Submitted:
03 June 2026
Posted:
04 June 2026
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Abstract
FEFLOW is used to analyze seepage flow through a tailings storage facility constructed by on-dam cycloning. Partial saturation of tailings beach material is accounted for by solving Richards’ transient flow equation throughout facility staged construction, using seepage analysis of idealized 1D and 2D staged construction processes to set FEFLOW time stepping and mesh size parameters. Computed results include design intended phreatic surface level, drain flows, and water balance of the tailings storage facility. Transient seepage analysis is also used to examine how as-built rise in the facility’s dam crest phreatic surface levels may be controlled by both hydraulic conductivity gradient of the tailings beaches and hydraulic conductivity of the dam downstream shells.
Keywords:
tailings dams
; staged construction
; transient seepage analysis
; Richards’ equation
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