Erosion - Mining and the Environment: From Ore to Metal - page 793

FIGURE 20.12
Mining Dust Illustrated
Dust from blasting at an early stage (1974) in the Mt Newman Iron Mine in the Pilbara Region of Australia.
Distant view of dust cloud from haulage of laterite ore at the Hinatuan Nickel Mine, near Surigao, Philippines.
Table 20.2 lists ways in which mine waste particles can be dispersed from dams or
storage heaps and offers some prevention options. To minimize wind erosion from
tailings beaches, the surface is usually kept wet. For example, water spraying on dried tail-
ings beaches is applied when dusting conditions are imminent. This is generally more cost
effective than placing decaying vegetation, such as hay, on the tailings surface. Sprinkling
of the beach in combination with continuous management of the discharge point of the
tailings onto the beach is normally satisfactory for managing wind erosion. Although gen-
erally less cost effective, a sometimes feasible alternative method to avoid dust generation is
to cover tailings beaches with non-dusting material, such as topsoil, straw or bitumen. This
method is only practical when the beaches are raised in distinctly separate campaigns, and
not continuously. The beach must be stable enough for machinery to work on it in order
to spread out the material. The application of a vegetative cover can be very effective,