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The standard, launched in 2020 following the 2019 Brumadinho tailings disaster, sets 77 auditable requirements across 15 principles, covering the full lifecycle of tailings facilities with the overarching goal of “zero harm to people and the environment.”

“The system‑level change within companies that it has driven is unprecedented - fundamentally reshaping how tailings facilities are managed, and requiring significant resources and time.” - ICMM Director Emma Gagen
 
“The standard is explicit about the owners’ responsibility to plan, build and operate TSFs to responsibly manage risk at all phases of the lifecycle – including closure and post‑closure." - James Lake, Partner and Principal Environmental Scientist at SRK Consulting South Africa

System-level changes and ongoing challenges

The ICMM notes that implementing the GISTM has required an unprecedented level of system-level change within member companies. The standard demands integrated planning, monitoring, and reporting across technical, environmental, and social disciplines, a process that is resource-intensive, complex, and requires long-term commitment. The GISTM calls for multidisciplinary teams and sustained collaboration. Each tailings facility is unique, shaped by commodity, terrain, and local context, which presents common challenges that can slow progress toward full conformance.

Key challenges identified in the report include:

Social aspects: Nearly half of the GISTM requirements involve social performance, requiring meaningful engagement, consultation, and trust-building with communities. Aligning emergency preparedness and response plans with local authorities is a particular challenge, especially in regions with limited government capacity.
Qualified professionals: A global shortage of skilled tailings management professionals has constrained progress, particularly for new facilities being built to meet growing metal demand. Training initiatives, including programs at the University of British Columbia, the University of Western Australia, and The Tailings Center, are helping to build capacity, but addressing the gap will take time.
Climate change: Extreme weather events - floods, droughts, heatwaves - pose both technical and social challenges. GISTM requires continuous updates to risk assessments, design assumptions, and water management systems to ensure resilience.
Historical data gaps: Older facilities often lack full records, necessitating field investigations, monitoring, and innovative engineering to meet GISTM standards.

Regional performance of member facilities in full conformance

• South America 83%
• Oceania 71%
• North America 58%
• Africa: 62%
• Asia 70%
• Europe 47%

Driving innovation and reducing tailings

Beyond safer management, ICMM members are pursuing innovations to reduce or eliminate conventional tailings storage, through technologies such as:

• Dewatering and material handling improvements
• Circular approaches, including reusing tailings for new products and carbon capture initiatives
• In situ and ex situ recovery methods

The ICMM launched its Tailings Innovation Initiative and a Tailings Reduction Roadmap to foster collaboration between member companies, technology innovators, suppliers, and academia. The Roadmap provides a 10–15 year framework for scaling technologies that reduce tailings production.

Looking forward

The ICMM stresses that robust tailings management is inherently dynamic, requiring ongoing review, monitoring, and engagement with communities, regulators, financiers, and civil society. With more than 15,000 mining and metals facilities globally, the journey extends far beyond ICMM’s membership. To support this, ICMM helped establish the Global Tailings Management Institute (GTMI) in January 2025. The GTMI will audit and certify tailings facilities against the GISTM, offer guidance on implementation, and provide industry-wide knowledge sharing and capacity-building support.

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