The placement of mine tailings at depth in the marine environment is reviewed. This review considers first the engineering aspects of a pipeline system which transports tailings slurry from a process plant to the coast and then to a location at a depth of typically 200 m on the continental slope. Next, the fluid dynamic behaviour of the tailings, once discharged from the end of the pipe, are discussed, and a numerical model is presented which simulates the fate of both the dissolved and solids component of the tailings slurry in the marine environment. This latter model can be used to estimate the environmental impact of a proposed deep sea tailings placement system.