NEWSFLASH: Satellite Data Showed Warnings Ahead of Tailings Facility Failure in Chile

Value.Space analysed the recent failure of Chinchorro tailings storage facility (TSF) in Chile’s Valparaíso region. The satellite-based movement survey identified the existence of a clear deformation cluster on the failed section of the TSF’s containment wall, almost a year before the failure.

On 13 June 2024 a slip occurred on the confinement wall of Chinchorro tailings storage facility that was used for paste tailings deposits from the Cabildo copper mining operations of the Las Cenizas Mining Group.

According to the information provided by the company unusually high rainfall in the area resulted in an increase in the surface water level inside the TSF, causing a slide in the upper part of the wall, which, in-turn, generated a run-off of accumulated water from the TSF.

FIGURE 1 – Value.Space’s satellite-based movement survey of Chinchorro TSF

• Assessment period: 7 May 2022 to 13 June 2024.

• Value.Space’s assessment of the Chinchorro TSF identified a notable movement cluster on the TSF containment wall at the exact area of the failure.

• This movement cluster has the highest deformation values – up to 48,4 mm per year – compared to other sections of the dam and reaches from the top to the toe of the containment wall.

FIGURE 2 – Value.Space’s assessment of the Chinchorro TSF failure

• Movement cluster 1 – detailed data timeline shows deformation throughout the assessment period, but with two distinct acceleration events: first in July 2023 and the second from April 2024, before the failure.

• Based on the data and findings, warning signs were present at least 11 months before the failure.

FIGURE 3 – Detailed data timeline of the movement cluster on the failed section

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