Yearly Archives: 2021

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Comment period open: IRMA draft Mineral Processing Standard

16 June 2021By

Today the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) is pleased to release its draft Standard for Responsible Mineral Processing (Mineral Processing Standard) for a 60-day global public comment period. Download the draft standard (as a Word document or in pdf format).

The draft Mineral Processing Standard is IRMA’s response to stakeholder requests for a global set of best practices that go beyond ensuring responsible practice at the mine site by clarifying expectations at other key points in minerals and metals supply chains.

IRMA’s Mineral Processing Standard will serve as the basis of a global, voluntary system offering independent third-party review and certification of environmental and social performance measures at smelters, refineries and other operations involved in the processing and extraction of minerals and metals from ores, concentrates and scrap materials. It was developed through multi-stakeholder collaboration and the innovation that comes from working across diverse sectors, disciplines, and geographic locations.

The Mineral Processing Standard is incomplete without your valuable feedback. The public comment period begins today and remains open through 16 August 2021.

Learn more

IRMA is hosting two webinars to introduce the draft Mineral Processing Standard and highlight some questions that we have for stakeholders. Please join us for one of the following sessions:

How to comment

Next steps

The 60-day public comment period ends 16 August 2021.  Based on the comments and direct feedback from one or more pilot projects, we will revise the Mineral Processing Standard. We aim to release the final Standard in late 2021. We will make the final Mineral Processing Standard available on the IRMA website as well as via the IRMA e-newsletter (sign up here).

 

Photo information: Mineral processing operation (lead, zinc, copper and other metals), La Oroya, Peru.
Photo credit: Earthworks/Scott Cardiff.

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IRMA cited in White House report on building resilient supply chains

15 June 2021By

We are pleased to share that the U.S. White House mentions IRMA in their recent report from Biden’s Executive Order on building resilient supply chains. Both the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Defense reference the IRMA Standard as a road map for best practices in mining materials needed for large capacity batteries related to renewable energy and for critical minerals related to electronics and mobility:

“The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) is an international coalition of businesses, nongovernmental organizations, labor unions, mining operators, and other stakeholders that has developed a Standard for Responsible Mining and established a system for independently certifying mines worldwide that adhere to that standard. IRMA may provide a method for U.S. companies and the Federal Government to ensure that minerals are being sourced from mines with robust environmental, social, and financial responsibility policies, and also could provide a model for responsible development of additional mines in the United States.”

With a measurement model built on social responsibility, environmental responsibility, business integrity and planning for positive legacies, a governance model founded on consensus across multi-stakeholder interests, and a reporting model capturing unprecedented detail while prioritizing transparency, IRMA provides the most credible assurance standard for the mining industry. As recognized by the Biden Administration, IRMA’s standard can inform and provide a template for improved laws and regulations for mines developed in the United States (and elsewhere), and IRMA’s independent assurance program can help to recognize and foster more responsible mineral supply chains globally.

This important recognition is thanks to the commitment and years of collaborative work invested by IRMA’s visionary multi-stakeholder board.

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IRMA’s 2nd Audit Report released: Anglo American’s Unki Mine

18 February 2021By

Today the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) is pleased to publish the results from Unki Mine’s independent, third-party assessment. The platinum group metals mine, located in Zimbabwe, is the first of Anglo American’s portfolio of mines to be assessed against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining – the most rigorous and high-bar set of metrics currently available for measuring responsible practices at mine sites globally.

The audit report details results from an independent assessment carried out by SCS Global Services. SCS awarded Unki an achievement level of IRMA 75, a first in the IRMA system and a representation of both Anglo American’s leadership in the sector and the improvements made at the site over the last few years to align with IRMA’s high-bar expectations. The achievement level of IRMA 75 means that a mine has met at least 75% of the requirements in each of the four principle areas of the Standard (Business Integrity, Planning for Positive Legacies, Social Responsibility and Environmental Responsibility), as well as a set of 40 critical requirements.

The audit report is now available for public review. Those reviewing the report should note that some requirements were not scored as part of the audit process. These requirements were identified as needing additional guidance to enable a more accurate and consistent rating of them. In order to be responsive to these challenges, IRMA will update its auditor guidance in 2021 and the Unki mine will have these requirements assessed during its surveillance audit, a process which will occur within 18 months of today’s release. Such learning and adjustment was expected in the first years of assessing mines against the IRMA Standard, and those mines that have stepped into the process during this early phase have allowed IRMA to learn and improve for the benefit of all stakeholders.

Anglo American has long been engaged with IRMA, and for close to a decade has served on IRMA’s Board of Directors and has helped inform and support the creation of IRMA’s Standard for Responsible Mining. The Unki mine was also the site of a field test of an early draft of the IRMA Standard.

“Anglo American’s leadership has been pivotal to the success of IRMA,” said Aimee Boulanger, IRMA’s Executive Director. “During the ten-year process of crafting IRMA’s Standard, they did not shy away from difficult conversations about how to best measure responsible mining in a way that is at once practicable for the industry and meets the expectations of civil society. Now, they are sharing the results of their own operations as measured against the world’s most robust definition of responsible mining. We commend their continued leadership in advancing IRMA’s vision.”

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