Global Tailings Review Chairman shares scope and next steps of initiative

The review will be divided into three phases. The first, a research phase, includes engagement with communities living and working near tailings storage facilities and will evaluate current best practices from the mining sector and other industries. This research will inform drafts of the international tailings standard and a related report which will be published at the end of the summer.

The second phase will centre around a broad consultation on these draft documents. It is expected that there will be regional meetings and an online consultation in order to canvas as many views as possible.

In the final phase, Dr. Oberle will consider the consultation responses and develop an international standard for tailings storage facilities and a report by the end of 2019. The report will outline broader recommendations to support uptake and implementation of the standard. The standard and report will be published in early 2020.

Over the next two months, Dr. Oberle will visit tailings storage sites around the world, collecting feedback from a wide range of groups, including local communities and workers. Currently, Dr. Oberle is travelling to Brazil to meet people affected by the recent tragedy at Brumadinho, where a tailings dam failure resulted in 246 fatalities with 24 people still missing, and by the 2015 Samarco incident that caused 19 deaths and widespread environmental destruction.

Dr. Oberle also recently announced the detailed scope of the Global Tailings Review, which has been published on the Global Tailings Review website.

Implementation of the new international standard will be mandatory for all ICMM company members, and the co-convenors of the review will also work to encourage non-ICMM members to implement the standard.

Dr. Bruno Oberle, Chair of the Global Tailings Review said: “Engaging with people from civil society, academia, business and multilateral institutions has helped me to set out an ambitious work plan for the independent Global Tailings Review. I feel that it is important that I witness the impact of the tragedy at Brumadinho and listen to affected communities. I will be doing this as my first priority.

“After this, I will prepare a draft report and standard, which will be published by the end of the summer. There will be widespread consultation on these draft findings in September and October. The responses from this will inform and strengthen the final standard and report before their publication early next year.”

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/handling-processing/12062019/global-tailings-review-chairman-shares-scope-and-next-steps-of-initiative/