Individual mines are responsible for forming their own review boards. Once this decision is made, member selection follows. Appropriate membership is integral to board success. The inclusion of a geotechnical engineer is nearly universal; they may also be a geologist or engineering geologist. A mining groundwater specialist and geoenvironmental specialist or geochemist are commonly included. Some boards will benefit from the presence of a surface water hydrologist. Reclamation review boards will have a wider range of specialists. All will need to be familiar with mining and mine-waste management.
Board members are expected to attend meetings, provide independent review, brief management, provide a timely draft and final report, and avoid any conflicts of interest. A successful review board’s work meets the declared charter in a way that fosters trust and collaboration among the board, mine owner, operator and management, and in-house and external professionals. Many boards are aware of a mine’s expectation of meeting the needs of the regulator and local communities.
Board size
The size of a review board typically varies from two to five individuals, with three to four usually optimal. Smaller mines may create a review board consisting of a single individual, who would often be referred to as a senior independent technical reviewer (SITR). But having at least one additional member allows for the sharing of ideas, observations, and insights, and can provide a broader breadth of expertise and share in writing tasks. A board with more than four members may find it difficult to set meeting dates and manage logistics. But at times a larger board is needed when the work is particularly multidisciplinary, as is usually the case for reclamation review boards.
Ideal characteristics
Board members are generally selected based on their experience and personality.
In terms of experience, 25 years is a common minimum requirement for new Board members; they are recognized as an expert in their field, have wide practical experience, and are independent. Ideally they will have design, review, and operational experience; have served on other boards; and perhaps worked at non-mining sites. They will be selected to have the expertise required to contribute to major issues at the mine and complement the contribution of other members. One of the main criteria is that they are available to join the board and have the time to participate fully.
In terms of personality, board members need to be team players and acceptable to existing members. They need to be practical, professional, and thorough. They will generally be critical thinkers, well spoken, and well written. They need to be able to earn the trust of the mine, the consultants, and their fellow board members.
Retaining members
Board members are typically appointed for three to five years and it is generally hoped that they will be able to remain on the board for decades. They will typically only stay on a board if participating meets their own needs and allows them to make meaningful contributions. Many members are in a position to pick and choose which boards to join and which to stay on.
Strategies to retain board members include: having interesting work that lets them make a difference, treating them with respect, addressing their recommendations in a timely manner, providing good presentations, and making the contracting and invoicing easy.
Conversely, there are numerous reasons a board member might leave, including: ineffective meetings; routinely cancelling or shifting meetings (or not having them at all); inviting an incompatible member to join the board; or even just a lack of interesting challenges to address. Board members also seek to protect their liability and professional reputation and may leave situations where either is threatened.
Succession
Demographics plays a major role in review board succession. Members of a review board are typically required to have at least 25 years of related experience. Most are in their 60s and 70s or even their 80s. The membership stability of a board can be strengthened by asking members to commit to a five-year term and to provide two years notice of resignation. When a member announces their resignation, a new member can be brought on with an overlap of a year or more to ensure sound continuity.
Typically, another member will be added in their place, and it is common to have one year (several meetings) of overlap, and even a few extra days together in the field. The departing board member often has decades of experience to share. A diversity of ages among board members can help ensure continuity. The overlap is more important than most realize — it helps to avoid sudden lurches in risk management strategies acceptable to the Board when a new member joins.
Advice
It takes several years and mentoring from other board members to learn to be truly effective. Even seasoned review board members take a couple years to get up to speed at the mine after their appointment. A common mistake is for a new, younger member of the board to try to set the world on fire in the first meeting rather than watching, listening, and asking questions. Still, new members can bring unique experiences that can sometimes uncover situations that need correcting sooner than later. It is a delicate balance.
Perhaps the most useful approach is to recognize that being a board member means making a long-term commitment to a relationship with other members, mine management, and the presenters, and that building and preserving trust is the single most important task. Strategies for building trust includes always being professional and respectful of others (even when they are making mistakes or acting unprofessionally), being prepared for all meetings (reviewing the pre-read and the most recent board report), providing useful and practical suggestions, and writing clear recommendations.
It is also important to recognize that a review board is a team, more than the sum of the individuals. Time must be made for quiet conversation and in-camera meetings to discuss presentations and work out the best strategies, and effort must be devoted to working together as a cohesive team, which means completing their reports in a timely manner.
Each board member is a consultant who needs to follow good consulting practices, work with the secretariat and procurement staff to forge a fair contract, submit simple and timely invoices that are easy to process, return calls and emails promptly, not be so busy that scheduling meetings is nearly impossible, and keep current with the latest technology and trends.
It is also critical to remain free of conflicts of interest or, when they do arise (ours is a tight profession) to declare them immediately to all, recuse oneself from commenting in the meeting on that topic, and acknowledging the conflict in the board report. In rare cases, it may mean promptly retiring from the Board (for example, if the member’s company wins a major contract with the mine).
Additional training for practitioners is needed to enhance the capacity of mines to formulate effective review boards. Practitioners need to broaden their understanding of tailings and tailings dams. They also require more exposure to mining practices that are sustainable and safe, in addition to being productive and profitable.
All those who contribute to and benefit from resource extraction — industry, governments, universities, the mining industry, consultancies, and communities — need to work together to ensure that the required expertise is available to mines and review boards alike. These efforts will safeguard the benefits that mining provides to society.