TAILINGS MONITORING: Decipher leads global shift in tailings management

[caption id="attachment_1003739046" align="aligncenter" width="550"] Decipher software Credit: Decipher[/caption] AUSTRALIA - Tailings storage is a significant part of the mining process, and failures can be catastrophic. Decipher is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company, delivering cloud solutions for improvements across mine rehabilitation and closure. Following last year’s catastrophic tailings dam failure in Brazil, the company has created a solution to help mining companies effectively monitor and report on their facilities. Anthony Walker, Decipher’s CEO, explained that the Brazil dam failure was one of the catalysts for a new global approach around tailings monitoring. With an estimated 3,500 storage facilities worldwide and an increasing number of failures occurring, it was clear that a fresh look at the reporting and monitoring was needed. “We know there is good practice in the sector, but it is the corporate responsibility of all mining companies to ensure everything possible is being done to prevent further failures from occurring,” Walker said in a release. Days after the tragic event in Brazil, a group of investors announced the Investor Mining and Tailings Safety Initiative, which called upon mining companies to disclose information related to their tailings facilities. Twelve months later, the Global Tailings Portal was built by Norway-based GRID-Arendal and launched at the Global Tailings Summit held in London this January. “Decipher is really excited by this concept and we believe we have the technology to make a positive contribution to the reporting and monitoring process,” Walker added. With the support of its parent company, Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers Limited, Decipher reached out to GRID-Arendal, offering to provide a no-cost integration between its award-winning platform and the new Global Tailings Portal. The two companies also recently teamed up to produce a free webinar on tailings storage facilities. The Decipher platform offers a comprehensive solution, which combines a central repository for historic data, regulatory technology, environmental monitoring and evaluation tools, stakeholder engagement, and a reporting suite. “We saw the opportunity to apply this revolutionary technology to provide mining companies with key data driven information and insights around monitoring TSFs (tailings storage facilities). It seamlessly integrates functionality and data across regulation technology and monitoring technology into one central platform to allow our clients to focus on compliance, best practice, integrated monitoring information and efficient decision making,” Walker explained. Reflecting on the launch, Walker said Decipher has had a fantastic response to their tailings solution. “We’ve welcomed a number of tier 1 mining companies onboard and we continue to receive extremely positive feedback indicating that Decipher is an industry leading solution for tailings, data capture, monitoring, reporting and compliance with the Investor Initiative and other industry bodies. We are one of the few companies to focus on rehabilitated sites and we’re really looking forward to working with our clients to continue adding to the database and reducing the risk of TSF failures.” For more information, visit www.Decipher.com.au.