A rectangular tailings pond changes appearance as waste is pumped in from the nearby Fimiston Open Pit gold mine in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. Covering about 0.82 square miles (2.1 sq km), this pond is five times the size of the Vatican City and holds millions of tons of tailings — rocks and chemicals left over after gold is extracted. Fimiston, also called “Super Pit,” is the sixth-deepest open-pit mine in the world, at 1,968 feet (600 m).
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Source imagery: Nearmap
“Super Pit” Tailings Pond