Anglo American and Glencore have reported the progress they have made towards meeting the global industry standard on tailings management (GISTM).
Last week, Rio Tinto released details on its tailings facility.
Anglo American has set out its progress towards bringing its 12 tailings storage facilities (TSFs) that are currently within the two highest potential consequence categories into conformance with GISTM.
“We have made very significant progress towards conformance with the GISTM over the last three years, building upon our already high technical standards,” Anglo American chief executive Duncan Wanblad said.
“We continue our prudent approach to align with a number of specific GISTM requirements, as well as the social and community aspects that are already encompassed in our comprehensive social way management system. We are addressing the few outstanding areas and have set out the work needed to get us there.
“As an industry, we have a clear ethical imperative to do everything possible to ensure that TSFs are managed to the highest standards as we work together to build greater levels of trust with all our stakeholders. GISTM’s role in driving continuous improvement across the industry with full transparency is beyond doubt.”
Glencore also reported its conformance to GISTM for its TSFs with ‘very high’ or ‘extreme’ consequence classifications.
“We have taken a rigorous and technically robust approach to applying the GISTM, which goes beyond self-assessments and includes independent third-party assurance,” Glencore said.
“We welcome the greater transparency it has brought around the management of these important facilities. We are pleased with the progress we have made over the last three years… Based on our ongoing TSF management systems and independent third-party assessments we have in place for our TSFs with ‘very high’ and ‘extreme” consequence classifications we believe that any gaps in conformance are identified and managed appropriately.”
Both miners have committed to working towards conformance in respect of its TSFs that are within the other three lower consequence categories, ‘low’, ‘significant’ and ‘high’, by August 2025. This in line with the commitment made by all ICMM member companies.