Interview – Tom Butler, former ICMM CEO: Holistic approach needed to minimize risk at tailings dams Tom Butler, former ICMM CEO (Credit: Global Tailings Review) In the wake of the Brumadinho dam tragedy in Brazil in 2019 that killed 270 people, the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) conducted a multi-stakeholder review with investors and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), which resulted in the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management, which was launched in August 2020. An investigation led by the Investor Mining & Tailings Safety Initiative revealed that around a tenth of tailings dams – 166 of the 1,635 dams studied — have had safety issues in the past. Considering there are more than 3,500 tailings dams globally, the challenge at hand will require buy-in from all parties.