The new established Global Tailings Management Institute (GTMI) has appointed Mark Cutifani chairperson and Vicente Mello deputy chairperson.

Cutifani is a mining industry stalwart, having led Anglo American for a number of years, while Mello is currently a senior VP at consultancy Aecom. Both leaders bring decades of experience, with a strong focus on responsible tailings management.

The GTMI board will oversee the widespread implementation of, and conformance to, the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM), driving safety, continuous improvement, accountability, and transparency in tailings management.

For Cutifani, the GTMI is a key part of the global effort to ensure the mining industry achieves zero harm to people and the environment. “It is a unique collaboration, focused on aligning standards and supporting each other to create a safer and more socially sensitive mining industry.

“Taking past lessons and developing new and innovative approaches is at the core of how we come together to continuously improve our approach to mine waste and tailings solutions,” he states.

After the institute was established in January, more than 150 individuals from multiple stakeholder groups, including from the mining industry, technical and academic communities, potentially affected communities, Indigenous people, the mining workforce, environmental experts, regulators and the finance sector, responded to the call to join the GTMI board.

This was followed by an extensive process of review and selection facilitated by the GTMI’s co-founders, the ICMM, the United Nations Environment Programme and the Principles for Responsible Investment.

For GTMI, multi-stakeholder participation is critical to building credibility and trust in its work, including by drawing from the breadth of expertise of leading figures from the workforce, industry, communities and regulators.

Other GTMI board members include Arrowsmith Gold MD Janis Shandro, Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association executive director Mutuso Dhliwayo, Jones and Wagener environmental scientist Jacqui Hex, Brazilian public prosecutor Andressa Lanchotti, Brazilian scholar Edson Krenak, Global Investor Commission on Mining adviser John Howchin and BHP tailings subject matter expert Jeronimo Covacevich.

With the board having been established, the GTMI will now focus on developing its core programmatic activities, including establishing a technical committee, assurance frameworks for independent auditing of tailings facilities, and training and accreditation programmes to build capacity to evaluate and certify facilities against the GISTM.