HOME WISE Uranium Project > Tailings Dam Safety > Chronology of major tailings dam failures (from 1960) (last updated 4 Sep 2014) Note: Due to limited availability of data, this compilation is in no way complete Parent Type of Date Location Ore type Release Impacts company Incident tailings 7.3 million m3 flowing into Mount Polley of tailings, 10.6 adjacent 2014, mine, near Polley Lake Imperial Metals tailings dam 3 Aug. Likely, British copper, gold million m of and, through Corp. failure 4 Columbia, water, and 6.5 Hazeltine 3 Canada million m of Creek, into interstitial water Quesnel Lake (Mitchell Bay) about 82,000 short tons collapse of an [74,400 t] of Dan River ash flowing old drainage toxic coal ash 2014, Steam Station, through Duke Energy coal ash pipe under a 27- and 27 million Feb. 2 Eden, North drainage pipe acre ash waste gallons Carolina, USA into Dan River pond [100,000 m3] of contaminated water Zangezur Copper tailings Molybdenum 2013, flowing into Combine , Cronimet copper, damage of Nov. ? Norashenik Kajaran, Mining AG molybdenum tailings pipeline 15-19 River for Syunik several days province, Armenia non- consumption water advisory has been former issued for the 2012, Gullbridge embankment Town of South Brook (view Dec. mine site, copper dam failure, 17 Newfoundland, width 50 m details - Canada Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Environment and Conservation) nickel and zinc concentrations in nearby Snow River exceeded the leak from hundreds of values that are Sotkamo, nickel, 2012, Talvivaara gypsum pond thousands of harmful to Kainuu (uranium by- Nov. Mining through a cubic metres of organisms province, product 4 Company Plc "funnel-shaped contaminated tenfold or even Finland planned) hole" waste water a hundredfold, uranium concentrations more than tenfold (view details) tailings damaged residential roads and houses, Mianyang forcing 272 Xichuan tailings dam City, Songpan people to 2011, Minjiang damaged from County, leave; tailings Jul. Electrolytic manganese landslides ? Sichuan were washed 21 Manganese caused from Province, into the Plant heavy rains China Fujiang River, leaving 200,000 people without drinking water supply several towns flooded, 10 Kolontár, people killed, Hungary tailings dam 700,000 cubic 2010, MAL Magyar approx. 120 (Aerial View: bauxite failure (view metres of Oct. 4 Alumínium people injured, Google Maps details) caustic red mud 8 square ) kilometres flooded contamination of río Escalera 2010, 21,420 cubic Huancavelica, Unidad Minera tailings dam and río Jun. ? metres of Peru Caudalosa Chica failure Opamayo 110 25 tailings km downstream tailings dam eleven homes failure after were carried 2009, Karamken, heavy rain away by the Aug. Magadan ? gold (see ? mudflow; at 29 region, Russia background least one info - SRIC person was 2004) killed The landslide Huayuan set off by the County, tailings dam tailings dam Xiangxi 2009, failure failure Autonomous May ? manganese (capacity: ? destroyed a Prefecture, 14 50,000 cubic home, killing Hunan metres) three and Province, injuring four China people. The ash slide covered 400 acres [1.6 square kilometres] as deep as 6 feet [1.83 metres]. The wave of Release of 5.4 ash and mud Kingston fossil million cubic toppled power 2008, plant, Tennessee retention wall yards [4.1 lines, covered Dec. Harriman, Valley coal ash failure million cubic Swan Pond 22 Tennessee, Authority metres] of ashy Road and USA slurry ruptured a gas line. It damaged 12 homes, and one person had to be rescued, though no one was seriously hurt. A mudslide several metres high buried a market, Taoshi, Linfen Collapse of a several homes City, Xiangfen waste-product 2008, Tashan mining and a three- county, Shanxi iron reservoir at an ? Sep. 8 company storey province, illegal mine building. At China during rainfall least 254 people are dead and 35 injured. Release of highly acidic tailings into Kafue river; failure of high Konkola Copper tailings slurry concentrations Mines Plc pipeline from 2006, Nchanga, of copper, (KCM) Nchanga Nov. Chingola, copper ? manganese, (51% Vedanta tailings 6 Zambia cobalt in river Resources plc leaching plant water; ) to Muntimpa drinking water tailings dumps supply of downstream communities shut down The landslide buried about 40 rooms of nine households, leaving 17 residents missing. Five injured people near Miliang, were taken to Zhen'an hospital. More tailings dam 2006, County, Zhen'an County than 130 local failure during April Shangluo, Gold Mining gold ? residents have sixth upraising 30 Shaanxi Co. Ltd. been of dam Province, evacuated. China Toxic potassium cyanide was released into the Huashui river, contaminating it approx. 5 km downstream. phosphogypsum stack failure, because the company was trying to increase the capacity of the pond at a faster liquid poured 2005, Bangs Lake, Mississippi rate than approx. 17 into adjacent April Jackson Phosphates phosphate normal, million gallons marsh lands, 14 County, Corp. according to of acidic liquid causing Mississippi, Officials with (64,350 m3) vegetation to USA the Mississippi die Department of Environmental Quality (the company has blamed the spill on unusually heavy rainfall, though) tailings dam (100-metres Pinchi Lake, 2004, long and 12- 6,000 to 8,000 tailings spilled British Teck Cominco Nov. mercury metres high) m3 of rock, dirt into 5,500 ha Columbia, Ltd. 30 collapses during and waste water Pinchi Lake Canada reclamation work a dike at the top of a 100-foot- high gypsum stack holding 150-million liquid spilled gallons of 60 million into Archie 2004, Riverview, Cargill Crop polluted water gallons Creek that phosphate Sep. 5 Florida, USA Nutrition broke after (227,000 m3) of leads to waves driven by acidic liquid Hillsborough Hurricane Bay Frances bashed the dike's southwest corner The ash flowed through a drainage canal A ring dike, into a tributary enclosing an to the area of roughly Partizanskaya 1 km2 and River which holding roughly empties in to 2004, Partizansk, 20 million cubic approximately Nahodka Bay May Primorski Krai, Dalenergo coal ash meters of coal 160,000 cubic in Primorski 22 Russia ash, broke. The meters of ash Krai (east of break left a hole Vladivostok). roughly 50 For details meter wide in download the dam. Sept. 2004 report (PDF) by Paul Robinson, SRIC release led to decantation elevated and dam failure nitrate 2004, evaporation after heavy rain 30,000 cubic concentrations Malvési, Aude, Comurhex March pond of in preceding metres of liquid of up to 170 France (Cogéma/Areva) 20 uranium year (view and slurries mg/L in the conversion details) canal of plant Tauran for several weeks tailings flowed Cerro Negro, 20 kilometers 2003, Petorca prov., Cia Minera tailings dam 50,000 tonnes copper downstream Oct. 3 Quinta region, Cerro Negro failure of tailings the río La Chile Ligua Aug. 27: some tailings spilled into Mapanuepe Lake and overflow and eventually into 2002, spillway failure the Sto. Tomas Aug. San Marcelino, Dizon Copper of two River 27 / Zambales, Silver Mines, abandoned ? Sep. 11: low Sep. Philippines Inc. tailings dams lying villages 11 after heavy rain flooded with (view details) mine waste; 250 families evacuated; nobody reported hurt so far tailings wave traveled at Sebastião das least 6 km, 2001, Águas Claras, mine waste dam Mineração Rio killing at least Jun. Nova Lima iron failure (view ? Verde Ltda two mine 22 district, Minas details) workers, three Gerais, Brazil more workers are missing at least 15 Nandan people killed, 2000, county, tailings dam 100 missing; Oct. Guangxi ? ? ? failure more than 100 18 province, houses China destroyed About 75 miles (120 km) of rivers and streams turned an irridescent Martin County tailings dam black, causing Coal 250 million failure from a fish kill Corporation gallons Inez, Martin collapse of an along the Tug 2000, (100% A.T. (950,000 m3) of County, underground Fork of the Oct. Massey Coal coal coal waste Kentucky, mine beneath Big Sandy 11 Company, Inc. slurry released USA the slurry River and , Richmond, into local impoundment some of its VA (100% streams (view details) tributaries. Fluor Corp. )) Towns along the Tug were forced to turn off their drinking water intakes. release of 2.5 million m3 of liquid into an adjacent settling tailings dam pond, failure from subsequent Aitik mine, 2000, insufficient release of 1.5 Gällivare, Boliden Ltd. copper Sep. 8 perviousness of million m3 of Sweden filter drain water (carrying (view details) some residual slurry) from the settling pond into the environment contamination of the Vaser stream, 22,000 t of tributary of the 2000, tailings dam Borsa, heavy-metal Tisza River. Mar. Remin S.A. failure after Romania contaminated View 10 heavy rain tailings Romanian Govt. report · UNEP report (527k PDF) contamination of the Somes/Szamos tailings dam stream, Aurul S.A. gold crest failure 3 tributary of the 2000, 100,000 m of Baia Mare, (Esmeralda recovery after overflow Tisza River, Jan. cyanide- Romania Exploration , from old caused from killing tonnes 30 contaminated Australia (50%), tailings heavy rain and liquid of fish and Remin S.A. melting snow poisoning the (44.8%)) (view details) drinking water of more than 2 million people in Hungary 17 homes 1999, Placer, Surigao tailings spill 700,000 tonnes buried, 51 Manila Mining Apr. del Norte, gold from damaged of cyanide hectares of Corp. (MMC) 26 Philippines concrete pipe tailings riceland swamped 1998, dam failure 50,000 m3 of Fertiberia , Dec. Huelva, Spain phosphate during storm acidic and toxic Foret 31 (view details) water thousands of dam failure 1998, Los Frailes, zinc, lead, 4-5 million m3 hectares of Boliden Ltd. , from foundation Apr. Aznalcóllar, copper, of toxic water farmland Canada failure (view 25 Spain silver and slurry covered with details) slurry Mulberry 200,000 m3 of biota in the 1997, Phosphate, Mulberry phosphogypsum phosphate phosphogypsum Alafia River Dec. 7 Polk County, Phosphates, Inc.