Sustainability Tailings management

Tailings management

Gold Fields Ghana is committed to the safe and stable design, sustainable development, construction, operation and closure of our tailings storage facilities (TSFs). To ensure this, tailings management at Gold Fields Ghana is governed by:

Far East Tailings Storage Facility at Damang mine
  • Ghana Minerals and Mining (Health, Safety, and Technical) Regulations, 2012, (LI 2182)
  • Ghana Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Act, 1994 (Act 490)
  • Ghana Environmental Assessment Regulations (LI 1652)
  • Ghana Minerals Commission and EPA Specific Permitting Conditions for the TSFs
  • Australian National Committee on Large Dams (ANCOLD) guidelines on tailings dams
  • Gold Fields Group TSF Management Guidelines, which have been informed by the ICMM Tailings Position Statement 2018

Over the past two decades, Gold Fields Ghana has ensured that:

  • All TSFs are properly engineered, constructed and operated under the supervision of internationally recognised tailings specialist consulting firms
  • Regular operational and stability audits are carried out by the facility design engineers and third-party engineers
  • We appoint experienced specialist tailings consultancies as Engineer of Record (EoR) to support and provide guidance on the development, operation, maintenance and closure of our TSFs
  • Seepage control mechanisms are in place to capture and return potential seepage from the TSFs
  • Land use trials at closed TSFs are ongoing with successful cultivation of various cash and food crops including coconut, palm tree, cocoa, plantain, cocoyam and cassava
Management of Tailings Storage Facilities: June 2019 – PDF

TSFs owned and managed by our Tarkwa and Damang mines include:

MINE
  • Tarkwa TSF 1
  • Tarkwa TSF 2
  • Tarkwa TSF 3
  • Tarkwa TSF 5
  • Damang FETSF
  • Damang ETSF
  • Damang STSF
STATUS
  • Active
  • Active
  • Decommissioning ongoing
  • Active
  • Active
  • Closed and rehabilitation ongoing
  • Closed and rehabilitation ongoing
MINE
  • Tarkwa TSF 1 – Active
  • Tarkwa TSF 2 – Active
  • Tarkwa TSF 3 – Decommissioning ongoing
  • Tarkwa TSF 5 – Active
  • Damang FETSF – Active
  • Damang ETSF – Closed and rehabilitation ongoing
  • Damang STSF – Closed and rehabilitation ongoing

Gold Fields is also committed to:

  • Moving away from upstream TSF constructions
  • Adopting and implementing measures outlined in the recently released Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) over the next five years
Read more about Gold Fields Group’s tailings management