In 2000, as some operators recognized that they faced the same challenges around access to onboard data, an informal effort began. By 2005, the effort was formally organized under SMART with a charter and a plan to engage with the OEMs and OTMs. Over the following seven years, SMART members engaged the OEMs and OTMs, developed baseline standards and documentation, and increased industry-wide communications and engagement.

In 2010, a SMART industry summit was held in Vancouver during the annual convention of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), bringing together SMART Members with OEMs and OTMs. SMART faced a number of limitations that necessitated the evolution to a new organization to move forward. These limitations included:

• SMART was a voluntary organization of surface mine operators.
• Success relied on a group of volunteer mine operators, so its efforts and progress were inconsistent.
• The initiative required dedicated time, effort, resources, and process beyond the volunteer base capacity.
• SMART members did not include OEMs, OTMs, vendors, or suppliers, thus representing only part of the industry.
• SMART had no structure for funding, resourcing, or processes.
• OEMs and OTMs questioned the commitment of the mine operators.

It became apparent that a more formal structure was required, to lend substance, organization, and commitment to the issues and have a greater impact for developing mining technology and work practices.

The result was the creation of the Global Mining Standards and Guidelines Group (GMSG) under the CIM Surface Mining Society. The organization officially launched in May 2012 and it quickly became clear that there was demand for such an organization to serve both surface and underground mining communities.

The Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME) also became a partner organization in 2012. Both SME and CIM committed to three years’ seed funding for GMSG and had a representative on the GMSG Governing Council. The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM) joined as partner organizations in 2013, providing two years’ seed funding and also having seats on the GMSG Governing Council.

In May 2018, the organization’s name changed to the Global Mining Guidelines Group (GMG) to better reflect its purpose. In November 2021, GMG began operations as an independent organization to better serve its global community.

Today GMG’s mandate has extended even more to cover many aspects of the mining process. Its membership has grown steadily from 2012, and includes mining companies, OEMs, OTMs, third party suppliers, consultants, research institutes, and academia, brining together more than 7,000 volunteers to publish over 21 guidelines, white papers and other industry resources and counting (The words guidelines, white papers and other industry resources to Library), share knowledge and grow networks to help make mining better. And this is only the beginning…