Aitik Tailings dam

Sweden’s largest tailings dam is at Aitik outside Gällivare in the northern part of Sweden. The tailing has a total volume of about 300 million m3. The tailings dams have a total length of about 8 km. A part of “Dam E-Fs extension” at Aitik failed in September 2000. A new dam was immediately constructed at the same place in which two fiber optic cables were installed in order to measure temperature and strain. These parameters are fundamental in dam monitoring and give information about both seepage flow and sliding at each metre along the dam. Temperature measurements have been performed twice, but strain measurements still have to be done.