Engineer of Record & GISTM | Spheroid Engineering

Why it matters now

Every facility needs a named engineer behind it

The Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) was published in August 2020 by the International Council on Mining and Metals, the UN Environment Programme and the Principles for Responsible Investment, in the wake of the Brumadinho failure.

The Standard sets out 15 principles and 77 requirements across six topics, from affected communities and the knowledge base through design, operation, governance, emergency response and public disclosure. ICMM members committed their highest-consequence facilities to conformance by August 2023 and every other facility by August 2025, and lenders, insurers and host governments increasingly expect the same of non-members.

At its heart the GISTM asks three things of an operator: appoint and empower an Engineer of Record who is accountable for the facility; subject the facility to independent review at defined levels; and be able to demonstrate conformance to an outside auditor. In Zambia these sit alongside the statutory inspections of tailings dams and rock dumps that our engineers have carried out for mines on the Copperbelt and in the Kafubu emerald fields since 2009.

Spheroid Engineering Limited offers all three roles, delivered by registered engineers who have designed tailings dams, run stability and seepage analyses, installed and read the instrumentation, and written the statutory reports.

What we offer

Three roles, one accountable team

Engineer of Record

A named, registered engineer who confirms that the facility is designed, constructed, operated and monitored in line with its design intent, applicable standards and the GISTM.

Custody of the design basis, drawings and construction records
Review of construction quality and as-built conformance
Instrumentation review, trigger action response plans and performance monitoring
Annual facility performance reports and sign-off of design changes
Support to the Responsible Tailings Facility Engineer and Accountable Executive
Formal, documented EoR handover when appointments change

Senior Independent Technical Reviewer

Arm's-length review of the facility across its lifecycle for operators whose facilities do not warrant a full Independent Tailings Review Board, or who need a specialist seat on one.

Independent review of design, construction, operation, closure and management system
Dam safety reviews and stability and seepage audits
Review of consequence classification and design criteria
Participation in Independent Tailings Review Boards as the geotechnical or hydrogeological member
Written findings and recommendations tracked to closure

GISTM conformance auditing

Verification of conformance with all 77 requirements. SEL is preparing for auditor credentialing with the Global Tailings Management Institute (GTMI); pending that credential we get facilities audit-ready.

Pre-audit gap assessments against every requirement
Evidence mapping and document-control readiness
Corrective-action plans with owners and dates
Support through the formal conformance audit
Statutory inspections of tailings dams and rock dumps alongside the GISTM work

Levels of review

Where each role sits

The GISTM layers accountability and independence so that no single opinion decides the safety of a facility.

Roles in tailings facility review under the GISTM and Zambian statute
Role	What it covers	Independence	Cadence
Engineer of Record	Design intent, construction quality, operation and performance of the facility; single point of technical accountability	Appointed by the operator; may be external	Continuous engagement with regular inspections and an annual performance review
Senior Independent Technical Reviewer or ITRB	Independent review of design, construction, operation, closure and the tailings management system	Independent of both the operator and the Engineer of Record	Periodic, set by the facility's consequence classification
Dam safety review	Comprehensive review of every aspect of dam safety against current standards	Independent senior engineer	Periodic, typically no more than five years apart
GISTM conformance audit	Verification of conformance with the 77 requirements and public disclosure of the outcome	Independent, credentialed auditor	Per the GTMI conformance protocol
Statutory inspection (Zambia)	Inspection and stability assessment of tailings dams and rock dumps under the mining regulations	Registered engineer	As required by the Mines Safety Department

Cadences are indicative. The GISTM ties review frequency to the facility's consequence classification, and the operator's own tailings management system may set shorter intervals.

How an appointment starts

01

Records & classification

Design basis, construction records, consequence classification, operating manual and monitoring history are gathered and reviewed.

02

Site inspection

Walk-over of the embankment, decant and spillway, review of piezometers, survey and seepage data, and interviews with the operating team.

03

Gap assessment

Findings against the GISTM requirements and Zambian statute, ranked by consequence, with a costed corrective-action plan.

04

Formal appointment

Written terms of reference, reporting lines to the Accountable Executive, and a review calendar for the life of the facility.

Experience

Fifteen years on Zambian tailings facilities

Since 2009 SEL's engineers have inspected, analysed and designed tailings dams and rock dumps for copper, cobalt, emerald and lime producers across the Copperbelt, Luapula and the Kafubu emerald fields.

That work spans the full range an Engineer of Record is expected to command: statutory inspections and stability assessments of operating facilities, numerical analysis of existing embankments, detailed design of new tailings dams with their field investigations and hydrological assessments, and the installation and reading of piezometers and survey monitoring on large dams.

The team is led by registered engineers with doctoral and master's training in geotechnics, hydrology and civil engineering, supported by a metallurgist and an environmental scientist whose research covers the geochemistry of active and legacy tailings storage facilities. Client references and a project schedule are available on request.

Request references

Vibrating-wire piezometer instrumentation on the Kariba dam crest — Instrumentation for the Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Project.

Engineer of Record & GISTM Conformance