Tailings Dams in North Carolina

North Carolina has 25 tailings dams, of which 12 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	Belews Creek Active Ash Basin Dam	Stokes	135	High	Fair	1971
2	Cliffside Active Ash Basin Downstream Dam	Cleveland	120	High	Satisfactory	1972
3	Foote Mineral Tailings Dam	Cleveland	90	Low	Fair	1958
4	Buck Ash Basin #1 Dam	Rowan	72	High	Satisfactory	1982
5	Buck Main Ash Basin Dam	Rowan	70	High	Satisfactory	1957
6	Bonsal Tailings Dam	Anson	63	High	Fair	1976
7	Cliffside Active Ash Basin Upstream Dam	Cleveland	60	High	Satisfactory	1972
8	Piedmont Minerals Lake Dam	Orange	50	Low
9	Lithium Lagoon D Dam	Gaston	40	Significant	Fair
10	Hedrick Tailings Dike #2 Dam	Anson	38	Significant	Fair	1983
11	Bv Hedrick Tailings Dike #3 Dam	Anson	35	High	Fair	1989
12	Pcs Phosphate Clay Pond Dam #5b	Beaufort	35	Low	Fair	1986
13	Pcs Phosphate R-7 Blend Dike	Beaufort	35	High	Poor	2007
14	Martin-marietta Lake Dam	Catawba	35	Low	Fair	1969
15	Unimin Woodward Tract Dam	Richmond	32	Low	Fair	1990
16	Unimin Dam #5	Richmond	30	Low	Fair	1990
17	#3 Slurry Pond	Stanly	30	High	Not Available
18	Tungston Mine Tailings Dam	Vance	27	Significant	Fair
19	Martin-marietta Quarry Dam	Gaston	26	Significant	Fair	1974
20	Hedrick Tailings Dike #1 (lower #8 Pond Dam)	Anson	25	Low	Fair	1982
21	Buck Basin #1 To Basin #2 Dam	Rowan	25	High	Satisfactory	1982
22	W.r. Bonsal Mud Pond Dike	Anson	21	Significant	Not Rated	1986
23	Buck Basin #2 To Basin #3 Dam	Rowan	20	High	Satisfactory	1979
24	Buck Ash Basin Divider Dam	Rowan	10	High	Satisfactory	1977
25	Hedrick Tailings Dike #1 Dam	Anson	0	Significant

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