On behalf of all of us at IRMA, we invite you to view this short video by Executive Director Aimee Boulanger, highlighting some of IRMA’s top achievements in 2024 and 4 Key Priorities for 2025.

Thank you for being a special part of the IRMA journey. If your institution isn’t yet a member, apply now to become an IRMA Member and be part of making meaningful progress toward our mission and vision in the year ahead!

IRMA’s 2024 Highlights and 2024 Priorities

2024 was a dynamic year of IRMA impact and growth with multiple IRMA firsts, expanding IRMA engagement and coverage, collaborations with state and non-state actors, engagement in key policies, and recognition of IRMA across sectors.

IRMA Firsts in 2024

We celebrated multiple IRMA firsts in 2024, including:

  • Commencing the first IRMA audits in Australia and Indonesia, and completing the first IRMA audit in Mozambique.
  • Welcoming our first Finance Sector members to IRMA.
  • Publishing IRMA’s first board-approved Chain of Custody Standard following a robust period of public consultation, allowing verified tracking of IRMA-audited material from the mine site to the end user.
  • Responding to the first Complaints in the IRMA grievance system, an indicator of growing awareness of and trust in the system while informing improvements to IRMA.
  • Hiring our first Indonesia-based IRMA Secretariat member, Andre Barahamin, to lead community outreach in Indonesia, launching our first National Level Panel in Indonesia, and our first IRMA-hosted in-person civil society meeting in Indonesia.
  • Hiring our Purchasing Sector Lead, J.J. Messner de Latour, leading growth in IRMA Membership in downstream purchasers to 25 members (an increase of 5 in 2024), engagement in the IRMA Processors Working Group to 7 (an increase of 1 in 2024), and supporting their powerful drive for responsible mining. Collectively the IRMA Buyer’s Group represents U.S. $1.7 trillion in annual revenues.

purchasers and processors

  • IRMA’s first engagement in India, presenting at the India Critical Minerals Summit and meeting with leaders in government, industry, civil society, investors, and other sectors in New Delhi.
  • IRMA’s first engagement at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Conference of the Parties (COP), hosting our first United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change COP Official Side Event with ResponsibleSteel and Publish What You Pay, and co-hosting our first events at Climate Week NYC, one with Open Government Partnership (OGC) and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) focused on responsible governance of transition minerals and another with the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions Team focused on innovation in decarbonization and nature-positive solutions in transition mineral value chains.
  • IRMA’s first presentation to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, at APEC’s 15th Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance (SCSC) Conference in Lima, Peru.
  • IRMA’s first engagement in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as an official Liaison to ISO Project Committee 348 on “Sustainable Raw Materials.”
  • In 2024 we were pleased to see the first two IRMA-audited mines meet ResponsibleSteel’s responsible sourcing requirements. ResponsibleSteel recognizes IRMA-audited input material as meeting its highest level of responsible sourcing requirements for ‘Certified Steel.’
  • IRMA participated in its first UN Environmental Assembly (UNEA) in 2024, joining side events and negotiation of the UNEA 6 Resolution on Environmental Aspects of Minerals and Metals.

Expanding IRMA Engagement and Coverage in 2024

At the end of 2024, IRMA grew to 99 companies (an increase of 17 in 2024) and 118 sites (an increase of 15 in 2024) engaged in the IRMA system. We are looking forward to welcoming our 100th company in 2025!

  • IRMA engagement covers 35 countries and 53 minerals. Countries and Minerals of IRMA Engagement
  • 68 sites are self-assessing against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining, the first step before independent audit.
  • 28 sites are piloting the draft exploration or mineral processing standard self-assessments.
  • 22 sites (an increase of 3 in 2024) owned by 12 different companies (an increase of 2 in 2024) have been engaged in the independent assessment system: 11 initial audits are underway in South Africa, Senegal, Mozambique, Indonesia, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Australia and 10 audit reports (an increase of 2 in 2024) have been published in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mexico, Chile, and Brazil.
  • IRMA saw significant and growing coverage across lithium, manganese, iron, platinum, and graphite sectors in 2024.IRMA market coverage for select minerals

2024 Collaborations

IRMA approaches all aspects of our work in partnerships within and across sectors. We have long-standing partnerships with the Forest Stewardship Council, ResponsibleSteel, Alliance for Responsible Mining and other standards bodies, including engagement with a wide range of standards as an ISEAL Community Member.Among our numerous collaborations and partnerships in 2024, we note the following:

2024 Policy Engagement

In 2024 IRMA participated extensively in ISO Processes including a series of workshops hosted by Standards Australia (IWA 45) and as a Liaison to ISO Project Committee 348 on ‘Sustainable Raw Materials,’ helping shape the process to avoid greater complexity and duplication across the mining standards landscape. Responding to member priorities, IRMA’s policy focus in the European Union (EU) was expanded significantly in 2024 with the addition of a dedicated staff member, Cecilia Mattea, working with EU policy makers and to ensure that the IRMA Standard is fit-for-purpose for regulations such as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), EU Batteries Regulation, and Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA).

Recognition of IRMA Across Sectors

We celebrated a range of IRMA recognitions across sectors in 2024, including:

  • Eramet’s restatement of its commitment to “subject all its mining operations to an independent audit process based on the IRMA Standard.” IRMA relies on the leadership of companies to implement the IRMA Standard at the site level and appreciate those who boldly commit to having all their sites undergo IRMA audits.
  • In its Raw Materials Report 2024 Mercedes-Benz declared, “Since 2021, we have been using IRMA as a precondition in all battery-related awardings and require our suppliers to exclusively use cobalt, lithium, nickel, natural graphite, manganese and copper from IRMA-audited mines in newly commissioned scopes of supply.” Multiple automakers commented on IRMA in the Amnesty International report Recharge for Rights: Ranking the Human Rights Due Diligence Reporting of Leading Electric Vehicle Makers. Ford declared, “We are requiring suppliers source raw mined materials from suppliers committing to and/or certified by the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) or third-party equivalent.” Volkswagen declared, “We are a strong supporter of IRMA, which is fully inclusive of communities and stakeholders. We have committed to using IRMA in our battery supply chains and have already seen success with the audits from Albemarle and SQM in Chile.” Tesla’s Impact Report 2023, published in 2024 declares that “The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) Standard is Tesla’s preferred mining standard. IRMA is a multi-stakeholder led organization with the most comprehensive mining certification system and transparent reporting of results available. Its focus on continuous improvement allows suppliers to improve their results over time. Tesla has been an IRMA member since late 2021. Our goal is to encourage the uptake of IRMA across our supply chain.”
  • The Declaration of Indigenous Peoples’ Participants in the Conference on Indigenous Peoples and the Just Transition, endorsed by 87 Indigenous Peoples’ representatives, states that IRMA’s “policy on FPIC must be the minimum standard for mining companies.” The BC Assembly of First Nations Resolution 34/2024 on Support for the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) Mining Standard was adopted at Assembly’s October 2024 General Meeting, endorsing the IRMA Mining Standard and calling on the government of British Columbia to support and adopt IRMA, ensuring the right of free, prior and informed consent. The BC First Nations Energy and Mining Council (FNMEC)’s BC First Nations Critical Minerals Strategy states that “First Nations, in their sole and absolute discretion, may require all mineral projects, including critical minerals projects, be assessed and audited by the world’s leading mining standard created by the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA).”
  • MinSUs and GIZ compared Chilean and Peruvian mining regulations to the IRMA Standard in the report Estudio Comparativo entre la Normativa Chilena y Peruana con los Requerimientos Auditados por el Estándar de Minería Responsible IRMA. The Spanish report concludes, “the IRMA Standard audit is an opportunity to improve mining processes, strengthening socio-environmental and governance management” (Spanish translation provided by Deepl).
  • 31 investors managing US $2.7 trillion signed a statement demanded that companies enhance their environmental and social due diligence in nickel supply chains of the electric vehicle industry, endorsing VBDO and Rainforest Foundation Norway’s investor statement that references IRMA as a key initiative “which downstream companies can support by joining directly but also by prioritizing sourcing from mines audited by IRMA and requiring their own suppliers to be audited by IRMA.”
  • IndustriALL Global Union published a statement describing IRMA as “a valuable tool which integrates ILO standards, OECD guidelines and human rights due diligence. This integration created a culture of industrial peace, accountability, and meaningful dialogue between workers, communities, and mining companies.”
  • 39 civil society organizations submitted a letter to the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) requesting the USTR to “ensure that critical minerals operations meet all standards set in the Indigenous Peoples and Free, Prior, and Informed Consent” Chapter of IRMA and to require the Occupational Health & Safety and environmental responsibility and related standards in IRMA. Lead the Charge, a diverse network of local, national, and global advocacy partners working for an equitable, sustainable and fossil-fuel free auto supply chain published An Assessment of Third-Party Assurance and Accreditation Scheme that assessed IRMA as a “robust scheme” that “was the strongest performer by a considerable margin” among the eight systems evaluated, and meets “nearly all of the minimum criteria for governance, auditing, and/or accreditation.” In a Lead the Charge statement to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) the coalition stated, “there are fundamental criteria that standards must include to be credible and effective at protecting people and the planet. The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) contains these elements and more, which is why there is broad consensus within civil society that IRMA is the strongest mining standard and should serve as the baseline for any global guideline on critical mineral supply chains.” The Rainforest Action Norway and Mighty Earth’s Assessing Biodiversity and Deforestation Impacts in Mining Standards report also concluded, “the IRMA Standard consistently rises above other mining standards for evaluating biodiversity impacts, due to its stronger requirements, multistakeholder governance and transparency, among other criteria.” Business and Human Rights Resource Standard’s Transition Minerals Tracker: 2024 Analysis declares, “The standard developed by the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) represents the most comprehensive, transparent, and credible mining sector audit standard available today.”

IRMA 2025 Priorities: Scaling Service with Integrity

Looking ahead to 2025, we aim to achieve:

  1. More Mines in the IRMA System: New mining companies and increased number of sites across diverse geographies, materials, and company size, with increased support through an active learning hub.
  2. Improved Audit Process for All: More auditors, with increased IRMA fluency, and expertise in community and worker engagement; greater efficiency in the process for mining companies with greater affordability and support for small and medium-sized companies to engage; and increased worker and community awareness of IRMA as a tool for improvement and increased trust that audits tell a fair story for all.
  3. Increased Recognition of Achievement in the Market Driving Value for Improved Practices: Audit reports are used to increase dialogue and incentivize improved practices, and the market, policy makers, and civil society incentivize engagement, creating value for companies.
  4. Confidence in Governance and Accountability: IRMA’s equal governance, standards, and assurance system balance service and value to all with growth in IRMA’s membership.