Barragens de rejeitos na indústria mineral brasileira

Abstract

Mining is the extraction of mineral substances from deposits and is essential for the economy these days. The variety of minerals that are extracts from this activity are used in the industry in many segments and provide an amount of options for being used as raw material for innumerous products. However, mining has an negative image for many people due to it’s historical of accidents and the volume of rejects produced from the exploration, which represents an environmental problem because of the profound impacts that it can cause in the region where the mining goes on. Tailings dams are structures used for hold solid and liquid tailings from the mining industry. As the global demand for minerals is growing, the amount of tailings also increases and, therefore, the project of these dams must be meticulous and accomplished in a way to avoid any kind of accidents e to decrease the environmental impacts. Therefore, the objective of this undergraduate thesis was to present a study of tailings dams in the mining industry on the Brazilian territory. As an specific objective, a study was carried out about the ways to execute the project of a tailings dam and it was presented a case study about the accident occurred in Fundão Tailing, at Mariana, Minas Gerais, to comprehend the causes and consequences of the fact and what could have been done to avoid the disaster. With the presente thesis it was possible to evaluate how the concept of responsibility and ethics are important in the Brazilian mineral industry and how new technologies of reuse and disposal are necessary and must be developed.