We are pleased to announce that the 6th WAIMM Tailings Conference will take place on November 12-13, 2025, in Accra-Ghana, under the theme “Understanding Tailings Behaviour and Advanced Modelling Techniques.” This year’s focus is designed to equip participants with invaluable insights and specialized knowledge critical for navigating current challenges and advancements in the field of tailings management.

This conference continues the established tradition of addressing key stages in the lifecycle of tailings management, an approach we have embraced in previous seminars. By maintaining this lifecycle focus, we aim to foster in-depth discussions that integrate the latest advancements in geotechnical engineering, thereby encouraging participants to explore both foundational principles and innovative solutions in tailings behaviour analysis.

Key Topics of Discussion

During the deliberations of the 6th WAIMM Tailings Conference, we will cover a comprehensive range of topics, with specific attention given to:

Day 1

• General Facility Design Concepts
  • Different facility design concepts require different attention and detail when it comes to designing, building, and operating a TSF/HLF.
  • The goal will be to describe different facility types and layouts and the different impact advanced characterization and modeling may have (or may be required) for successful engineering.
• Site Investigation and Laboratory Testing
  • As a follow-on for Design Concepts, the level and type of site investigations and material testing requirements will be different for each facility type.
  • The goal will be to understand the correlation between facility type and expected/required investigation and laboratory testing.
  • An additional goal will be to introduce advanced geotechnical laboratory tests that may be required for development of advanced constitutive models as input to advanced geotechnical models.
• Soil Mechanics 1
  • A brief review of soil mechanics as it pertains to design and modeling of tailings, TSFs, leach ore, and HLFs.
  • This will be expanded in a Critical State Soil Mechanics framework.
  • The goal will be a review of the more standard soil mechanics understanding and expanding this to the Critical State Soil Mechanics framework to better explain the ‘why’ of tailings and leach ore behavior.
• Standard Geotechnical Analyses
  • A focus on the need for seepage and slope stability modelling using standard approaches.
  • The goal will be to establish a baseline expectation of engineering analyses to satisfy standard-of-care and regulatory requirements.

Day 2

• Soil Mechanics 2
  • An advanced discussion on more sophisticated interpretations of laboratory testing.
  • A discussion on the development of advanced constitutive models as input to advanced geotechnical models.
  • The goal will be to expose attendees to the available, advanced constitutive models with a discussion on when/why to use different models for different materials and loading conditions.
• Advanced Modelling Techniques
  • A discussion on how and when to use advanced geotechnical analyses (the framework here will generally focus on Finite-Difference numerical modeling using FLAC).
  • The goal will be to expose attendees to the advantages and challenges associated with the use of advanced modelling techniques.
  • Note: this is not intended to be a tutorial on how to use the models, just an exposure to the use and power of these models.
• Operational Considerations
  • A discussion on what we, as engineers, can do during operations to expand our knowledge base about expected facility performance and actual facility performance.
  • This will look at monitoring, on-going testing, model calibration, and the Performance Based Design concept (previously known as the Observational Approach).
  • The goal will be to understand what we can do during operations of a facility to improve our understanding of the facility performance and material characteristics of mine-scale production.
• Closure
  • A discussion on what we mean by active closure, passive closure, and post closure in relation to anticipated behavior of materials and facilities.
  • The goal here is to expand the engineering understanding of a facility and petter predict long-term expected performance. Closure is not the end, and material behavior can be expected to change throughout the closure and post-closure process.
  • The goal is to equip attendees with some questions to be answered during the design process with closure in mind.
• Heap Leach Innovation
• Addressing technical advancements in heap leaching processes, including recovery efficiencies, environmental considerations, and leachate management.
• Case studies
  • There will be case studies spread throughout the two days, but we should leave some time for some real-world cases where these techniques have been successfully implemented for the betterment of a project (either risk understanding, risk reduction, or project cost savings).

Who Should Attend

• Industry professionals
• Academics
• Regulators
• Consultants
• Students

We look forward to engaging presentations, panel discussions, and networking opportunities that will foster a robust exchange of ideas that highlight the critical intersection of tailings management practices and technology-driven advancements.

To register in advance for the upcoming Tailings conference 2025, kindly click on the link below and fill the forms accordingly.

Register for 6th WAIMM Tailings Conference 2025

Please stay tuned for further updates on the agenda, and speaker announcements as we approach the event date. Your participation is essential in advancing the understanding and management of tailings sustainably and effectively.

Kindly contact the WAIMM office at events@waimm.org or +233 (0) 302-919-575 for inquiries and further information regarding sponsorship and participation.