Our Pinos Altos Complex in Mexico is putting its mine tailings to good use – repurposing this waste material into a sustainable new product.
The environmental team at the mine has been using filtered tailings as raw material to improve underground safety, reduce the mine’s environmental footprint, and restore the local landscape.
The team uses some [40%] of these filtered tailings – which are dried and detoxified, and meet all international and Mexican environmental standards – to create a high-resistance paste with a mix of cement and water to backfill cavities in the underground mine. This not only improves the stability of the mine, but it also improves the safety conditions for our workforce.
The remaining [60%] tailings are deposited in a depleted open pit, which has been safely converted to a Tailings Management Facility (TMF). This ensures the physical stability of the tailings without the risk of them moving. It also reduces the mine’s environmental footprint by avoiding the need to build a new TMF on undisturbed land, while restoring the landscape.
“We engaged extensively with our community stakeholders on this innovative project and received positive feedback,” Paola Cazares, Sustainability Director. “They were closely involved during the preparation and construction of the tailings deposit, and a significant number of direct and indirect local jobs were generated. Additionally, the mining community in Mexico – including government, academic and industry experts – have recognized this as one of the most innovative and responsible mining methods in Mexico, we expect it will be replicated throughout the industry.”