5 August 2020, London – The Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (the Standard) launched today, establishes the first global standard on tailings management that can be applied to existing and future tailings facilities, wherever they are and whoever operates them.

We are pleased to announce that the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management will be launched on Wednesday, 5th August 2020.  A virtual event to mark the launch will take place at 1:00pm BST / 9:00am BRT.

The Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management has been endorsed by the co-convenors of the Global Tailings Review (GTR), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM). The product of a rigorous, independent, multi-stakeholder process, the Standard will establish much needed robust requirements for the safer management of both existing and new tailings facilities globally.

Regretfully, the Global Tailings Review co-conveners and I have taken the decision to delay the publication of the final Global Tailings Standard.

The Global Tailing Review is now finalising the Global Tailings Standard.

Now that the consultation period on the draft Standard has concluded, Dr Oberle and the Expert Panel are in the process of considering the consultation responses and finalising the Global Tailings Standard. The final Standard will need to be endorsed by all three co-conveners and we expect to publish it in Q2 2020.

One year on from the Brumadinho dam collapse, Bruno Oberle, Chair of the Global Tailings Review, made the following statement:

“On the anniversary of the devastating tragedy at Brumadinho, we remember those who lost their lives and those whose lives will forever more be impacted by loss suffered on that day.

The Global Tailing Review’s consultation phase on the draft Global Tailings Standard has now ended, after being shared for public consultation in 7 languages between 15 November and 31 December 2019. The consultation collected feedback from a diverse range of stakeholders to enhance the development of a robust, fit-for-purpose global standard for the safer management of tailings. The consultation was conducted in two forms: 1) online (responses could be submitted via a survey questionnaire or open letters to our consultation email address) and 2) in person consultation in mining jurisdictions.

As part of the consultation process, we will be hosting a series of Webinars that will mirror the structure of our in-country consultations covering: an overview of the Global Tailings Review and the content of the draft Standard.  We will then turn to you for your questions and comments which will be facilitated via the Chat function on the Zoom Webinar service. Each session will be approximately 1.5 hours.

London – Dr Bruno Oberle, Chair of the Global Tailings Review, has launched a public consultation on the draft Global Tailings Standard today. The consultation will collect feedback from all interested stakeholders in order to develop a robust, fit-for-purpose international standard for the safer management of tailings. The consultation ends on 31 December 2019.

The draft Standard of the Global Tailings Review is still in the process of being finalised. When this has happened it will go out to public consultation.