Mining and metals advocacy group ICMM has advised that its member companies will publish their progress in conforming with the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) by August 5.

The GISTM was developed after the tragic failure of a tailings facility at Brumadinho, Brazil, in 2019.

The standard was developed through an independent process convened by ICMM, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Principles for Responsible Investment.

The GISTM sets a high standard for responsible tailings management, containing 77 requirements integrating social, environmental, local economic and technical considerations.

ICMM ultimately aims to achieve the goal of zero harm to people and the environment.

When the GISTM was published in August 2020, ICMM members committed that all of their applicable facilities would conform with the standard by August this year.

ICMM members will disclose the status of conformance for each facility and provide a summary of timebound measures to address any gaps, alongside the GISTM-mandated disclosures on or before August 5.

ICMM co-COO Aidan Davy says ICMM members have an unequivocal commitment to implementing and achieving conformance with the GISTM.

“The standard sets a very high bar, and we believe that its implementation has already resulted in transformative improvements across our members and beyond in tailings engineering, management, governance and the integration of geotechnical, environmental and social considerations,” he explains.

ICMM will consolidate data from member disclosures on their conformance to the GISTM once they are published.

For transparency on its members’ collective progress and to help share good practice from implementation for the wider industry, ICMM will publish a tailings progress report later this year.

ICMM remains committed to driving collective progress in the safe, responsible and transparent management of tailings through fostering collaboration and facilitating shared learning across the industry.

The organisation is, meanwhile, also working with the UNEP and Principles for Responsible Investment, to establish the Global Tailings Management Institute. It will serve as an independent, multi-stakeholder organisation to improve the safety of mine tailings facilities worldwide by managing an independent auditing and certification process against the requirements of the GISTM.

The institute will be based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and manage an assurance framework where tailings facilities will be independently audited and certified against the GISTM by qualified, independent third-party assessors.