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UNSG CETM Panel at the Aug 2024 Nairobi meeting.Energy Transition

Update: UN Critical Energy Transition Minerals Panel

3 September 2024By IRMA

On 20-21 August, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals held its last in-person meeting in Nairobi at the UN Environmental Programme Headquarters.

The meeting focused on developing a short list of actionable recommendations to accompany a set of voluntary principles on issues key to the panel aims of “building trust between governments, communities and industry, enhancing transparency and investment, and ensuring a just and equitable management of sustainable, responsible, and reliable value chains for terrestrial critical energy transition minerals.”

The Nairobi meeting followed a series of virtual discussions with civil society and Indigenous rights holders, industry, and artisanal and small-scale miners, convened by Panel Co-Chairs Ambassador Nozipho Joyce Mxakato-Diseko of South Africa and Ms. Ditte Juul Jørgensen, Director-General for Energy of the European Commission. These discussions and input received through a July UN-hosted written submissions period informed panel members and their input on the draft principles and recommendations.

The panel began its work in April 2024 and will finalize its report for the Secretary-General in early September for expected publication on the 11^th of September 2024.

While we do not have control over the final panel report, we hope that our input has contributed to bringing the experience and insights across all IRMA sectors into the principles and actionable recommendations. We appreciate all who took valuable time to submit comments and recommendations to inform the work of the panel.

Look for the final report to be posted soon in our social media feeds and on the UN Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals Website.

Greenbushes town and lithium mine. Credit: Talison LithiumAudits

Talison commits first Australian mine to IRMA audit

6 August 2024By IRMA

Talison Lithium commits first Australian mine to IRMA independent audit

Seattle/Perth – 6/7 Aug – Talison Lithium Pty Ltd has committed its Greenbushes Lithium Operation to third-party independent assessment against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining. Located in Western Australia, Greenbushes Lithium Operation is the first mine in Australia to volunteer its operation for IRMA audit.

“By volunteering Greenbushes Lithium Operation for independent audit against the world’s most rigorous global mining standard, Talison Lithium is providing unprecedented transparency into the operations of an Australian mine,” said IRMA Executive Director Aimee Boulanger. “They are effectively putting themselves under a microscope and welcoming affected stakeholders to examine their mine and help them make their mine more responsible.”

“We care about a better future—and we know our stakeholders do as well. Whether it be employees, the community, or customers, we want them to know we are committed to responsible mining and production practices” said Ian McGuire, Interim Managing Director, Talison. “To achieve this, we need to provide those affected by our mine the information they need to engage in meaningful dialogue about where Talison is achieving best practice, and where there is more work to be done. That’s why we’re doing an IRMA audit.”

The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) is (1) a voluntary mining standard describing best practices to protect people and the environment, (2) an assurance process to measure mines against that standard, and (3) an organization equally governed by representatives of six affected stakeholder sectors – communities, organized labor, NGOs, finance, purchasers and mining companies — that controls the standard and the assurance process. IRMA is globally unique in that its governance provides communities equal power to mining companies, and the non-commercial interests the same power as commercial interests.

Talison, a wholly owned subsidiary of Windfield Holdings Pty Ltd—privately held by Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia (TLEA), a joint venture between Tianqi Lithium Corporation (Tianqi) and IGO Limited (IGO) holding 51% and Albemarle Corporation (Albemarle) holding 49% operates the Greenbushes Lithium Operation. With over 40 years of industry leadership, the Greenbushes Lithium Operation has been central to the establishment of the Australian lithium sector. Located 250 kilometers south of Perth, it is renowned as the world’s premier lithium asset. Its high-quality ore reserves make it a key supplier of lithium, a critical mineral for the global shift to cleaner energy. Employing more than 1,500 people, Talison is committed to working closely with its workforce, shareholders and the local community as it continues to expand.

SCS Global Services, an IRMA-approved independent audit firm, will be carrying out the assessment, which includes a desk review (stage 1) followed by an onsite audit (stage 2). Using the contact information below, members of the affected community, public officials, representatives of the workforce, or other organizations are invited to submit comments starting now 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 also ask to be interviewed by auditors once they are on the mine site.

For More Information:

To follow the progress of the IRMA assessment, visit the IRMA website for Talison Lithium’s Greenbushes Lithium Operation independent assessment status page
If you would like more information on how the audit of the Greenbushes operation will be conducted against the IRMA standard — contact IRMA’s Director of Assurance: Michelle Smith, msmith@responsiblemining.net
Interested parties may contact the independent audit firm SCS Global Services, to share comments or to ask to be interviewed as part of the audit process. 30 days prior to the onsite audit, SCS will make its own announcement and invitation directly to local communities and workers. The audit firm can be reached by email at: feedback@scsglobalservices.com

Press Release

KPMG PRI approved to conduct IRMA audits

29 July 2024By IRMA

The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) is pleased to announce that KPMG Performance Registrar Inc. (KPMG PRI) is now approved to conduct independent assessments of mining operations against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining. KPMG PRI joins ERM CVS and SCS Global Services to become the third IRMA approved verification body.

IRMA is a system in three parts:

a global standard describing best practices for environmental and social responsibility, against which mines at any point in their journey to improve practices may be measured;
an assessment process to measure achievement of mining operations against that standard such that the process builds trust in the independence of that assessment, and value for more responsible practice; and
equal governance and oversight by mining affected stakeholders such that communities, labor unions and other public sector representatives have the same voting power as mining companies and other private sector representatives.

KPMG PRI will transparently and independently assess those mining operations which volunteer to be assessed against the 26 chapters and 400+ requirements of the IRMA Standard. Verification bodies announce their assessments in advance so that assessors can interview not just mine management, but also affected community members and mine workers (among others).

“The addition of KPMG PRI as an approved verification body underscores IRMA’s commitment to answering the increasing demand for responsibly sourced minerals.” — Aimee Boulanger, Executive Director of IRMA.

“KPMG PRI is proud to become an IRMA approved verification body. We believe mining must be done responsibly, and the public and private sectors need transparent, independent assessments of mineral extraction that they can trust. KPMG’s reputation as a trusted assurance provider globally, combined with our deep knowledge of the mining sector means that we are well positioned to provide these services.” — Kim Swanzey, ESG and Sustainability Partner, KPMG LLP.

At the Unki audit. Credit: Michelle SmithBlog

Community perspectives on IRMA: The Unki Mine audit

22 July 2024By IRMA

In late June the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA, an IRMA member) published Community success stories: Tracking service delivery and environmental issues, a blog explaining the Shurugwi Development Trust’s experiences with the independent audit of Anglo American’s Unki platinum group metals mine in Zimbabwe. We excerpt it below:

Through meetings facilitated by the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA), Unki mine embarked on a third party-audit process against the IRMA standard in 2019 that involved the Shurugwi community, [achieved] IRMA 75 in the audit report. In 2022, a surveillance audit for Unki Mine was done, communities shared their concerns with the audit firm SCS Global. This was after the mine publicly audited against the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) [voluntary] standard for Responsible Mining in 2019.

ZELA, which is the only Zimbabwean member of the IRMA Civil Society Organisations global working group on worker and community engagement rights participated in development of data collection tools for communities such as the Community impact survey, IRMA Audits and Communities, sample letter to mining company, tools that can be used to monitor service delivery, engage with mining companies and government. The IRMA processes have enhanced Unki Mine’s relationship with the community, through the community engagement forum which meets quarterly to discuss the company’s mining operations in the community.

Benefits of the Unki IRMA processes and audit to the Shurugwi Community

There is now great improvement in the relationship and trust between the company and the community.

There is now an active quarterly community engagement forum meeting where 2 people were selected from each of the surrounding villages to represent the community. The relationship is promoting access to information which is enshrined in Section 62 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.

In addition to the Community Engagement Forum, there is an emergency and response Coordinator which includes village chairpersons.

The IRMA audit report is a source of information, assists in identifying gaps and strengths to improve our engagements with government through evidence gathering on mining operations and their impact on communities’ wellbeing, rights and the environment.

The IRMA audit reports assist us in carrying out our advocacy work and provides us with information to participate in national, regional and international dialogues such as Alternative Mining Indaba.

Unki mine funded 4 partners – Technoserve, World vision, Zvandiri and Apostolic Women Empowerment Trust (AWET) – to implement community development projects.

The company is capacitating women with knowledge on their health and empowering them to stand for their rights. It also encourages women in the apostolic sect to register and go for hospital deliveries. In support, AWET also trains behavior change facilitators (BCFs) on safe motherhood.

Unki mine promoted hygiene in the community, building Double Blair Ventilated Improved Pit Latrines in ward 19 and part of ward 18 (now ward 4).

UN Secretary General's Critical Energy Transition Minerals Panel in CopenhagenEnergy Transition

Inform the UN Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals

17 July 2024By IRMA

Input Requested by 30 July to Inform the UN Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals

This July IRMA participated in the first in-person meeting of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The panel is charged with developing “a set of global and common voluntary principles on issues which are key to building trust between governments, communities and industry, enhancing transparency and investment and ensuring a just and equitable management of sustainable, responsible, and reliable value chains for terrestrial critical energy transition minerals.”

The work of the panel is a UN-wide effort with technical support from the UN Environment Program, the UN Conference on Trade and Development, and other UN bodies.

Panel Timeline: April to September 2024

The panel is working under a tight timeline. UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced the panel on 2 December 2023 at COP28 in Dubai. The panel was launched on 26 April this year and the first substantive panel meeting was held in a virtual format on 22 May.

Between the May and early July, panel members worked across four workstreams divided into four related topics:

Benefit sharing, local value addition and economic diversification;
Transparent and fair trade and investments;
Sustainable, responsible and just value chains; and
Mineral value chain stability and resilience.

Each workstream met twice in virtual formats to discuss and propose principles and recommended actions in preparation for the in-person 8-9 July panel meeting in Copenhagen. Prior to the Copenhagen meeting, a set of Civil Society Recommendations for the panel, supported by over 136 organizations around the world, was submitted to inform the panel’s work.

The last panel meeting will be held in person 20-21 August in Nairobi. The final panel report is to be submitted to the Secretary-General by early September 2024.

Opportunity to Submit Comments

On 2 July the UN published a panel background paper and opened a portal for public submission of comments to inform the panel. The portal will remain open through 30 July. We encourage you to submit comments and share the opportunity to do so with your networks.

IRMA also welcomes your recommendations regarding our engagement in the panel and any aspect of the panel’s work. Please contact us at contact@responsiblemining.net to inform this effort.

Useful Links:

RIA Conference Vancouver 2024Finance

IRMA at Responsible Investment Association

11 June 2024By IRMA

In May IRMA presented at the annual conference of the Responsible Investment Association in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Launched more than 30 years ago, the RIA’s vision is to align capital with sustainable and inclusive development as codified in the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Today, the RIA today serves the needs of investment institutions, financial planners and industry service-suppliers collectively managing more than C$44 trillion in assets. The RIA serves as a secretariat for Climate Engagement Canada, a finance-led initiative to drive dialogue between finance and industry to promote a just transition to a net zero economy.

IRMA participated as part of the Critical Minerals and Mining: Balancing Net-Zero Ambitions with Social Responsibilities panel. IRMA board and secretariat members also hosted a side session to introduce IRMA to Vancouver-based colleagues, and to talk about the issues of climate, energy transition, materials needed from mining, Indigenous rights and the role investors serve.

Given Canada’s large support for mining and mine finance, Canadian investors have the potential to play a major role in encouraging mining companies to pursue the IRMA Standard. IRMA’s strategy includes an effort to engage the RIA and its institutional members.

IRMA Welcomes New Board Members

7 June 2024By IRMA

IRMA welcomes two new Board Members representing the purchasing sector: Mercedes-Benz’s Johannes Danz and Microsoft’s Leslie Esparza.

IRMA Board Member Johannes Danz of Mercedes-Benz AG Johannes is a sustainability expert for raw materials and human rights at Mercedes-Benz. In this role, he developed the company’s approach to due diligence in raw material supply chains and holds responsibility for a range of strategic areas including mining standards. Prior to his current position, Johannes served as the program manager of Extractives and Development – a German Development Cooperation program focused on policy advice and the design of strategic topics related to human rights, responsible supply chains and economic beneficiation in mining.

Leslie is the head of Responsible Sourcing for Microsoft Devices, dedicated to ensuring that Microsoft’s products are manufactured ethically and sustainably. She has over 25 years of multi-sector experience developing and leading programs in the fields of ethical sourcing, sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and human rights. Leslie has specific experience related to auditing: as a social compliance auditor she assessed workplaces in over 35 countries; she also led a multistakeholder working group to define social auditing for the then-newly formed Association of Professional Social Compliance Auditors (APSCA).

Johannes and Leslie come to us as the previous Purchasing Board Member representatives depart. Thanks to Claudia Becker of BMW Group and J.J. Messner de Latour, formerly of Microsoft and now IRMA’s Purchasing Sector lead, for the wisdom and service they provided as IRMA Board Members.

UN Secretary-General's Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals Panel bannerEnergy Transition

The UN Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals

6 June 2024By IRMA

IRMA Engagement in the UN Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals

IRMA is serving as a non-state actor panel member in the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals.

The panel, co-chaired by Ambassador Nozipho Joyce Mxakato-Diseko of South Africa and Ms. Ditte Juul Jørgensen, Director-General for Energy of the European Commission, aims to “build trust between governments, local communities and industry, by addressing issues relating to equity, transparency, investment, sustainability and human rights” in the mining sector. The objectives of the panel are to:

Support a just and equitable transition to renewable energies while harnessing critical energy transition minerals for sustainable development.
Ensure countries and local communities endowed with these minerals fully benefit economically, including through local value addition, while safeguarding social and environmental protections for affected communities and ecosystems.
Strengthen international cooperation including through the alignment and harmonization of existing norms, standards and initiatives and agree on areas for enhanced multilateral action.

The UN Secretary General announced formation of the panel at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai and launched the panel on 26 April 2024. The panel will build on the work of IRMA and other existing standards as well as prior and ongoing UN initiatives to inform recommendations, including a set of voluntary principles, for the UN Secretary-General to share at the UN General Assembly this September.

IRMA welcomes your recommendations regarding our engagement in the panel, its objectives, and how to achieve these objectives. Please reach out to contact@responsiblemining.net to inform our engagement.

Useful Links:

Sibanye-Stillwater logoAudits

Sibanye-Stillwater commits Marikana to IRMA audit

20 May 2024By IRMA

The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) is pleased to announce that Sibanye-Stillwater has committed its Marikana PGM operation to third-party independent assessment against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining. Marikana is located in South Africa.

ERM-CVS, an IRMA-approved independent audit firm, will be carrying out the assessment, which includes a desk review (stage 1) followed by an onsite audit (stage 2). After the ERM-CVS draft audit report is reviewed by IRMA and Sibanye-Stillwater, the company may release the report or has the option to take up to twelve months to implement corrective actions and be re-assessed before a final report is published and a Performance Level assigned.

Stakeholder Engagement in the Assessment

Interested stakeholders and members of the public can sign up to receive updates about the Marikana 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, 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, ERM-CVS, to share comments or to ask to be interviewed as part of the audit process. The audit firm can be reached by email at:

ERM Certification and Verification Services Limited
Email: post@ermcvs.com

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

For more information

For general information on the IRMA mine site assessment process, visit the IRMA website.
IRMA: Sibanye-Stillwater SA PGM Marikana independent assessment status page
If you would like more information on how audits of the Sibanye-Stillwater operations are conducted against the IRMA standard — contact IRMA’s Director of Assurance: Michelle Smith, msmith@responsiblemining.net

Complaints

Complaints and the IRMA System

6 May 2024By IRMA

This week IRMA posted the first complaints being processed through the IRMA Issues Resolution System. One (IRMA-2024-001) filed by the SIRGE Coalition (Securing Indigenous Peoples’ Rights In The Green Economy), and another (IRMA-2024-002) by the environmental advocacy NGO (and IRMA Board Member) Earthworks, both complaints question how the audit firm ERM CVS assessed the conformity of Albemarle’s Salar de Atacama lithium operation in northern Chile with IRMA’s Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) requirements, and how evidence was weighed and assessed in reaching audit findings.

Although the larger goal is to make mining more responsible – overall and particularly at IRMA audited mines – the means to do that is by providing unprecedented transparency to all stakeholders so that they can open dialogues that incentivize better operational practices. These complaints are exactly that: stakeholders using the information provided by IRMA audits to examine a mine’s practices and ask why they were measured as they were.

It’s important to note that all actors directly or indirectly associated with these complaints are learning how to do their work better. Although the IRMA Standard has been around since 2018, the Albemarle operation was the first lithium operation audited against the Standard, and just the third mine audited overall. The audit firm, the mining company, and IRMA itself are learning how to the IRMA system works in practice and how we can improve it.

In the near future, IRMA and the audit firm will meet, after which point we will get back to the complainants with next steps. As we process these complaints we will update their pages to keep stakeholders current about how the Issues Resolution System is working, and to allow the opportunity for all concerned to keep IRMA true to our core principles.