Global Tailings Management Institute CEO and Technical Committee: key lessons for tailings engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

First reported on International Mining – News
30 Second Briefing
Global Tailings Management Institute has appointed Ed Toms as its inaugural CEO and created a Technical Committee to drive implementation of the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management across diverse jurisdictions and legacy facilities. The independent body, formed after the Brumadinho failure and ICMM/UNEP/PRI standard-setting, is tasked with supporting operators on governance, independent review, and performance metrics for high-consequence tailings storage facilities. For geotechnical and mining engineers, this signals tighter scrutiny of dam design, monitoring, and closure practices against a globally benchmarked framework.
Technical Brief
- Committee work is expected to cover dam design criteria, monitoring regimes, and closure performance benchmarks for tailings storage facilities.
- Independent review processes for high-consequence facilities will be formalised, separating operator design teams from external reviewers.
- Governance support will include defining roles for Accountable Executives, Engineer of Record, and Independent Tailings Review Boards.
- Performance metrics are anticipated to span structural integrity, seepage control, deposition practices, and emergency preparedness indicators.
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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