ICMM has published its Tailings Progress Report, which sets out the progress ICMM members have made in implementing the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM), commenting that, while significant progress has been made, achieving full alignment with GISTM is taking more time than initially anticipated, and remains a work in progress.
The report aggregates data from members’ individual disclosures made in 2025, offering a transparent snapshot of collective progress towards full conformance, the ICMM says. It also includes case studies of members’ implementation efforts and their wider work to reduce or eliminate tailings.
When the GISTM was published in 2020, ICMM members committed that all applicable tailings facilities with an ‘extreme’ or ‘very high’ consequence classification would conform with the GISTM by August 2023, and all other applicable facilities by August 2025. This commitment galvanised immediate and sustained action by ICMM members.
Analysis of ICMM members’ 2025 disclosures shows that while significant progress has been made, achieving full alignment with GISTM is taking more time than initially anticipated, and remains a work in progress, the ICMM says. Out of the total of 836 ICMM member facilities, 67% are in full conformance with GISTM, while 33% remain in partial conformance.
Having made the decision to prioritise implementing the GISTM at tailings facilities that would have the highest consequences downstream in the event of a failure, ICMM members have made the greatest progress with the facilities classified as ‘extreme’ and ‘very high’ consequence, with over 80% of ICMM member ‘extreme’ and ‘very high’ consequence classification facilities in full conformance, the ICMM reports. ‘High’, ‘significant’ and ‘low’ consequence classification facility conformance ranges from 53-65%.
Emma Gagen, Director, ICMM, said: “Whilst achieving full alignment with the GISTM is taking more time than initially anticipated, the commitment by ICMM members to meet its requirements at every applicable facility remains unequivocal. The system level change within companies that it has driven is unprecedented – fundamentally reshaping how tailings facilities are managed, and requiring significant resource and time. However, the criticality of the issue means we need to set a high bar and embrace challenges as an opportunity to share knowledge across the whole industry.
“The journey to safer tailings facilities and conformance with the GISTM doesn’t have an end point. Tailings management is inherently a process of continuous improvement, and we are encouraged by the significant progress each company has made so far. Successful outcomes will be built not only on unwavering long-term commitment by companies, but also from close collaboration between the industry, financers, government, civil society and local communities.”
The report does not provide company-level information or the conformance status of individual facilities – this data is available through each company’s individual disclosures.
