Editor's letter

Cover image: Autonomous haul truck at Rio Tinto’s Australia operations. Photo: Ian Waldie/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Since 2020, miners have sought to draw a line under tailings dam failures with the roll-out of the ICMM’s Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management, aiming to prevent another disaster like the Brumadinho dam collapse that killed 270 people in 2019. But, more than three years on, there are good reasons why some companies haven’t reached compliance.

Now, investors are pushing to take these standards to the last remaining corners of the industry. We find out what’s holding back compliance on tailings standards, how smaller companies in particular are struggling to align their operations with the standards, and the role investor pressure and regulation could play in improving compliance.

Also in this issue, we look at Canada’s push for sustainable mining, explore how China’s coal-hungry power sector is shaping demand for coal and offer an outlook for the commodity to 2030.

Plus, we find out how geopolitical risks and supply chain disruption are driving up gold and silver prices, and look at the countries leading the projected growth in uranium mining in 2024.

The MINE team