Well, evaporation is the primary means by which the tailing ponds empty. The question, I guess, is whether they leak as well. That's the part that's open.
Yes, it's one cycle. If water evaporates into the atmosphere, it becomes part of the net holdings of the atmosphere, which get precipitated at some point. So there is a series of connected ways.
There is no water created on earth. It's the same water; it just gets put into different forms.