Program*
28th International Conference on Paste, Thickened and Filtered Tailings
14–16 April 2026 InterContinental Lisbon | Lisbon, Portugal
Stay tuned for the conference program*
*Program is subject to change.
The Paste 2026 program will include a number of panel sessions.
Panel 1: Improving economics to enable large tonnage filtered tailings applications
Description
Filtered tailings technology is proven for low tonnage mining applications (typically 200–6,000 tonnes per day [t/d]) and miners are increasingly implementing the technology for higher tonnages (up to 35,000 t/d). However, due to cost considerations there are not yet large tonnages applications (greater than 100,000 t/d). To enable adoption of filtered tailings for large tonnage operations, significant innovation is needed to reduce the costs of dewatering, transport, and stack construction. Recognising the progress already achieved, the panel will explore potentially transformative ideas to improve the economics of filtered tailings systems.
Facilitator
Dr Robert Cooke
Consultant
Paterson & Cooke Ltd., USA
Robert founded Paterson & Cooke with Angus Paterson in 1991. He retired from full-time employment with P&C in 2025, and now as a consultant continues to pursue his passion for improving tailings management systems to reduce the impact of tailings on communities and the environment. He serves on several independent tailings review panels, undertakes technical reviews, and is a member of the Technical Working Group of BHP and Rio Tinto’s Tailings Management Consortium.
Panellists include:
Filipe Costa
Corporate Technical Specialist
Vale, Brazil
Filipe is a civil and geotechnical engineer with over 15 years’ experience specialising in mine tailings and waste management. He served as a tailings engineer for one of Brazil’s largest tailings storage facilities. Filipe spent two years as a Deputy Engineer of Record for coal tailings storage facilities in British Columbia, Canada.
After the Brumadinho tailings dam failure, Filipe coordinated the development and implementation of the Tailings and Dams Management System (TDMS). He currently serves as corporate technical manager for geotechnical governance and compliance at Vale, leading technical standards, governance frameworks, and assurance processes for geotechnical risk management at the corporate level.
Dr Joe Scalia
Associate Professor
Colorado State University, USA
Joe Scalia is an associate professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University (CSU) specialising in tailings and mine waste research and education. He is the CSU site director of the Tailings Center, and co-chair of the Tailings & Mine Waste 2026 Conference in Denver, Colorado. He is also the chair of the SME Filtered Tailings Working Group.
Joe has authored over 70 peer reviewed publications and is an associate editor for the Journal of Geotechnical & Geoenvironmental Engineering and Geotextiles & Geomembranes, as well as an editorial board member of the Canadian Geotechnical Journal and Geosynthetics International.
João Verde
Senior Geotechnical Engineer
Knight Piésold, UK
João is a UK Registered Ground Engineering Specialist with 17 years’ experience at Knight Piésold, specialising in geotechnical investigations, soil mechanics, geotechnical modelling, stability assessments, and ground engineering for mine waste facilities. He is experienced in the design, analysis, and construction supervision of tailings storage facilities and waste rock storage facilities worldwide. João has a track record supporting mining companies in reducing and managing geotechnical and operational risk across projects ranging from small to large-scale sites.
Panel 2: Motivating for more expensive tailings management options: How do we value the environmental, social, and governance benefits?
Description
- What is the value of a demonstrably lower risk tailings strategy?
- Water is still not priced properly: Discuss?
- Reducing risk reduces cost: What is the cost of demonstrating that conventional tailings facilities are 99.9% safe from failure?
- Closure: We all want to do it properly and sustainably, but with so few mines actually closing, how do we motivate for desaturated tailings disposal which can demonstrably reduce closure costs and post-closure liability?
Facilitator
Phil Newman
VP Innovation
Anglo American, UK
Phil is vice president tailings innovation at Anglo American and is working on the roll-out and commercialisation of hydraulic dewatered stacking, a new tailings management approach developed and patented by Anglo American. He has been involved in all aspects of innovation and technology development at Anglo American since 2015 and managed their open innovation program from 2015 to 2020.
Phil has over 30 years’ experience in mining, starting with paste technology in the mid-1990’s, when he co-founded Golder PasteTec. Phil was also chair of Paste 2006 in Limerick, Ireland
Panellists
Johan Boshoff
Vice President: Global Tailings Management
Gold Fields Australia, Australia
Johan Boshoff has been involved in geotechnical engineering aspects of mine waste projects for the past 30 years. His expertise includes detailed design, monitoring and project management of tailings storage facilities, mine residue stockpiles and waste disposal facilities. In the past, he has also fulfilled the role of Engineer of Record for major mining clients on key assets.
He has worked on projects in South Africa, West and Central Africa, Australasia, Asia, Latin America, and North America. Johan is also the primary and supporting author of numerous publications, conference papers, and work papers dealing with tailings disposal aspects and mine waste.
As the vice president of global tailings management (based in Perth, Western Australia) he is the discipline leader and subject matter expert for all company-owned and operated tailings storage facilities (TSFs). He also supports implementing leading industry practices for effective and sustainable design, construction, operation, and closure of TSFs across all Gold Fields and Joint Venture operations. He is a member of the ICMM Tailings Working Group and served on an advisory panel to establish the Global Tailings Management Institute. He is also the chair of the GeoStable Tailings Consortium Technical Committee.
Dr Matt Treinen
Principal Engineer
Newmont Corporation, USA
Panel 3: Designing the underground distribution system of the future: current trends, best practice, and what the future holds
Description
Filtered tailings technology is proven for low tonnage mining applications (typically 200–6,000 tonnes per day [t/d]) and miners are increasingly implementing the technology for higher tonnages (up to 35,000 t/d). However, due to cost considerations there are not yet large tonnages applications (greater than 100,000 t/d). To enable adoption of filtered tailings for large tonnage operations, significant innovation is needed to reduce the costs of dewatering, transport, and stack construction. Recognising the progress already achieved, the panel will explore potentially transformative ideas to improve the economics of filtered tailings systems.
Facilitator
Dr Ryan Veenstra
Principal Specialist Backfill
Gold Fields Australia, Australia
Ryan is a principal backfill specialist, providing technical and operational expertise and leadership for Gold Fields underground operations and projects. Over the last 20 years, he has been involved in backfill as an academic, consultant, and industry engineer (both in operations and corporate spaces). His expertise and experience cover the entire backfill system with a particular speciality in backfill geomechanics. He has a geological engineering degree from the University of Waterloo and holds a PhD in civil engineering from the University of Toronto.
Panellists:
Leslie Correia
Senior Engineer
Paterson & Cooke, Canada
Leslie is a senior chemical engineer at Paterson & Cooke. He is the global backfill lead who brings international expertise from mining in the Americas and Africa, integrating tailings management and backfill technologies.
Louis-Philippe Gelinas
Principal Mining Backfill Engineer
Agnico Eagle Mines Limited, Canada
Louis-Philippe is a principal mining backfill engineer specialising in cemented paste and cemented rockfill backfill design, optimisation, and operational performance. With over a decade of experience in underground mining, he has led major technical initiatives focused on improving backfill reliability, rheology control, and long-term geomechanical stability. His work bridges field operations and applied research, helping mines integrate data-driven decision-making into backfill systems. He is passionate about advancing backfill practices to support safer and more efficient mining operations.
Emily Harris
Principal Consultant (Sustainability)
SRK Consulting, UK
Emily is a sustainability professional at SRK with 20 years’ experience in the mining sector. She collaborates with engineering colleagues to embed sustainability concepts throughout the mining life cycle, including tailings management. To complement the understanding of technical constraints and opportunities on projects, she brings practical perspectives on local context, regulatory requirements, global industry standards and stakeholder expectations.
Dean Harty
Operations Specialist Paste
Northern Star Resources Limited, Australia
Dean is the technical and operational lead for Northern Star’s cemented paste backfill operations, supporting existing operations and leading the design and commissioning of new projects. With 14 years involvement in paste fill as a consultant, designer, project engineer, superintendent, contractor and operator, he has a wide breadth of experience from high level scoping to nut and bolt operational detail. He brings the operators’ perspective to the holistic paste fill system, specialising in the design and implementation of robust underground reticulation systems. He has an advanced diploma in mechanical engineering and is an associate member of the Institute of Engineers, Australia.
Glenn MacGregor
General Manager of Sales
Imatech / ArmorPIPE, Australia
Glenn is the general manager of sales for Imatech ArmorPIPE™ technologies and has been working in heavy industry for more than 30 years. Since 2005, his focus has been the development and supply of pipe systems for mine backfill and shotcrete transportation and he has worked on projects in Europe, north and central America, Africa and Australia and as such, has become a recognised member of the global backfill community. This work has also included pioneering ArmorSCAN™ backfill pipe surveying services to enable maintainable backfill borehole systems.
