GISTM and the Changing Landscape of Tailings Dam Design and Governance

About the presentation:

After a series of high-profile tailings dam failures in Canada and Brazil, a new global standard for tailings management was developed and now all ICMM companies are disclosing their overall compliance with the standard. As of August 2025, all companies that are disclosing their compliance to GISTM had to disclose on all tailings facilities. This presentation will cover the history of GISTM and how it became established, the pillars of GISTM, what changes it is bringing to the industry, the influence of the new standard on regulations and overall expectations for tailings management and governance. The main topics of this presentation will focus on the technical changes including assessment of credible failure modes, dam breach assessments and tailings facility design criteria and a look at what might be coming in the future.

About the presenter:

Pamela Fines has over 20 years of experience as a geotechnical engineer. She completed her bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering in 2000 at the University of Saskatchewan and then continued with a Masters of Applied Science from UBC. After graduating, Pam began her career at Klohn Crippen Berger in Vancouver. While at Klohn Crippen Berger she has worked in Vancouver, Brisbane and is now based in Edmonton. Pam’s career has focused on the design of mine waste structures. Her experience includes site investigation, construction supervision, design and review of operations of tailings and water dams. Pam is currently the engineer of record for several closed TSFs in Canada and has been conducting 3^rd party review of TSFs including GISTM compliance reviews.