Satellite Imaging for Tailings Impoundment Water Balance

Tailings impoundments are disposal locations for sediments resulting from mineral processing at mining industry facilities. Tailings are commonly transported to impoundments as a water slurry. Evaporation loss is the single largest output component of tailing impoundment water balances for locations in the arid southwest of the United States. Previous estimates of evaporation loss for an example site were based on regional climate data and were in the range of 15 to 20 percent of water delivered. Satellite images obtained at approximate one month intervals were analyzed to estimate relative moisture of the tailings impoundment surface. The relative moisture results coupled with local-scale evaporation data were used to refine previously estimated evaporation loss. Results indicate that evaporation losses at the example site were larger than previously estimated and range from 30 to 40 percent of water delivered.