Diversified miner Rio Tinto chief technical officer Mark Davies says the group has worked hard over the past five years to bring its tailings facilities into conformance with the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM).

“We have made significant progress and have detailed plans in place to complete the few outstanding items,” he adds in a disclosure to shareholders on the status of its tailings facilities.

The latest disclosure includes updated information on 14 tailings facilities rated ‘very high’ or ‘extreme consequence’ under GISTM classifications, along with new information on a further 84 tailings facilities rated ‘low’, ‘high’ or ‘significant’.

The GISTM was developed by multi-disciplinary expert panel Global Tailings Review, co-convened following the Brumadinho tailings disaster in January 2019.

The GISTM was released on August 5, 2020. It focuses tailings management practices on the prevention of tailings facility failures, reducing the social and environmental impacts of tailings facilities and improving engagement and transparency on tailings with local communities.

“Managing tailings responsibly is essential for keeping people, communities and the environment safe from harm and is fundamental to maintaining our social licence.

“We are proud to share our management practices transparently and to partner with local communities, our industry peers and regulators to drive transformative improvements in tailings management,” says Davies.

Rio Tinto operates a diverse portfolio of tailings facilities at various stages of the tailings facility lifecycle, including tailings contained within engineered earthen embankments and tailings deposited into previously mined openpits.

Some tailings facilities consist of embankments built in a single phase; others have been raised several times over their active life to increase tailings storage capacity.

Details of Rio Tinto’s tailings facilities and progress towards GISTM conformance can be found on the company’s website.