Open Access

Peter Goerke-Mallet, Tobias Rudolph, Jürgen Brune, Jürgen Kretschmann

• At the Annual Conference of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME) in February 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona, the debate on the term "social license to operate" was a focus. The title of the keynote session of the annual conference was: "The Executive's Role in Tailings Manage-ment: Preserving our Social License to Operate”. In view of the recent accidents at mine tailings dams, the mining industry itself must revisit its "social license to operate" or, in other words, its responsibility as an operator and public ac-ceptance of its business. A recent tailings dam breach occurred in January 2019 near the Brazilian city of Brumadinho. The massive tailings spill from the Córrego do Feijão iron ore open-cast mine claimed more than 270 victims, polluting the downstream environment with a sludge volume of almost 12 million cubic meters. Extensive examination of this disaster, along with many similar incidents in recent history, made clear that mining companies must urgently address the safe operation of tailings ponds at the top executive levels. Those responsible must recognize that "business as usual" is no longer an option. Simply relying on a government issued mining permit covers the technical aspects of mining and processing no longer suffices, as the mine operator must consider a wider range of stakeholder inputs and concerns to obtain social license. This paper examines how mines can operate sustainably in the broadest sense and which efforts are required to ensure public acceptance throughout the mine life cycle. Results show that so-cially responsible operation requires that mining processes must be fully disclosed, including the results of long-term geomonitoring.