Scientometric analysis on the review research evolution of tailings dam failure disasters

As the most severe damage form of tailings ponds, dam failure causes a serious threat and damage to the surrounding lives and environment. Therefore, based on the systematic collection and consultation of relevant data at home and abroad, the literature source analysis on tailings dam failure disasters is conducted using the CiteSpace scientometric tool. The research on tailings dam failure disasters can be classified into two stages: the preliminary germination stage and rapid development stage. Based on the scientometric knowledge map, the research hotspots of tailings dam failure disasters are analyzed and summarized as three main research directions: environmental impact, risk assessment, and mechanical behavior. With the maturity of the research on ecological problems caused by tailings leakage, ecological restoration has also gradually become a hot research topic. Through the analysis of keyword bursts and co-cited bursts, the research frontier of tailings dam break disaster is explored. “Risk management,” “real-time monitoring,” and “tailings characteristic” represent the current research frontier. Among them, risk management is burst for the longest time and is expected to be a very important research direction in the future. Finally, a tailings pond risk management and control suggestion is proposed with risk management as the core, emphasizing risk monitor, and combined with dynamic risk control, which provides a foundation for the construction of tailings dam safety management and dynamic monitoring systems.