Over the past decade, mining companies have widely adopted leading tailings management frameworks such as the Mining Association of Canada’s (MAC) Towards Sustainable Mining Tailings Guide and the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM). As a result, many organizations have demonstrated full compliance through formalizing expectations around accountability, transparency, performance and risk management. Despite this progress, the mining industry continues to experience tailings facility failures, with ongoing challenges related to public perception and trust from communities and rightsholders. This disconnect demonstrates that compliance with governance standards does not necessarily equate to effective risk management. This paper explores the gap that persists between compliance and effectiveness in tailings management. Drawing on practical industry experience, the discussion illustrates how governance frameworks can fall short when they are not meaningfully embedded into day-to-day operations. Common gaps include monitoring data that is collected but not analyzed, documentation that exists but is not used in practice, and identified risks that are not actively managed. Effective tailings management systems rely on their implementation rather than merely their existence. Shifting the focus from compliance to effectiveness is essential for achieving meaningful risk reduction and strengthening technical and social confidence.