A tailing dam fails at Williamson diamond mine, Tanzania

Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 28 October 2022 at 07:50:09 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 07 November 2022 at 07:50:29 UTC
Author(s): Sentinel Vision team, VisioTerra, France - svp@visioterra.fr
Keyword(s): Emergency, flooding, tailing dam, diamond mine, open pit mine, natural resources, hydrology, Tanzania
Fig. 1 - S2 (28.10.2022 / 07.11.2022) - A breach in a tailing dam caused a flooding at the largest diamond mine of Tanzania.
3D view 3D view 3D view 3D view
The eastern wall of a tailings storage facility at its Williamson diamond mine, in Tanzania, was breached earlier on November 7, resulting in flooding away from the pit and extending into areas outside of the mine lease area. A total of 13 dwellings have been affected by the breach. Three minor injuries have been reported.
Fig. 2 - S2 (28.10.2022 / 07.11.2022) - A dam downstream has been overtopped and polluted but it was not swept away.
2D view
The whitish plume is over 6 km long and has a maximum width of about 1.2 km. A very rough estimate has a surface area of the plume at about 4.7 km².
The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Space Agency or the European Union.
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024, processed by VisioTerra.
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