INTERNAL ASSURANCE

SUPPORT

PREPARE INPUT TO

INTERNAL

ASSURANCE

PROCESS,

PRIORITIES &

SCHEDULE

TECHINCAL SPECIALIST

SUPPORT TO INTERNAL

ASSURANCE AUDITS =

PRCRs (Process Risk &

Controls Register)

PREPARE PROJECT

REVIEWS (STAGE

GATE REVIEWS)

TO GROUP

PROJECTS

PROVIDE SUPPORT

& FEEDBACK TO

OTHER GROUPS

WITHIN T&S

ISSUE REVIEW REPORT WITH PRIORITY

ACTION ITEMS TO:

• Optimize processes, and

• Identify hazards and recommend leading

practices in order to mitigate / treat risks

TR

AIN

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SS

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S

(LE

AD

ING

PR

AC

TIC

ES

AN

D S

TA

ND

AR

DS

)

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UNCLASSIFIED

SURVEILLANCE, INSPECTION & ASSURANCE PROGRAMS AT

MINERAL RESIDUE FACILITIES IN ANGLO AMERICAN

T&S Group Projects,

Mineral Residue Facilities

INTERNAL AUDITING / T&S

TRP (Ext.)

TECHNICAL STANDARD BU Champion (Int.)

Engineer of Record (Ext.)

Operation (Int.)

Routine site visits / Governance / Audits / Support

Annual Technical Review Panel (Independent)

Routine inspections (field staff)

Monthly / Quarterly / Annual Inspections

Technical Assurance – Critical Controls Reviews

Project and operational reviews, best practices

implementation & risk management support

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CHALLENGES MOVING FORWARDMineral residue and water containment facilities management discipline

1. Competent persons – revisiting (and appreciating) the Civil Engineering professionals

Hydrotechnical / geotechnical engineers

Complex facilities to manage = multi-disciplinary teams

Retention of quality professionals in a core business function

2. Technical Review Panels

Availability of independent sr. reviewers

Where has the experience gone ? – cannot fight demographics!

Nurturing bench strength in the next generation of reviewers

3. Dewatering, dewatering, and … dewatering

Filtered tailings – not a silver bullet, limitations are obvious. Or are they?

Is there enough applied research in this field? Do we Collaborate enough? Are we underspending?

Is dewatering an excessively narrow focus in terms of innovation?

4. Surveillance of dams and technology

We are well behind the hydropower industry in this area, but we have larger dams, and we are

adding more at a faster rate

Satellite technology is partially applicable - Is fibre optic cable the answer?

Reliability of on-line monitoring systems integrated databases – do we know what we are missing?

Inspection apps – Anglo American moving forward Group-wide – also an educational opportunity

5. Managing change over long-lived facilities

Ore and process variability – cognisance of issues, and impacts on the facility over long time

Governance programs – report to the right levels and follow up on action items

Quality change management = good OMS manuals and overlapping in key positions

Reduce costs by producing less tailings and recovering more water – back to technology

and innovation.

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UNCLASSIFIED

THANK YOU!

caius.priscu@angloamerican.com

THANK YOU