Tailings Dams in Minnesota

Minnesota has 57 tailings dams, of which 5 carry a high hazard classification. Tailings dams contain waste material from mining operations — typically a slurry of finely ground rock left over after valuable minerals have been extracted.

#	Dam	County	Height (ft)	Hazard	Condition	Year
1	Erie Basin 2	St. Louis	250	Significant	Satisfactory	1978
2	Essar Steel Tailings Basin	Itasca	200	Significant	Satisfactory	2011
3	Erie Basin 1	St. Louis	200	Significant	Satisfactory	1978
4	Poly Met Hrf Dam	St. Louis	111	Significant	Not assessed
5	Canisteo No. 2 North	Itasca	100	Low	Not assessed
6	Northshore Mining	Lake	100	High	Not assessed	1977
7	Hibbing Taconite Starter No. 4	St. Louis	100	Undetermined	Not assessed
8	Hibbing Taconite Starter No. 2	St. Louis	100	Undetermined	Not assessed	1975
9	Hibbing Taconite Tailings Basin	St. Louis	100	High	Not assessed
10	Hibbing Taconite Reclaim Pond	St. Louis	100	High	Not assessed
11	Western Hibtac	St. Louis	100	Undetermined	Not assessed	1978
12	Canisteo Pit	Itasca	75	Low	Satisfactory
13	Essar Steel Reclaim Pond	Itasca	70	Low	Not assessed	2011
14	Nspc Stage 2 Tailings	St. Louis	70	Significant	Satisfactory	1978
15	Polymet-ltv	St. Louis	69	Significant	Satisfactory	1981
16	Hill Annex No. 3 (south)	Itasca	65	Low	Satisfactory	1920
17	Hill Annex No. 1 (north)	Itasca	63	Low	Fair	1954
18	Upland Cell II Interior	St. Louis	60	Significant	Not assessed	2011
19	Lind Greenway	Itasca	58	Significant	Fair	1976
20	O'brien North	Itasca	58	Significant	Satisfactory	1972
21	Clay-boswell	Itasca	50	Significant	Satisfactory
22	Buckeye Tailings No. 2	Itasca	50	Low	Not assessed	1950
23	Plummer Basin East Tailings	Itasca	50	Low	Not assessed	1956
24	Minntac Tailings	St. Louis	50	Low	Not assessed	1978
25	Eveleth Taconite Tailings	St. Louis	50	High	Not assessed	1978
26	Holman Clear Water Pond	Itasca	49	Low	Satisfactory	2012
27	Sherman Group Tailings	St. Louis	48	Low	Satisfactory	1970
28	Plummer Basin W Tailings	Itasca	45	Low	Not assessed	2015
29	Holman Tailings Basin	Itasca	45	Significant	Satisfactory
30	Nspc Initial Tailings	St. Louis	45	Low	Satisfactory	1968
31	Inland Steel Tailings	St. Louis	44	High	Not assessed	1976
32	Reservoir No. 2	Itasca	40	Significant	Satisfactory	1972
33	Reservoir No. 6	Itasca	40	Low	Satisfactory	1966
34	Mesabi Chief Tailings 2	Itasca	40	Low	Satisfactory	1952
35	Orwell-danube West Tailings Basin	Itasca	40	Low	Not assessed	1954
36	Plummer Basin Sw Clear Water Pond	Itasca	40	Low	Not assessed	1947
37	Orwell-danube East Tailings Basin	Itasca	40	Low	Not assessed	1954
38	Douglas Tailings	St. Louis	40	Significant	Satisfactory	1960
39	Sherco	Sherburne	39	Significant	Satisfactory	1983
40	Perry-wyman Tailings	Itasca	35	Low	Poor	1949
41	Trout Lake Tailings	Itasca	35	Low	Satisfactory	1954
42	Nsp-bottom Ash	Sherburne	35	Significant	Satisfactory	1983
43	Donora Settling	St. Louis	32	Low	Satisfactory	1970
44	Sauntry Creek Settling	St. Louis	32	Low	Satisfactory	1977
45	Minorca Pit South	St. Louis	30	Significant	Satisfactory	2008
46	Hunner Tailings	Itasca	25	Low	Satisfactory	1956
47	Butler Taconite Initial Tailings	Itasca	25	Undetermined	Not assessed	1969
48	Pioneer Clarification	St. Louis	25	Low	Poor	1961
49	Pioneer Tailings	St. Louis	25	Low	Fair	1961
50	Mesabi Chief Clarification	Itasca	24	Low	Satisfactory	1960
51	Mesabi Chief Tailings 3	Itasca	24	Low	Satisfactory	1960
52	Sherman Mine Wastewater	St. Louis	20	Low	Fair	1953
53	West Hill Mine Pit	Koochiching	18	Significant	Poor
54	East Stephens Settling	St. Louis	15	Low	Fair	1964
55	Plant Site Settling	St. Louis	15	Significant	Satisfactory	1950
56	West Stephens Settling	St. Louis	10	Low	Satisfactory	1964
57	Wabigone Tailings	St. Louis	10	Low	Not assessed	1941

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