Dr Bruno Oberle, Chair of the Global Tailings Review said: “The Global Tailings Review continues to make progress in developing an international standard to help the mining industry improve the management and governance of their tailings storage facilities.
Over the last week, along with a member of the Expert Panel, and I travelled to British Colombia, Canada to engage with communities, companies and government representatives where the regulatory framework has been influenced strongly by a single significant breach. The purpose of this visit was to learn about best practice in the design, construction, operation and monitoring of these facilities, including risk management, legal and regulatory requirements and to learn about the realities of living in close proximity large tailings storage facilities from local communities and First Nations representatives.
With the initial research phase almost complete, we expect the global public consultation stage on the draft standard to begin in October and conclude towards the end of this year. The consultation feedback will be considered by the Chair and Expert Panel before the final standard and the recommendations report are expected to be published in Q1 2020.
Through this process, we are committed to developing a robust, fit-for-purpose standard that can be applied to the management of tailings storage facilities both existing and future, wherever they are, to bring about positive change for the safer management of tailings.”