Dr. Luis Torres-Cruz joined the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering in 2024 as the Teck Professor in Tailings Management and Innovation.
Dr. Torres-Cruz holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the Universidad del Valle in Cali, Colombia and a PhD in Geotechnical Engineering from Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was a senior lecturer at Wits where his teaching contributions include postgraduate courses on tailings management and critical state soil mechanics.
The main driver of his research is the prevention of catastrophic failures of tailings dams. This has led him to work on topics such as slope stability analysis, soil laboratory testing, geotechnical in situ testing, and analysis of satellite imagery.
Dr. Torres-Cruz’s achievements include an honourable mention for the RM Quigley Award from the Canadian Geotechnical Journal, twice winner of the Jennings award of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering, and co-author of a 2022 state-of-the-art paper on the geotechnics of tailings dams.
He maintains productive collaborations with both academics and practitioners. He has presented his research findings at multiple consulting companies, mining houses, and universities.
Dr. Torres-Cruz is a chartered engineer with the engineering council of the UK and is a member of the British Institution of Civil Engineering.
Teaching
- MINE 380 Mine Waste Management
- MINE 486 Mining and The Environment
- MINE 581 Safety of Tailings Storage Facilities
- MINE 590Q Advanced Mine Waste Management
Selected Publications
- Bezuidenhout, Torres-Cruz (2024). Drained laboratory vane shear testing to characterize nonplastic tailings. In Proceedings of Tailings and Mine Waste 2024.
- Hudson-Edwards, Kemp, Torres-Cruz et al. (2024). Tailings storage facilities, failures and disaster risk. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment.
- Bezuidenhout, Bodhania, Tiroyabone, Eddey, Torres-Cruz (2024). The shape of sand particles: Assessments of three-dimensional form and angularity. Soils and Foundations.
- Torres-Cruz, Vermeulen, Owolabi (2023). CPTu-based soil behaviour type indexes that are independent of sleeve friction readings: An application in tailings. Chapter in Geoenvironmental and Geotechnical Issues of Coal Mine Overburden and Mine Tailings.
- Torres-Cruz, O'Donovan (2023). Public remotely sensed data raise concerns about history of failed Jagersfontein dam. Scientific Reports.
- Fourie, Verdugo, Bjelkevik, Torres-Cruz, Znidarcic (2022). Geotechnics of mine tailings: a 2022 state of the art. In Proceedings of the 20th International Conference of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering.
- Torres-Cruz (2021). The Plewes method: A word of caution. Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration