Regulators, investors and communities are starting to demand tighter governance of tailings facilities, with greater emphasis on evidence and accountability.
Alastair Bovim, CEO and co-founder of environmental intelligence platform company Insight Terra, says recent tailings failures in the region have made the stakes clear. “The industry has moved from talking about standards to testing whether they are actually being met on the ground,” he says. “That requires clear governance, professional judgement, and reliable data that can support day-to-day decisions.”
While technology alone will not fix governance, without it, many good intentions remain unverifiable. Organisations that make that shift will not only reduce risk, they will also rebuild trust – a topic that is sure to be high on the agenda as industry leaders meet at Mining Indaba this week.
“Frameworks and best practice are essential,” Bovim adds, “but outcomes ultimately depend on how consistently they are applied. The real challenge is translating global principles into practical decisions at site level.”
From frameworks to verifiable practice
The Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM), introduced in 2020 following the Brumadinho disaster, set a new global benchmark. Its requirements make clear that tailings safety is as much about governance and social responsibility as it is about engineering. And progress is visible. 67% of International Council on Mining and Metals members report full compliance, and the highest consequence sites show strong uptake, yet conforming on paper is not the same as proving compliance continuously across a facility life cycle.
That distinction is now being tested. The Global Tailings Management Institute (GTMI) has begun independent auditing work from its Johannesburg headquarters, which shifts the burden from voluntary reporting to auditable evidence.
Bovim cautions that moving toward independent assessment does not imply a lack of commitment from operators. “It reflects how complex these systems have become. As facilities grow larger and interact with wider catchments and communities, confidence increasingly depends on evidence that can be independently tested.”
Tailings are dynamic, monitoring must be continuous
Tailings facilities are living systems. Water levels fluctuate, pore pressures evolve, deposition patterns shift and extreme weather increasingly tests original design assumptions. Without continuous, integrated monitoring, even well-designed facilities can drift into risk without obvious warning.
Static, retrospective reporting is no longer enough. “Making monitoring actionable – turning signals into clear decisions, and decisions into documented, accountable actions – is the critical step,” explains Bovim. “Operators must be able to show the chain of evidence from sensor, to trigger, to action, and to outcome. That chain of custody is what separates compliance from credible assurance.”
Practical tools for practical governance
Digital continuity matters more than novelty. Platforms that bring together instrument feeds, satellite observations, geotechnical models and governance workflows make it possible to present a single, auditable record of a facility’s state and the decisions made in response. Crucial to this credible evidence is disciplined data governance – fixed records of sensor readings, time-stamped triggers, and a clear audit trail that links an alert to the action taken. At their best, these systems do not replace professional judgement; they support it by making the rationale behind actions transparent and traceable.
Insight Terra is working with Dassault Systèmes GEOVIA to shift tailings management from reactive monitoring to proactive, lifecycle-based governance through virtual twin technology. The system integrates water, geotechnical, and climate risk monitoring with pre-planned steps to be taken in response to specific alerts, meeting GISTM Principle 7’s requirement to design, implement and operate monitoring systems to manage risk.
“By integrating Insight Terra’s real-time monitoring with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, every instrument becomes visible in its full engineering context,” explains Francis Magisson, Mining Industry Director at GEOVIA. “Alerts drive structured actions with complete traceability – enabling confident, lifecycle-based tailings governance.”
The practical benefits are straightforward: earlier warnings, faster and better targeted interventions, and a defensible audit trail that reassures communities, boards, insurers and regulators.
Looking ahead to SANS 10286
The direction of travel is clear. South Africa’s SANS 10286, the national code for tailing and residue facilities, is being revised to align more closely with global practice, reflecting a broader shift towards demonstrable governance. Many jurisdictions in Southern Africa look to South African standards and professional practice when updating their own frameworks, so the regional impact will be significant.
“As Africa supplies an increasing share of the minerals that underpin the energy transition, having world-class standards and the digital platforms that enable responsible scaling becomes critical infrastructure,” Bovim says. “This is not a burden. It is a way to attract responsible investment and to protect communities that live downstream of these facilities.”
Making risk visible and actionable
“Standards do not prevent failures on their own,” Bovim concludes. “People do, supported by systems that make risk visible early and action possible in time. If the sector is serious about zero harm, it must be prepared to show how it achieves that, every day.”
