Based on research carried out at 67 tailings dams in Spain: (1) tailings dams contain alternating sedimentary layers with contractive and dilative geomechanical behaviours; (2) tailings saturate quickly but drain more than 10 times slower due to the high-suction capacity of the porous sediments (2–300 MPa); and (3) over the long-term, a stationary flow regime is attained within a tailings basin. Four temporal and spatial conditions must all be present for a tailing dams flow failure to occur: (1) the tailings must experience contractive behaviour; (2) the tailings must be fully saturated; (3) the effective stress due to static or dynamic load must approach zero; and (4) the shear stress must exceed the tailings residual shear stress. Our results also indicate that the degree of saturation (S_r) is the most influential factor controlling dam stability. The pore-pressure coefficient controls geotechnical stability: when it exceeds 0.5 (S_r = 0.7), the safety factor decreases dramatically. Therefore, controlling the degree of tailings saturation is instrumental to preventing dam failures, and can be achieved using a double drainage system, one for the unconsolidated foundation materials and another for the overlying tailings.

根据对西班牙的67个尾矿坝进行的研究：（1）尾矿坝具有交替的沉积层，具有收缩和膨胀的地质力学行为；（2）由于多孔沉积物的高吸力（2–300 MPa），尾矿饱和度很快，但排泄速度却慢了10倍以上；（3）从长远来看，在尾矿池内达到了稳定的流动状态。要使尾矿坝发生水流故障，必须同时存在四个时间和空间条件：（1）尾矿必须经历收缩行为；（2）尾矿必须完全饱和；（3）静态或动态载荷引起的有效应力必须接近零；（4）剪应力必须超过尾矿残余剪应力。我们的结果还表明，饱和度（S _r）是控制大坝稳定性的最有影响力的因素。孔隙压力系数控制岩土工程稳定性：当其超过0.5（S _r  = 0.7）时，安全系数急剧下降。因此，控制尾矿饱和度对于防止大坝失灵是有帮助的，可以使用双重排水系统来实现，一种是用于疏松地基材料，另一种用于上覆式尾矿。