Antofagasta’s Arriagada returns as ICMM chair: tailings and ESG priorities for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Antofagasta CEO Iván Arriagada has been re-appointed chair of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) for a two-year term, succeeding Newmont chief Tom Palmer, who is retiring as CEO at year-end. Arriagada, who previously chaired ICMM from 2022–2024, helped establish the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management and backed the Consolidated Mining Standard Initiative (CMSI) on common ESG benchmarks. His return signals continuity in ICMM’s 26-member CEO council as it executes its 2025+ strategy on tailings governance and responsible project development.
Technical Brief
- ICMM council structure centres on 26 member-company CEOs, with the chair selected exclusively from this group.
- Chair tenure is explicitly time-bounded to roughly two years, constraining continuity of leadership cycles.
- Leadership change is triggered here by Newmont CEO Tom Palmer’s retirement at year-end, not by policy shift.
- Rohitesh Dhawan, as ICMM CEO, separates executive management from rotating chair oversight, clarifying accountability lines.
- Public statements link Arriagada’s leadership to “industry performance and sustainability initiatives”, embedding ESG into ICMM’s core mandate.
- Tailings management and ESG standardisation are framed as multi-year programmes aligned to ICMM’s “2025+ strategy” timeline.
- For project developers, ICMM’s emphasis on common standards signals tighter convergence of member-company requirements on tailings and ESG reporting.
Our Take
With Antofagasta Plc heavily exposed to copper in Latin America, Arriagada’s renewed ICMM chair role comes as our recent coverage shows a wave of new copper project approvals in the region, such as the PSJ Cobre Mendocino project in Argentina, sharpening scrutiny on how ICMM standards are applied on the ground.
The ICMM’s 26 member companies include major gold and copper producers like Newmont, so Arriagada’s two‑year term will likely influence how sustainability and standard-setting debates play out for assets similar to those in the Rio2–Condestable copper-gold transaction reported this week.
Congo’s cobalt sector, referenced in our database through quota-related policy pieces, is a likely pressure point for ICMM under Arriagada, as expectations grow for clearer guidance on responsible sourcing of cobalt alongside copper and gold in high‑risk jurisdictions.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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