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Mining, an important economic activity in the state of Minas Gerais, generates a large amount of tailings. Currently, there are several technologies for the disposal of these tailings, but the disposal in dams remains the most used, despite the history of disruption of these structures. The environmental licensing process for mining activities requires the preparation of studies of technological alternatives for the project, in order to select the one with the best environmental feasibility. The objective was to evaluate the approach of technological alternatives for disposal of tailings from licensed mining enterprises in the state of Minas Gerais. For this, 13 projects were selected whose environmental licenses were approved between 2017 and 2019. It was verified if the Environmental Impact Studies met legal criteria and good environmental practices in the selection of alternatives. It was observed that only four projects addressed studies of technological alternatives, but none of them met all the analyzed criteria. Bias in the proposition of alternatives, lack of basis and reference of data in the choice process, prevalence of economic aspects over environmental ones and lack of justification in the selection of technology were verified in most cases. The disposal of waste by dry stacking, considered an environmentally viable technique, was selected by seven projects. However, five projects still decided to dispose in dams. In general, the studies analyzed were limited to describing the technology that one wanted to license. Only with a strategic approach would the selection process for alternatives be properly addressed, thus proposing solutions before each individual project is submitted for environmental licensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]