slgwv's photos with the keyword: tails

"Tailings" ("tails" for short) are the waste material that's been processed thru the mill. They thus are very fine-grained, almost flour-like. It is not a general synonym for any old mining debris!

Down Leadville canyon. They didn't worry too much about environmental impact in those days! Washoe County, Nevada, USA. "Tailings" ("tails" for short) are the leftovers _after_ the ore has been processed thru the mill. It's not just any old debris from mining.

Showing terraced tails from the mill (just off the pic to the left) at the Pine Creek Mine. The snowcapped range on the skyline is the White Mountains, east of the Sierra Nevada. We're looking pretty much due east. Sierra Nevada, California, USA.