Former Anglo American CEO to chair GTMI's first board
Former Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani will chair the Global Tailings Management Institute’s (GTMI) newly appointed multi-stakeholder board of directors.
“It’s an honour to chair the inaugural GTMI board,” says GTMI chair Mark Cutifani. Image supplied.
The deputy chair is Vicente Mello, senior vice president at 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,” says Cutifani.
“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.
“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.”
Multiple stakeholder involvement
After the institute was established in January 2025, more than 150 individuals from multiple stakeholder groups, including from 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 (PRI).
Multi-stakeholder participation is critical to building credibility and trust in the work of the institute.
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 rest of the GTMI board of directors are:
- Janis Shandro, owner/managing director, Arrowsmith Gold Inc. (Canada)
- Mutuso Dhliwayo, executive director, Zimbabwe Environmental Law Organisation (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)
“The Brazilian representation on the board is significant and reflects that the Institute was born out of the Global Tailings Review, which was formed directly after the tragic Brumadinho dam collapse in 2019,” says Mello.
“Having the important insights of key individuals that were prominent in responding to the disaster will strengthen the work of the institute and its essential role in driving implementation of and conformance with the GISTM. Brazil learned hard lessons that should be shared globally.”
With the board now established, the institute will focus on developing its core programmatic activities.
This includes establishing a technical committee, developing the assurance framework for independent auditing of tailings facilities, and creating training and accreditation programs to build capacity for evaluating and certifying facilities against the GISTM.