Monthly Archives: December 2025

Kamativi Mining Company Source:KMCAudits

Kamativi’s lithium operation to be audited

12 December 2025By IRMA

Kamativi Lithium Mining Operation to be independently audited against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining

Kamativi Mining Co, owned by Yahua Group, has signed agreements with IRMA and IRMA-approved audit firm Resilience Environmental Assurance (REA) to independently assess its Kamativi lithium mining operation against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining. The Kamativi mine is located in the Hwange District of Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland North Province.

The assessment includes a desk review (stage 1) followed by an on-site audit (stage 2) Stage 2 includes confidential interviews with local communities and workers without mine management present. After the on-site audit REA will draft an audit report which IRMA and Kamativi will then review, after which the company may choose to release the report or take up to twelve months to implement corrective actions first. When complete, IRMA will publish the final audit report in which REA assigns an overall IRMA Achievement Level, and explains how and why they scored Kamativi against each of the 400+ requirements of the IRMA Standard.

Stakeholder engagement in the assessment

Interested stakeholders and members of the public can sign up to receive updates about the Kamativi independent assessment (e.g., the timing of the stage 2 onsite visit, link to public summary of audit results). The Mines Under Assessment page of IRMA’s website will also provide up-to-date information on all assessments.

Members of the community, public officials, workers and representatives of the workforce, or other organizations are invited to submit comments regarding how the mine site is managing their impacts to the environment including air, water, waste, greenhouse gases, and ecosystems; how the mine supports their workforce; and how the mine interacts with the surrounding community, and how it impacts the community, positively or negatively.

Interested parties may contact the independent audit firm, REA, to share comments or to ask to be interviewed as part of the audit process. The audit firm can be reached via:

Email: stakeholderInput@resilience-assurance.com

Web form

WhatsApp: +27 73 112 5526

Please share this announcement, and feel free to contact REA directly to provide names and contact information for other REA stakeholders who may be interested in knowing about and participating in the mine site assessment process.

More Information

For information on the IRMA mine site assessment process and timeline.
For information about the Kamativi audit, visit IRMA’s Kamativi assessment status page.
If you would like more information on how the audit of the Kamativi operation is conducted against the IRMA standard — contact IRMA’s Director of Assurance: Michelle Smith, audits@responsiblemining.net.

Chain of Custody Standard

From Mine to Market and Source to Store: Why IRMA’s Chain of Custody Standard Matters

10 December 2025By IRMA

Minerals power the modern world, from the batteries that drive electric vehicles to the metals in wind turbines, phones, and medical equipment. But as demand increases, so does the pressure to ensure these materials are sourced responsibly.

IRMA’s independent, community- and worker-centered mine-site audits address one part of this challenge: verifying responsible practices at the mine itself. Yet for many companies and consumers, a key question remains:

How do we know the minerals in a finished product actually came from an IRMA-assessed mine?

The answer lies in a chain of custody. IRMA’s Chain of Custody (CoC) Standard, launched in 2024, is designed to carry trust beyond the mine and into the complex networks of processors, refiners, manufacturers, and brands.

Why Chain of Custody Is Essential

Once minerals leave the mine, they often enter global systems where materials are blended, transformed, or routed through multiple facilities. A CoC standard closes this gap by enabling companies to make verifiable sourcing claims linked directly to IRMA-audited mines. As transparency becomes a regulatory expectation and a growing consumer demand, this link is more important than ever.

New EU rules, including the Critical Raw Materials Act and the 2025 mineral-supply-chain transparency platform, signal that traceability is rapidly shifting from a voluntary gesture to a regulatory requirement. Companies importing or using critical minerals will increasingly need credible systems to demonstrate where materials come from and how they manage associated risks.

Recent New York Times reporting also highlights the human cost of opaque supply chains, documenting how recycled battery lead has poisoned communities. It is a stark reminder that reliable chain-of-custody systems like IRMA’s are no longer optional but essential.

A Step Toward More Transparent Minerals

The IRMA CoC Standard outlines five models, a flexible structure that meets companies where they are while maintaining transparency and credibility:

Identity Preserved: Minerals stay physically separate and traceable from mine to final product.

Segregated: IRMA-assured materials from different mines can be mixed, but never combined with non-assured material.

Controlled Blending: Allows mixing with non-assured material while maintaining clear controls and limits.

Mass Balance: Tracks inputs and outputs over time, offering flexibility where physical separation is not possible.

Book & Claim: A credit-based model enabling support for responsible mining even when physical traceability is highly complex.

Together, these models give companies flexibility in how they track materials, and the pilots now underway are helping IRMA understand which approaches work best across different supply-chain contexts.

Next Steps for IRMA

IRMA has developed and published the Chain of Custody Standard, including guidance on assurance and on how the IRMA seal enables credible, transparent claims about responsibly sourced materials. Building on this foundation, IRMA has launched pilots across different mineral sectors and industries to test how the CoC models work in practice and what companies need for effective implementation. As these pilots progress, IRMA is now working to formalize the resulting data into a materials registry that will allow participating companies to make verified chain-of-custody claims with confidence.

Piloting the CoC Standard with mining companies, processors, and downstream buyers to test feasibility across different supply-chain contexts.

Integrating feedback from pilot participants, auditors, and technical experts to strengthen clarity and usability.

Creating tools and templates that support consistent data collection and transparent sourcing claims.

The chain of custody alone cannot solve every supply-chain challenge. But it plays a crucial role in linking responsible mining practices with the products people rely on every day. It supports stronger procurement decisions, clearer consumer communication, and more consistent accountability across the value chain. These efforts mark real progress toward knowing where your phone battery comes from—from mine to market, and source to store.

If your company would like to join the brands already piloting the IRMA CoC Standard and explore how it could work in your supply chain, I’d welcome a conversation! Feel free to reach out.

coc@responsiblemining.net

Communities

How IRMA Helped Rebuild Trust Between Mine and Community – the Unki Case Study

5 December 2025By IRMA

Earlier in 2025, IRMA published a case study of the IRMA audit of the Unki mine in Shurugwi, Zimbabwe: Bridging the Gap: How IRMA Helped Rebuild Trust Between Mine and Community, excerpted below.

In the Beginning, Voices Were Lost in Translation

Before the audit, community members rarely had a seat at the table. Now, they bring the chairs.

That’s how it feels in Shurugwi, Zimbabwe, where a shift in how mining is done – and who gets to speak about it – has started to take hold.

The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA), a global standard for more responsible mining, played a big role in that shift. IRMA is not just about emissions or tick-box safety, but the full picture: labor, land, community, biodiversity, water, human rights. It brings companies, workers, communities and civil society to the same table, and it doesn’t just ask for compliance — it pushes for better.

The audits are independent, the findings are public, and the focus is on shared progress. Change doesn’t come from slogans or public relations campaigns. It comes from patient work: dialogue, discomfort, and the simple act of being heard.

Read the rest of the Unki case study.

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