The Dugald River Tailings Storage Facility and Process Water Dam are good examples of a robust options analysis. An initial options assessment, which considered the water management impacts of the pre-selected facility design helped produce a final facility design that has provided numerous benefits to the operation, including the reduction of reliance on external water sources by an average of 50 %. A detailed water balance model utilising a synthetic 1,000 year rainfall sequence was used to optimise the water storage requirements and achieve an outcome that would meet MMG’s legislative and corporate risk requirements.