Speakers from Brazil, the United States, Chile, Australia, Germany, and Spain will address the new challenges of tailings management at the 2026 Water and Tailings Congress.

Tailings management continues to be among the main technical, environmental, and operational challenges for the global mining industry. In that context, the Congress Water and Tailings 2026 will bring together international speakers in Lima Brazil, United States, Chile, Australia, Germany, and Spain, who will share experiences, research, and solutions related to governance, innovation, water management, automation, risk assessment, and sustainability applied to tailings facilities.

The meeting, organized by InterMet, will take place on June 11 and 12 at the Hotel José Antonio Deluxe and will bring together specialists, operators, consultants, supervisors, and supplier companies linked to water and tailings management in mining, consolidating itself as one of the most important specialized technical spaces in the sector.

International Participation and Technical Agenda

Among the confirmed international speakers is Vicente Mello, GTMI Deputy Chair of the Global Tailings Management Institute (Brazil), who will present the conference “GTMI as a tool for continuous improvement and risk management,” focused on strengthening standards and governance for tailings facilities.

Bryan Ulrich, CEO of Bryan Ulrich LLC, will participate from the United States with the presentation “Responsible Water Management in Mining Tailings: An Oxymoron?”, where he will address the challenges associated with water management in tailings facilities and their relationship with sustainability and risk reduction.

The technical agenda will also include the participation of Ricardo Jeldres, director of the Master's in Engineering Sciences with a mention in Mineral Process Engineering at the University of Antofagasta (Chile), who will present on tailings rheology and its influence on the design and management of tailings storage facilities under clayey scenarios.

From Australia, Hernán Cifuentes, founder and principal consultant of Tailings HC Consulting, will analyze “The real cost of a tailings storage facility: from design to post-closure,” addressing technical, economic, and operational variables associated with the complete lifecycle of these facilities.

Also, Jorge Macedo, Frederick Olmsted Early Career Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology (United States), will present a technical evaluation linked to the failure of the Cadia tailings storage facility, while Serrana Verges, director of Ambioteck (Chile), will discuss immutable water cycle traceability and tailings monitoring through artificial intelligence and blockchain.

The international program also includes the participation of Esteban Venegas Franzolini, Head of Business Development Global Mining and Infrastructure LATAM at Bauer Spezialtiefbau GmbH (Germany), who will address solutions for constructing retaining walls under extreme conditions; Eduardo Casanova, Sales Area Manager LATAM Region at TH COMPANY (Spain), with a presentation on tailings dewatering; and Camilo I. Mejías Neira, CEO of Hibring (Chile), who will present adaptive automatic control strategies for high-speed thickeners under variable tailings conditions.

The 2026 edition will be chaired by Engineer Manuel Rodríguez Mariátegui, general manager of Cerro de Pasco Resources, who will lead the development of the congress along with an advisory committee made up of professionals linked to mining operations, water resources, tailings, sustainability, and innovation applied to the sector. Among the represented companies and institutions are Anglo American Quellaveco, Minsur, Volcan Compañía Minera, Minera Chinalco Perú, Antapaccay, Nexa Resources, Minera Las Bambas, Osinergmin, and ARDEL.

Pre-course and supplementary training

As part of the complementary activities, the international technical course “Engineering for Safer Tailings Storage Facilities: Design, Governance, and Risk Management” will be held on June 10, led by Bryan Ulrich, a geotechnical engineer with over four decades of experience in the design, assessment, and management of tailings facilities.

The program will address aspects such as physical stability, risk assessment, governance, water management, liquefaction potential analysis, and lessons learned from emblematic failures recorded in the global mining industry, such as Mount Polley, Fundão, and Brumadinho.

Additionally, the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), sponsor of the congress's Coffee Break, will raffle off an online course with live classes on tailings management among registered participants, incorporating an additional component of training and professional development for attendees.

In its previous edition, the Water and Tailings Congress brought together over 350 participants, consolidating a technical exchange platform focused on innovation, sustainability, and best practices for water and tailings management in mining.

For information on stands and sponsorships, interested parties can contact 936 969 130 or write to congresos1@encuentrometalurgia.com e informes@encuentrometalurgia.com