"Statement on Brumadinho dam failure", 01 Feb 2019

The Brumadinho dam failure in Brazil is a human and environmental tragedy. Our thoughts are with those who have lost loved ones, or have family members, friends or colleagues who are still missing. We deeply regret what has happened and must understand the cause of such a catastrophic failure in order to learn from it, and to respond to it appropriately and effectively. 

ICMM will support our members in taking decisive and appropriate action to enhance the safety of their tailings facilities across the globe. The Council is considering a range of actions to achieve this objective. 

ICMM’s CEO, Tom Butler, said: “We are deeply saddened by this tragic event. I will be working with the members to learn every lesson we can from this catastrophe and to drive change and sharing of best practice across the membership, and industry. We must improve in order to regain public confidence in the way we manage these facilities.”