Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management
GISTM, The Global Standard on Tailings Management
Born after Brumadinho. 15 principles, 77 requirements, and a clear set of expectations for how tailings storage facilities are designed, monitored, and disclosed.
On 25 January 2019, the Córrego do Feijão tailings dam at Vale's Brumadinho mine in Brazil collapsed catastrophically. 270 people died. The dam had been declared safe by external auditors months earlier. The investor and regulatory response was swift, and by August 2020 the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) had been published by the International Council on Mining and Metals, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the Principles for Responsible Investment. GISTM is now the global benchmark for how tailings facilities should be designed, operated, monitored, and disclosed.
What GISTM covers
The scope and focus of the standard in plain language.
15 principles, 77 requirements
GISTM is structured around 15 principles grouped into six topic areas: affected communities, integrated knowledge base, design and construction, management and governance, emergency response and long-term recovery, and public disclosure. Each principle is supported by specific requirements.
Consequence-based classification
Every tailings facility must be classified by potential consequence of failure, using a defined methodology. The classification drives the depth of inspection, the frequency of formal reviews, and the public disclosure obligations.
Engineer of Record and ITRB
GISTM requires an Engineer of Record (EoR) accountable for design, construction, and ongoing surveillance, plus an Independent Tailings Review Board (ITRB) for higher-consequence facilities providing expert oversight.
Public disclosure obligations
Operators must publish information about each facility, including its classification, design type, EoR, ITRB status, and emergency preparedness. This was a major shift from the previous era of opaque tailings governance.
Key obligations
What the standard actually requires of inspectors, operators, or duty holders.
Appoint a qualified Engineer of Record
The EoR must be a competent professional with the right experience and authority. They are accountable for the design and surveillance of the facility throughout its life.
Establish an Independent Tailings Review Board
For "extreme" and "very high" consequence facilities, an ITRB of independent expert members is mandatory. The ITRB provides external oversight and reviews surveillance data and design decisions.
Classify every facility by consequence
Use the GISTM consequence classification methodology. The classification drives most other requirements, including review frequency and disclosure depth.
Build a knowledge base
Maintain a comprehensive integrated knowledge base for each facility, geotechnical data, monitoring data, design history, surveillance reports, audit findings.
Plan for emergency response and recovery
Every facility must have a tested emergency preparedness and response plan, plus a long-term recovery plan covering closure and post-closure obligations.
Disclose publicly
Operators must publish facility-level information through accessible channels. ICMM members publish via the Church of England Pensions Board's tailings disclosure initiative as a baseline.
Common pitfalls
Where inspectors and duty holders most often get caught out.
- !Treating GISTM as a paperwork exercise, auditors and ITRBs will trace findings to source documents and field evidence.
- !Under-classifying facilities to avoid stricter requirements, consequence classification is a structured methodology, not a judgement call.
- !Engaging an EoR who cannot demonstrate active surveillance, periodic visits and signed-off reviews are the bare minimum.
- !Failing to meet ITRB review cadence, typically annual for the highest-consequence facilities.
- !Inadequate monitoring instrumentation, piezometers, inclinometers, surface monitoring, and water balance must all be functional and reviewed.
- !Treating the knowledge base as a folder of PDFs rather than a structured, queryable repository.
How InspectAndGo helps with GISTM
- Tailings facility inspection templates aligned to GISTM principles, including EoR sign-off and ITRB review checkpoints
- GPS-verified observations with timestamps for every surveillance walkover
- Photo documentation of monitoring instrument readings, surface conditions, and incident sites
- Audit-ready inspection records that support GISTM disclosure obligations
- Drone integration for TSF surface monitoring (photogrammetry and LiDAR data ingest)
- Multi-language support for international tailings teams (Portuguese, Spanish, English)
- Offline-first operation for remote tailings facilities with no connectivity
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Read articleFrequently asked questions
When did GISTM conformance become mandatory?
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ICMM member companies committed to GISTM conformance for "extreme" and "very high" consequence facilities by August 2023, and for all other facilities by August 2025. Non-members face the same expectations from investors, governments, and insurers.
Is GISTM legally binding?
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GISTM is a voluntary industry standard, not law. However, it has been operationalised through ICMM member commitments, investor expectations (the Church of England Pensions Board, PRI), and increasingly through national regulations that reference GISTM requirements as the baseline for tailings governance.
What is an Independent Tailings Review Board?
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An ITRB is a panel of expert practitioners independent from the operating company and the EoR. It provides external review of design decisions, surveillance data, and risk management for the facility. ITRBs typically include geotechnical engineers, water management experts, and dam safety specialists. They meet at scheduled intervals and produce written review reports.
Who needs to disclose tailings facility information?
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ICMM member companies are committed to public disclosure for all their facilities. The Church of England Pensions Board's tailings disclosure initiative requested similar information from all listed mining companies, and most major operators now respond. Investors and ratings agencies treat non-disclosure as a red flag.
How does GISTM relate to local mining regulations?
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GISTM is a global baseline. Local mining regulations (such as Brazil's post-Brumadinho ANM rules, or Australia's state mining safety acts) may impose additional or different requirements. Operators are expected to meet both. GISTM does not exempt them from local law.
Run GISTM-aligned tailings inspections
InspectAndGo gives EoR and surveillance teams a structured field tool with audit-ready records, drone integration, and multi-language support.