5
• Technical aspects
– Setting performance objectives, indicators, and
criteria
– Risk management
– Managing conformance
– Managing quality
– Documenting key technical information
– Evaluating performance (Check element of the
Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle of the tailings manage-
ment system)
– Conducting management reviews (Act element of
the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle)
The OMS Guide provides guidance on the development
and implementation of site-specific operation, mainte-
nance, and surveillance (OMS) manuals. OMS activities
are fundamental to the day-to-day management of tailings
facilities. Guide emphasizes that to be effective, OMS man-
uals need to:
• Reflect the:
– Design intent and life cycle phase of the facility
– Specific conditions and circumstances of the site
– Performance objectives and risk management plan
– Knowledge and experience of personnel who have
worked on the site
• Be easily accessible to personnel, and written in a
clear, concise manner
• Be accurate and up-to-date
• Be used – they should be the “go to” resource to
ensure effective, consistent implementation of OMS
activities
The tailings management component of TSM dates to 1998
when the first version of the Tailings Guide was introduced
in response to several failures of tailings facilities around
the world in the 1990s. The tailings management require-
ments and guidance of TSM have evolved and improved
to ensure that they continue to reflect leading practice and
drive continual improvement. After the failure of a tailings
facility in Canada in 2014, MAC launched a review lead-
ing to substantial updates in 2017 and 2019, including the
introduction of the Table of Conformance. After the release
of the GISTM in 2020, MAC conducted a gap analysis and
launched a two-phase process of updates. As part of the first
phase, the Guides were updated in 2021, the Protocol and
Table of Conformance were updated in 2022, and manda-
tory application of the Protocol was extended to inactive
tailings facilities. The second, more comprehensive phase
was launched in 2023 and is expected to be completed in
2026.
Overview of the GISTM
The GISTM was developed in response to a call from inves-
tors for a global standard for tailings management in the
wake of the failure of a tailings facility near Brumadinho,
Brazil in January 2019 (Church of England Pensions Board
and Sweden’s Public Pension Funds Council on Ethics,
2019). The Global Tailings Review was launched by three
partners:
• International Council on Mining and Metals
(ICMM)
• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
• Signatories to the Principles for Responsible
Investment (PRI)*
A multi-stakeholder, multi-disciplinary Expert Panel
was established to write a global standard, supported by an
Advisory Group that included a representative from MAC
(Global Tailings Review 2020b). After a public comment
period in late 2019, the GISTM was finalized and released
in August 2020. The GISTM includes 77 requirements
organized around 6 topics and 15 principles:
• Affected communities
P1: Respect the rights of project-affected people and
meaningfully engage them at all phases of the tailings
facility lifecycle, including closure.
• Integrated knowledge base
P2: Develop and maintain an interdisciplinary
knowledge base to support safe tailings management
throughout the tailings facility lifecycle, including
closure.
P3: Use all elements of the knowledge base -social,
environmental, local economic, and technical -to
inform decisions throughout the tailings facility life-
cycle, including closure.
• Design, construction, operation and monitoring
P4: Develop plans and design criteria for the tailings
facility to minimize risk for all phases of its lifecycle,
including closure and post-closure.
P5: Develop a robust design that integrates the
knowledge base and minimizes the risk of failure
to people and the environment for all phases of
the tailings facility lifecycle, including closure and
post-closure.
P6: Plan, build, and operate the tailings facility to
manage risk at all phases of the tailings facility life-
cycle, including closure and post-closure.
*The PRI is a broad group of investors that was represented in
the Global Tailings Review by the Church of England Pensions
Board and the Swedish Council of Ethics of the AP Funds.
• Technical aspects
– Setting performance objectives, indicators, and
criteria
– Risk management
– Managing conformance
– Managing quality
– Documenting key technical information
– Evaluating performance (Check element of the
Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle of the tailings manage-
ment system)
– Conducting management reviews (Act element of
the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle)
The OMS Guide provides guidance on the development
and implementation of site-specific operation, mainte-
nance, and surveillance (OMS) manuals. OMS activities
are fundamental to the day-to-day management of tailings
facilities. Guide emphasizes that to be effective, OMS man-
uals need to:
• Reflect the:
– Design intent and life cycle phase of the facility
– Specific conditions and circumstances of the site
– Performance objectives and risk management plan
– Knowledge and experience of personnel who have
worked on the site
• Be easily accessible to personnel, and written in a
clear, concise manner
• Be accurate and up-to-date
• Be used – they should be the “go to” resource to
ensure effective, consistent implementation of OMS
activities
The tailings management component of TSM dates to 1998
when the first version of the Tailings Guide was introduced
in response to several failures of tailings facilities around
the world in the 1990s. The tailings management require-
ments and guidance of TSM have evolved and improved
to ensure that they continue to reflect leading practice and
drive continual improvement. After the failure of a tailings
facility in Canada in 2014, MAC launched a review lead-
ing to substantial updates in 2017 and 2019, including the
introduction of the Table of Conformance. After the release
of the GISTM in 2020, MAC conducted a gap analysis and
launched a two-phase process of updates. As part of the first
phase, the Guides were updated in 2021, the Protocol and
Table of Conformance were updated in 2022, and manda-
tory application of the Protocol was extended to inactive
tailings facilities. The second, more comprehensive phase
was launched in 2023 and is expected to be completed in
2026.
Overview of the GISTM
The GISTM was developed in response to a call from inves-
tors for a global standard for tailings management in the
wake of the failure of a tailings facility near Brumadinho,
Brazil in January 2019 (Church of England Pensions Board
and Sweden’s Public Pension Funds Council on Ethics,
2019). The Global Tailings Review was launched by three
partners:
• International Council on Mining and Metals
(ICMM)
• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
• Signatories to the Principles for Responsible
Investment (PRI)*
A multi-stakeholder, multi-disciplinary Expert Panel
was established to write a global standard, supported by an
Advisory Group that included a representative from MAC
(Global Tailings Review 2020b). After a public comment
period in late 2019, the GISTM was finalized and released
in August 2020. The GISTM includes 77 requirements
organized around 6 topics and 15 principles:
• Affected communities
P1: Respect the rights of project-affected people and
meaningfully engage them at all phases of the tailings
facility lifecycle, including closure.
• Integrated knowledge base
P2: Develop and maintain an interdisciplinary
knowledge base to support safe tailings management
throughout the tailings facility lifecycle, including
closure.
P3: Use all elements of the knowledge base -social,
environmental, local economic, and technical -to
inform decisions throughout the tailings facility life-
cycle, including closure.
• Design, construction, operation and monitoring
P4: Develop plans and design criteria for the tailings
facility to minimize risk for all phases of its lifecycle,
including closure and post-closure.
P5: Develop a robust design that integrates the
knowledge base and minimizes the risk of failure
to people and the environment for all phases of
the tailings facility lifecycle, including closure and
post-closure.
P6: Plan, build, and operate the tailings facility to
manage risk at all phases of the tailings facility life-
cycle, including closure and post-closure.
*The PRI is a broad group of investors that was represented in
the Global Tailings Review by the Church of England Pensions
Board and the Swedish Council of Ethics of the AP Funds.