Tailings Storage Facility Management & GISTM Conformance
Since Brumadinho, a tailings facility is no longer an engineering asset with a social dimension — it is a licence-to-operate question with an engineering core. The GISTM turned good practice into a public commitment; your investors are already checking.
Format
Classroom · Virtual
Upcoming sessions
Pick a session to applyADMISSIONS OPENThe programme
The failures at Brumadinho and Jagersfontein did more than take lives — they rewrote the rules for every mining company holding tailings. The Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management, backed by investors managing trillions in assets, now defines responsible tailings governance: named executive accountability, an Engineer of Record, independent review, consequence-based classification, credible dam-break analysis, and public disclosure communities can read. This programme works the standard requirement by requirement and turns it into an operating reality: the governance architecture — Accountable Executive, Responsible Tailings Facility Engineer, Engineer of Record, independent review board — and what each role must actually do; risk assessment and consequence classification; the surveillance stack from piezometers to satellite InSAR, wired into trigger-action response plans that name who acts, at what reading, within what time; emergency preparedness built with, not for, downstream communities; and closure thinking embedded from design onward. A closing conformance clinic maps each participant’s facilities against the standard, yielding a prioritised roadmap. For mining operations across Africa and beyond — classroom cohorts and live online, in English and French.
What you will do
Who attends
Tailings and dam-safety engineers; mine managers and technical services managers; HSE and sustainability leaders; Accountable Executives and those preparing to hold the role; consultants and regulators overseeing tailings portfolios; investor-relations and ESG teams answering disclosure demands. Relevant across gold, copper, iron ore, bauxite and industrial minerals.
Programme agenda
Built for the decisions no textbook prepares you for
I.The new rules of tailings
- Brumadinho, Jagersfontein and the failures that rewrote the industry’s obligations
- The GISTM: structure, principles and the investor coalition behind it
- Conformance, disclosure and what "licence to operate" now means in practice
II.Governance that carries the standard
- Accountable Executive, RTFE, Engineer of Record, ITRB: the roles and their real workload
- Competence, succession and the thin market for tailings engineers
- Documentation the standard expects: knowledge base, design basis, construction records
III.Risk & consequence classification
- Dam-break analysis and credible failure modes
- Consequence classification and what it scales: review, surveillance, emergency planning
- Climate load: extreme rainfall, drought cycling and design assumptions under change
IV.Surveillance & trigger-action response
- The monitoring stack: piezometers, inclinometers, drones and satellite InSAR
- Trigger-action response plans: thresholds, owners and response clocks
- Turning surveillance data into governance information the board can act on
V.Emergency preparedness & communities
- Emergency planning built with downstream communities, not delivered to them
- Warning systems, evacuation routes and the exercise regime that keeps them real
- Public disclosure: what must be published and how to say it honestly
VI.The conformance clinic
- Mapping your facility portfolio against the standard, requirement by requirement
- Prioritising the gaps: safety first, disclosure deadlines second, perfection last
- The conformance roadmap you take home — and how to defend it to the board
Frequently asked
What is the GISTM, and why does it matter to mining companies?
The Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management, written after the Brumadinho failure and backed by investors managing trillions in assets, now defines responsible tailings governance: named executive accountability, an Engineer of Record, independent review, consequence-based classification, credible dam-break analysis and public disclosure communities can read. Conformance has become a licence-to-operate question — investors are already checking.
Who should attend the tailings management course?
Tailings and dam-safety engineers; mine managers and technical services managers; HSE and sustainability leaders; Accountable Executives and those preparing to hold the role; consultants and regulators overseeing tailings portfolios; and investor-relations and ESG teams answering disclosure demands. It is relevant across gold, copper, iron ore, bauxite and industrial minerals.
What do participants take away from the conformance clinic?
The closing clinic maps each participant’s own facilities against the standard, requirement by requirement, and yields a prioritised conformance roadmap — safety first, disclosure deadlines second — that participants take home and can defend to the board.
How is the programme delivered?
In classroom cohorts and live online, in English and French, designed for mining operations across Africa and beyond. In-house editions can be tailored to your facility portfolio; sessions run on a rolling calendar with dates confirmed on request, and fees and quotations are provided on enquiry.
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