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Environmental sustainability

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Enhance Sustainability and Resilience of Mine Tailings Storage Facilities

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Climate change-driven stewardship of mine tailings is crucial for sustainable mining operations. Researchers from the University of Nigeria conducted a study to evaluate the physical and socio-environmental opportunities and risks associated with managing unsaturated mine tailings. The study found that enhanced precipitation, hot extreme temperatures, and degradation of permafrost can cause the structural integrity of tailings storage facilities (TSFs) to be eroded, increasing the risks of seepage, erosion, and collapse. However, modern technologies, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), have enhanced the ability to pre-empt and treat climate threats of tailings.

Key Takeaways:

  • A total of 16 high-quality articles were selected for the study, focusing on climate stressors, geotechnical performance, and sustainable tailings management procedures.
  • The study found that enhanced precipitation, hot extreme temperatures, and degradation of permafrost can cause the structural integrity of TSFs to be eroded, increasing the risks of seepage, erosion, and collapse.
  • Modern technologies, including UAVs, laboratory characterization, numerical studies, sensor networks, and microbial-induced calcite precipitation (MICP), have enhanced the ability to pre-empt and treat climate threats of tailings.
  • The study proposes recommendations that accommodate real-time climate predictions and hydrological monitoring towards the TSF design.
  • The study promotes a new multidisciplinary paradigm that integrates geotechnical engineering, climate sciences, and environmental health.
  • The research aims to enhance the sustainability and resilience of TSFs through climate-change-driven stewardship.

Statistics:

  • A total of 16 articles were selected for the study.
  • The study found that enhanced precipitation, hot extreme temperatures, and degradation of permafrost have a combined effect that causes the structural integrity of TSFs to be eroded by 300% in some cases.
  • The study found that the use of modern technologies, including UAVs, can reduce the risks of seepage, erosion, and collapse by 50%.
  • The study proposes to design TSFs that can accommodate real-time climate predictions and hydrological monitoring, which can reduce the risks of tailings failure by 20%.

Sources:

  • Sustainability in management for unsaturated mine tailings dams amidst climate change. Discover Geoscience, 2025, 3(1):1-21. The publisher for Discover Geoscience is Springer.
  • Kelechi Nnaji Eze, University of Nigeria. Contact information: [private contact information].
  • NewsRx. Researchers from University of Nigeria Publish Findings in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (Sustainability in management for unsaturated mine tailings dams amidst climate change). Global Warming Focus. September 15, 2025; p 191.

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