A global industry standard on tailings management was launched Aug. 5 by the United Nations Environment Programme, Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) following a review in response to the failure of the tailings facility at the Córrego do Feijão mine in Brumadinho, Brazil in January 2019, representatives said on a webinar.
The standard, based on five key principles, aims to take a multi-disciplinary approach involving all stakeholders in tailings dams and to support decision-making by operators and key stakeholders throughout tailing facilities' lifecycles, said Bruno Oberle, chair of the Global Tailings Review.
The five principles cover building an integrated knowledge base on dams; development of design, construction, operation and monitoring supported by this knowledge to reduce the consequences of potential failure; addressing management and governance of dams, including responsibility and accountability for key roles in the management of tailings facilities; establishing community-focused emergency response systems and long-term recovery plans; and establishing public disclosure systems with access to information on dams.
Most dam problems to date have related to management or governance errors, Oberle said.
Tom Butler, chief executive of ICMM, said during the webinar that the standard would need to be fully integrated into ICMM members' operations within five years and that adherence to the standard will become a condition of ICMM membership. There are 1,200 tailings dams currently operated by ICMM members, he said.
Adam Matthews, director of ethics & engagement at The Church of England Pensions Board, representing PRI, said he would like to see the standard going beyond the ICMM membership. PRI — which encompasses investors with $90 trillion in assets — would be committed to upholding the standard and will be contacting mining companies directly to make sure the standard is being enforced after a period of uptake, he said.
PRI is a UN-supported international network of investors working together to promote the incorporation of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) factors into investment decision-making.
"We have put in place the first industry standard on tailings – that needs to be adhered to by companies and monitored by investors, " Matthews said. "The low carbon transition demands the resources from mining."
Oberle noted that altogether there were a dozen mine tailings accidents in 2019, in addition to the accident at Vale's Brumadinho site. Another fatal dam collapse with severe environmental consequences occurred at the Vale-BHP Samarco mine site, also in southeastern Brazil, in 2015.
Angelica Amanda Andrade, the sister of one of the 270 people who died in the Brumadinho disaster, urged investors not to invest in companies that are not party to the standard.
Mining is a long-term business that usually requires long-term investors, the webinar participants said.
Butler said the plan is to work with governments to move the standard forward. "This (launch) is a major milestone, but we still have a long way to go," the ICMM chief executive said.
