Global Tailings Management Institute introduces inaugural board of directors

The Global Tailings Management Institute (GTMI), an independent organization dedicated to improving the safety of mine tailings facilities worldwide, has announced the appointment of its multi-stakeholder board of directors.

The board will be chaired by Mark Cutifani, former CEO of Anglo American. The deputy chair is Vicente Mello, senior vice president at infrastructure consultancy AECOM. Both leaders bring decades of mining experience, with a strong focus on responsible tailings management.

The board’s role will be to oversee the widespread implementation of, and conformance with, the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM), driving safety, continuous improvement, accountability and transparency in tailings management.

“It’s an honour to chair the inaugural GTMI board,” Cutifani said in a statement. “The Institute is a key part of the global infrastructure to ensure we can achieve zero harm to people and the environment from tailings waste.

“It is a unique collaboration, focused on aligning standards and supporting each other to create a safer and more socially sensitive mining industry,” Cutifani continued. “Taking past lessons and developing new and innovative approaches is at the core of how we come together to continuously improve our approach to mine waste and tailings solutions.”

Diverse representation

After the Institute was established in January 2025, more than 150 individuals from stakeholder groups, including the mining industry, technical and academic communities, potentially affected communities, Indigenous Peoples, the mining workforce, environmental experts, regulators, and the finance sector, responded to the call to join the board.

This was followed by an extensive process of review and selection facilitated by the GTMI’s co-founders, the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Principles for Responsible Investment.

Multi-stakeholder participation is critical to build credibility and trust in the work of the Institute, it said.

Drawing from the breadth of expertise of leading figures from the workforce, industry, potentially affected communities and regulators amongst others, will ensure that a diversity of perspectives will inform the critical decisions the Institute will make.

The board of directors will be led by:

• Mark Cutifani, former CEO of Anglo American (Australia)
• Vicente Mello, senior vice president, AECOM (Brazil)

Other board members include:

• Janis Shandro, owner/managing director, Arrowsmith Gold Inc. (Canada)
• Mutuso Dhliwayo, executive director, Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (Zimbabwe)
• Jacqui Hex, environmental scientist, Jones & Wagener (South Africa)
• Andressa Lanchotti, public prosecutor (Brazil)
• Edson Krenak, Indigenous scholar and advocate (Brazil)
• John Howchin, special advisor, The Global Investor Commission on Mining 2030 (Sweden)
• Jeronimo Covacevich, tailings subject matter expert, BHP (Chile)