Baogang Tailings Dam, also known as the Baotou Tailings Dam or Weikuang Dam, is a

tailings dam A tailings dam is typically an earth-fill embankment dam used to store byproducts of mining operations after separating the ore from the gangue. Tailings can be liquid, solid, or a slurry of fine particles, and are usually highly toxic and poten ...

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, on the outer ring of the city of

Baotou Baotou; is the largest city by urban population in Inner Mongolia, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, as of the 2020 census, its built-up (''or metro'') area made up of its 5 urban districts is home to 2,261,089 people with a total po ...

, about 20 kilometres from the city centre. The dam is filled with

tailings In mining, tailings or tails are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different from overburden, which is the waste rock or other material ...

and waste slurry from nearby

rare earth mineral A rare-earth mineral contains one or more rare-earth elements as major metal constituents. Rare-earth minerals are usually found in association with alkaline to peralkaline igneous magmas in pegmatites or with carbonatite intrusives. Perovs ...

refinery plants. Accounts of the tailings dam appeared in western media outlets after a visit in 2015 by British writers Tim Maughan, Liam Young and Kate Davies from ''Unknown Fields'', a "nomadic design studio" from London. Footage posted on YouTube by Maughan appears to show him collecting samples from the floor of the dam. Maughan's account contrasts with the Chinese media's own reporting of the rare earth industry in the area. In 2016, Chinese authorities identified contamination of farmlands surrounding the dam. In recent years, the government has engaged in environmental cleanup efforts at the site. However, raised earth embankments around the dam, along with a concrete wall, make it inaccessible to the public. Construction of the dam began in 1955, and it was complete in 1963 but was not used until 1965. It is owned by Baotou Steel. The circular dam is long and has a capacity. The dam height will be raised a total of 20 m (66 ft) in two stages to a crest elevation of , and the final capacity will be . Bayan Obo Mining District, about 120 kilometres from Baotou city is the world's biggest supplier of rare earth minerals. They are used in the production of smartphones, tablets and other technology, like wind turbines. Production creates millions of tons of waste per year which has drawn much criticism of the dam. Chemicals in the dam have been linked to lower crop yields in surrounding farmlands and serious health problems among local villagers.

References

Environmental disasters in China Inner Mongolia Dams in China Tailings dams Dams completed in 1965 {{China-struct-stub