Russian diamond miner Alrosa has installed automated monitoring systems at tailings dumps at its Udachny Division in Western Yakutia.

The Udachny Division includes the Udachny mine and the Zarnitsa mine.

The equipment will measure water levels, temperatures along thermometric wells, and other vital checks to ensure the safety of the tailings facilities.

Udachny Division oversees two tailings storage facilities, under the supervision from specialists at Processing Plant No 12.

In 2020, Alrosa installed and commissioned the equipment at the tailings dump at the Aikhal Division's Processing Plant No. 14. The Aikhal division includes the Komsomolsky, Yubileyny, and Aikhal mines.

This year, Alrosa will install the equipment at two tailings dumps at the Udachny Division Processing Plant No 12. Next year, Alrosa will install the equipment at two facilities: Nyurba and Mirny Divisions. Nyurba includes the Nyurbinsky and Botuobinsky mines, while Mirny includes Mir, Vodorazdelnye Galechniki, Irelyakh and Gornoye mines.

After this is completed, Alrosa will install the equipment at tailings dams in Mirny, Udachny, Aikhal, and Nakyn.

The new system will aggregate data from the equipment, Udachny Division head Sergey Pavlenko said. Previously, specialists manually took these measurements.

Earlier this month, Alrosa said it would spend US$34.3 million to reclaim the tailings pit of processing plant No. 8 at the Aikhal Division by 2029. The company plans to cease mining at the Konsomolsky deposit and shutter processing plant No. 8 by the end of 2020.

The first stage of the reclamation project will be to drain the pit and restore the course of the Sokhsolookh River. The tailings facility will be dismantled between 2025 and 2029.