Proposal:Tailings pond

Tailings
Proposal status:	Draft (under way)
Proposed by:	ZeLonewolf
Tagging:	water=tailing_pond
Applies to:	Water
Definition:	A body of liquid or slurry used to store byproducts of mining operations
Statistics:
Draft started:	2021-01-09

Proposal

Tailings are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction of an ore. Tailings are distinct from overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that overlies an ore or mineral body and is displaced during mining without being processed. (See:  Tailing ponds)

A tailing pond, settling pond, or settling pit is an area in which waterborne tailings are pumped into a pond to allow the separation of solids from the water. The pond is generally impounded with a dam, and known as tailings impoundments or tailings dams. Since the purpose of tailing ponds is to contain hazardous substances, they do not have outflow.

Proposed are that:

• Tailing ponds are tagged natural=water + water=tailing_pond
• The tag reservoir_type=tailings is deprecated

Rationale

1. The current tagging and documentation for tailing ponds (reservoir_type=tailings) is unclear as to whether they should be tagged as a reservoir or a basin. This resolves the ambiguity by categorizing tailing ponds as their own category under water=*.
2. Tailing ponds are not considered reservoirs in common usage. Storage of waste products should not be grouped with bodies of water used for traditional water storage.

Examples

• 

  Las Tórtolas tailing pond, Chile

• 

  Bauxite residue dump, Germany

• 

  Sunokobashi tailing pond, Japan

• 

  Recycled water settling pond, Kachkanar, Sverdlovskaya oblast, Russia

• 

  Wheal Jane settling pits, United Kingdom

• 

  Settling pond at a uranium processing plant, United States

Tagging

While some tailing ponds are apparent based on their colorful (polluted) appearance and lack of outflow, in other cases, tailing ponds cannot easily be discerned from ordinary lakes or ponds. Often, tailing ponds can be found near a mining or quarrying operation. Tailing ponds are tagged natural=water + water=tailing_pond.

A possible, but unconfirmed tailing pond can be tagged simply with natural=water.

Applies to

Features/Pages affected

Page	Change
water=*	Add a new key tailing_pond for tailing ponds
water=tailing_pond	Create this page
reservoir_type=*	Mark the value reservoir_type=tailings as deprecated.
waterway=dam	Indicate that dams may also be tagged in association with tailing ponds.

External discussions

• Tagging list, Jan 2021: sewage, tailings, and evaporators
• Tagging list, Dec 2020: tagging sewage treatment basins

Comments

Please comment on the discussion page.