Mine Tailings

With this animated presentation UNECE wanted to raise awareness of safety issues concerning the management of waste materials from the mining industry, in an accessible visual style.

The video gives a broad overview of the main factors at play and how these are relevant to people within the industry, to governments but also to regular citizens. After providing this background info the video shifts focus to the management tools and guidelines provided by UNECE and its partners.

The color scheme is inspired  by aerial photos of actual mine tailings ponds , which –out of context–  almost look like pieces of abstract art. The hot-and-cool palette emphasises the high risks posed by some tailings facilities, whilst encouraging a cool-headed analytical approach to keep these risks under control.

The analytical diagrams and other formal graphics, in turn, are provided with a more gentle human-centered context through the use of recognisable characters and icons. The use of bright lighting and rough mineral textures glue everything together and add a layer of materiality –this seemed like an appropriate way to maintain a constant visual link to the mining theme. Textures and 3D models also form a photographic bridge to brief sequences of live-action footage.