Members / Partners

Since its founding, IRMA has been committed to multi-stakeholder dialogue and welcomes diverse perspectives around the table.

Through our work, we aim to inform decision-making among those who understand the power of purchasing to shape a new future for mining. Through robust independent-assessment against a high-bar standard and transparent reporting, we support communities, civil society and consumers access information they need to better understand how mines operate in line with best practices and to encourage improved performance from those that lag behind.

We welcome members from each stakeholder group to join IRMA as members. By doing so, you will shape the future of IRMA’s Standard for Responsible Mining and related verification system as well as join others in advancing IRMA’s vision: a world where the mining industry respects the human rights and aspirations of affected communities, provides safe, healthy and supportive workplaces, minimizes harm to the environment, and leaves positive legacies.

IRMA Members

Membership — What it is

Membership is open to all stakeholders with an interest in mining.

When applying for membership, applicants agree to abide by IRMA’s Membership Principles, including a commitment to take concrete actions to advance responsible mining, work with other stakeholders to transform the mining sector, strive for continuous improvement, uphold IRMA’s commitment to transparency, and share only credible communications in relation to IRMA engagement.

Mining Companies applying for membership after Jan 2022 must have at least one site that has been independently audited against the IRMA Standard and achieved at least IRMA 50. If the company owns/operates more than one mine site, they must also submit a plan and timeline to audit a diversity of their operations against the IRMA Standard. IMPORTANT NOTE: Companies don’t need to await membership to independently audit their mines. We encourage this to further demonstrate commitment to IRMA’s principles.

Purchasers—companies which source mined materials—and investors who become members agree to encourage mining companies to engage in IRMA through third-party assessment and must communicate an interest in sourcing materials from, or investing in, mines independently audited in the IRMA system.

Members representing NGOs, labor unions and mining-affected communities agree to make statements that engaging in IRMA is an active way for mining companies, purchasers and investors to improve environmental and social responsibility in the mining supply chain and that audit reports are valued for providing key information to support more informative dialogue between stakeholders.

IRMA has always been a place for difficult conversations and rigorous debate. We acknowledge the importance of bringing together diverse voices to forge a common path toward responsible mining. We welcome those stakeholders who are committed to this common goal to join IRMA.

Membership — What it is not

IRMA membership does not signify:

• an endorsement of the company or organization by the IRMA staff, board or other members
• that a mine has achieved a specific score in IRMA (While mining companies must announce a third-party audit within a year of joining, membership alone does not signify any specific level of performance as measured against the Standard for Responsible Mining.)
• that a purchaser has sourced materials from IRMA-assessed mines (At present, members in this sector are only required to encourage mining companies to undertake an IRMA audit and to express interest to source materials that come from mines audited in the IRMA system.)

Collaborating with other sustainability standards

We seek collaboration with other mining standards and want to ensure our program is compatible with other groups that provide chain of custody or traceability solutions for different products (e.g. electronics, jewelry, building materials, autos).

We are actively working in this way with: