Published: March 15, 2025
ACG PASTE 2025
AMC Consultants looks forward to attending the 27th International Conference on Paste, Thickened, and Filtered Tailings (PASTE 2025) at the Swakopmund Hotel and Entertainment Centre in Namibia, from April 8–10, 2025.
Tony Grice, Global Leader – Backfill and Principal Mining Consultant, will present at the Mine Fill Workshop, held in conjunction with the conference.
About ACG Paste
This conference brings together academics, designers, practitioners, consultants and suppliers to discuss best practice, improved methods and technology, with an emphasis on safety, efficiency, and environmental impact. The conference themes include:
- Thickening and filtration
- Rheology
- Emerging issues and technology
- Case studies
- Surface disposal
- Transportation
- Instrumentation and monitoring of tailings
- Underground and backfill
Paste 2025 seeks to explore the considerations needed to raise the mining industry leaders’ awareness of how important environmental stewardship is to long-term industry sustainability, with regard to their tailings facilities.
With many operations now retrofitting their plants and tailings storages from conventional to thickened technology, the theme of this conference is very timely for an industry that is increasingly concerned with long-term sustainability.
AMC at the Conference
Presentation: Integrating tailings backfill systems and surface tailings storage
Presenter: Tony Grice
Date: Friday, 11 April 2025
Time: 16:35 PM - 17:00 PM
This presentation will look to discuss the integration of underground tailings backfill systems with surface tailings systems and some of the design and operation considerations that arise. Tony will explain some of the tonnage and volume design factors and provide case study examples to illustrate different objectives and outcomes from recent projects.
Topics will further explore:
- This session will focus on tailings based backfill
- Waste rock management is important and is covered in detail in the new ACG Comprehensive Handbook on MineFill 2025
- Mass and volumetric balance of tailings on surface and underground
- Supply and demand, mining void and tailings volume
- Continuity issues – mining is ~continuous, milling utilisation ~92%, paste and hydraulic fill systems are ~50% to ~65% utilisation
- Permitting issues – Time to obtain approval
- Case Study 1 – High grade zinc silver mine, no room for surface tailings storage
- Case Study 2 – Old gold mine with no permit for next tailings lift but lots of unfilled stopes
- Case Study 3 – Open pit gold mine with UG extensions, eliminate final tailings lift
- Case Study 4 – Mine changing from wet tailings to dry stack enabling a new paste fill system for UG mine
- Summary
- Questions
Tony Grice
Global Leader - Backfill / Principal Mining Consultant
About Tony
Tony has 40+ years of broad global experience in mining. This experience spans underground mine production, quarrying, scheduling, planning, and technical computing. He has specialized in mine backfill systems for 30+ years and is a leading expert. He consults on all areas of backfill, from selection, design, and implementation through to operational support, technical audits, and training. He is a co-author of two books, the Handbook on MineFill, and Paste & Thickened Tailings - A Guide (3rd Edn.).
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