**1. Introduction**

Mining companies (notably large ones) have structured management according to the ISO model. It is a fact that the tailings management in these companies usually has a 'life of its own' and is not part of the ISO model. In an article recently published in the journal Mine Water and Environment entitled 'Integrated Risk Management in Mine Tailings Facility' "see [1]", the authors presented a way to integrate the two aspects of management above.

The management of Quality, Environment, Safety and Occupational Health of mining companies already follows, for the most part, the ISO model. Tailings management, on the other hand, does not follow (in principle and in a general assessment) a pre-established model. In the article, the authors sought the best (and most consolidated) technical reference in tailings management, represented by Mining Association of Canada (MAC), in order to facilitate this integration. MAC itself recognizes that its model, expressed in the so-called Tailings Guide "in [2] A Guide to the Management of Tailings Facilities", is based on the ISO 14001 standard "in [3] ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management Systems — Requirements with Guidance for Use". The ISO 14001 standard "see [3]" (as well as all the ISO management systems standards), in turn, as of 2015, started to follow a unique structure defined by ISO, represented by the so-called Annex SL. Add to this the fact that,

in the article mentioned above, a specific approach was developed in terms of Quality management, aimed at design and construction.

In August 2020, the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management "see [4]" was published, developed through an independent process (Global Tailings Review), jointly organized by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), and the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM). This became a benchmark for the mineral sector. The so-called Global Standard is comparable to Towards Sustainable Mining® (TSM®), an externally verified performance system for sustainable mining, adopted by MAC, in which tailings management is inserted. TSM® is composed of several protocols, one of which is represented by MAC's Tailings Guide "see [2]" (and, subsidiarily, by Developing an Operation, Maintenance, and Surveillance Manual for Tailings and Water Management Facilities - OMS Guide "in [5] Developing an Operation, Maintenance, and Surveillance Manual for Tailings and Water Management Facilities"). The Tailings Guide "see [2]" guides how the company should organize a Tailings Management System (TMS) which, according to the Global Standard itself, represents its central element.

The Global Standard "see [4]" also says that the TMS and its various elements need to interact with other systems, such as the Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS), the operations management system as a whole and the regulatory system, and that this interaction between systems is essential for the Standard to be effectively implemented.
