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.
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 two new Board Members representing the purchasing sector: Mercedes-Benz’s Johannes Danz and Microsoft’s Leslie Esparza.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Received 2,500+ discrete comments from 82 organizations, and
Allowed for additional engagement and feedback outside the formal process
The sector and geographic distributions of these 82 commenting organizations are shown below:
Of the 28 chapters in first draft Standard 2.0, the most-commented upon were (in alphabetical order):
Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Protected Areas
Community and Stakeholder Engagement
ESIA (Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and Management)
Fair Labor and Terms of Work
Gender Equality and Gender Protections (new)
GHG and Energy Consumption
Human Rights Due Diligence
Indigenous Peoples and FPIC
Occupational Health and Safety
Waste and Materials Management
Water Management
Public Comments Received for the second draft of the Chain of Custody Standard
A first draft was released for public comment in 2021. The 90 day public consultation for the second draft lasted from October 26 through January 26. During that time we:
Received 80 distinct comments from 10 different organizations based in Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, UK, and the USA
Timeline
As included in the graphic below, the IRMA Secretariat is currently processing all the public comments received. Although subject to the approval of the IRMA Board of Directors, it is envisaged to release a 2nd draft for public comment in the second half of 2024. We hope to launch the actual Standard 2.0 – once approved by the IRMA Board of Directors – towards the end of 2024, thus triggering a transition period (duration to be decided and approved by the Board) between versions 1.0 and the 2.0 for all the entities and sites engaged (and seeking to engage) in the IRMA System.
27 March 2024 – Today the Initiative for Responsible Mining (IRMA) released the audits of Kumba Iron Ore’s Kolomela and Sishen iron ore operations against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining. Independent audit firm ERM-CVS assessed both operations at IRMA 75 when measuring their performance against the Standard’s best practice social and environmental criteria. Kumba Iron Ore is an Anglo American subsidiary.
The IRMA 75 achievement level means that ERM-CVS verified that the operations at least substantially met all 40 critical requirements of the IRMA Standard, as well as at least 75% of the Standard’s criteria in each of the four principle areas: social responsibility, environmental responsibility, business integrity and planning for positive legacies. The full audit reports are available on the Kolomela and Sishen audit pages on the IRMA website.
“The information stakeholders need to decide what’s going well — and what may require more attention.”
“This report demonstrates that mines can point to transparent, independent evaluations of their environmental and social performance,” said Aimee Boulanger, Executive Director of IRMA. “Through detailed IRMA audit reports, mining companies, communities and companies that purchase mined materials can gain the information they need to decide what’s going well — and what may require more attention — at specific mines.”
As the IRMA Standard is recognized and adopted around the globe, these audits are first steps in a deepening dialogue between mining companies and those affected by their operations. Because the process is still evolving, IRMA cautions that the initial results should be reviewed and interpreted accordingly.
“These mines began audits during the early COVID years. The timeline was delayed by travel challenges, and then the company’s decision to use the optional corrective action period to make improvements. The public has long awaited opportunity to review the information included here, and we applaud Anglo American for volunteering these mines for audit against such comprehensive criteria.” Ms. Boulanger went on to say, “That said, the IRMA Standard is relatively new for companies that volunteer to be audited, and even our accredited auditors are still learning. The same is true for community members and workers who are interviewed as part of the process, some of whom may not yet feel comfortable engaging. So, the Amandelbult and Mototolo audits need to be read with this in mind.”
The report also provides an honest accounting of IRMA’s own progress as the Standard and assessment process continue to mature.
“If the results don’t fully reflect the experience of communities, Indigenous rights holders or other affected groups, we want to hear from them,” Ms. Boulanger said. “We’ll help them communicate with the company to better understand its performance, and with the auditors on any issues they feel were overlooked in the review. This is a cornerstone of our own commitment to transparency. We invite anyone who has criticisms of our work to join us in making it better. Finding ways to improve is built into our system — and a measure of its success.”
The IRMA Standard is being updated in 2024; input on how to improve the IRMA Standard is welcomed. Chapters in the IRMA Standard include requirements on protection to human rights, water resources, worker health and safety, biodiversity, Indigenous free, prior, informed consent and more.
“Committing to an IRMA audit reflects our desire to improve and our openness to dialogue”
Mpumi Zikalala, Chief Executive for Kumba Iron Ore said, “Our achievement of IRMA 75 for Kolomela and Sishen mines is testament to the hard work of our teams. The result is informed by evidence from a diverse range of stakeholders including employees, governments, NGOs, and communities alike. This invaluable input will drive our ongoing efforts to enhance sustainability performance. Achieving excellent results in IRMA audits serves as recognition and proof of our commitment to high standards, best practices, transparency and assurance.”
Including Kolomela and Sishen, 19 industrial-scale mines worldwide are within the IRMA independent assessment system. After an initial self-assessment, a participating mine engages a third-party audit firm — trained and approved by IRMA — to conduct a detailed independent evaluation, including on-site visits to the mine and nearby communities. Following the release of the initial audit, a shorter surveillance audit checks on the mine’s performance. Three years after the initial audit, the operation is fully audited again (Note: The first mines audited in the IRMA system have had extensions to this timeline due to Covid delays and launch-phase learning; updated full reviews will be required to maintain or increase achievement scores.)
The independent IRMA system is the only global mining standard that provides equal power to the public sector (communities and Indigenous rights holders, mine workers, and environmental and human rights advocates) alongside the private sector (mining companies, mined materials purchasers and investors).
Apr 4th Webinar Q&A
For More Information:
Alan Septoff, +1.301.202.1445, aseptoff@responsiblemining.net
Share Your Experience: ISO Workshop on “Sustainable Critical Minerals Supply Chains” 16-17 April, New York City
RSVP with ISO for Virtual or In-Person Participation
IRMA is participating in a series of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) International Workshop Agreement (IWA) 45 sessions focused on “sustainable critical minerals supply chains.” ISO welcomes you to share your experience at the second session of IWA 45 this 16-17 April.
The series, hosted by Standards Australia, explores sustainability tools, guides, and frameworks available to “assist in improving an organization’s sustainability outcomes.” Following a first in-person only session held in Tokyo, Japan, the second IWA 45 session aims to broaden stakeholder engagement, including by enabling both in-person and virtual participation in the New York City session.
The IWA 45 series is important as it will inform the work of the ISO and the national standards bodies of its member countries, including, for example, work under ISO/PC 348 to specify criteria for sustainable raw materials from extraction to final product manufacturing.
As of March 2024, 82 mining companies are now engaged in IRMA representing 104 sites:
61 sites are self-assessing under the IRMA Standard (39 have made this public), the first step before an independent audit;
24 are piloting the draft IRMA exploration (IRMA Ready) or mineral processing standard self-assessments
19 are in the independent assessment system: 13 audits are underway (USA, South Africa, Senegal, Mozambique, Brazil, Chile, Argentina) and 6 completed audits have been published (Zimbabwe, Mexico, Chile)
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Blog
Inform the UN 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:
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:
IRMA at Responsible Investment Association
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
IRMA welcomes two new Board Members representing the purchasing sector: Mercedes-Benz’s Johannes Danz and Microsoft’s Leslie Esparza.
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.
The UN Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals
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:
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 commits Marikana to IRMA audit
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
Complaints and the IRMA System
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.
Update on Standard for Responsible Mining 2.0
As we announced back in October, IRMA is comprehensively revising the 2018 IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining (1.0). This revision process allows IRMA to:
Seeking as much as possible to align with ISEAL’s Code of Good Practice for Sustainability Systems, this revision process is informed by:
Unlike the Standard 1.0 which only covers mineral extraction operations, the IRMA Standard 2.0 is expected to also cover development, exploration, and mineral processing: the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining and Mineral Processing. Separately we will launch a Chain of Custody Standard.
Public Comments Received for the 1st Draft of IRMA Standard 2.0
The 90 day public consultation lasted from October 26 through January 26. During that time we:
The sector and geographic distributions of these 82 commenting organizations are shown below:
Of the 28 chapters in first draft Standard 2.0, the most-commented upon were (in alphabetical order):
Public Comments Received for the second draft of the Chain of Custody Standard
A first draft was released for public comment in 2021. The 90 day public consultation for the second draft lasted from October 26 through January 26. During that time we:
Timeline
As included in the graphic below, the IRMA Secretariat is currently processing all the public comments received. Although subject to the approval of the IRMA Board of Directors, it is envisaged to release a 2nd draft for public comment in the second half of 2024. We hope to launch the actual Standard 2.0 – once approved by the IRMA Board of Directors – towards the end of 2024, thus triggering a transition period (duration to be decided and approved by the Board) between versions 1.0 and the 2.0 for all the entities and sites engaged (and seeking to engage) in the IRMA System.
Audits released for first African iron ore mines
Two Anglo American mines are first African iron ore operations audited against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining
Kolomela and Sishen achieve IRMA 75
UPDATED 5 April with recording of 4 April webinar
27 March 2024 – Today the Initiative for Responsible Mining (IRMA) released the audits of Kumba Iron Ore’s Kolomela and Sishen iron ore operations against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining. Independent audit firm ERM-CVS assessed both operations at IRMA 75 when measuring their performance against the Standard’s best practice social and environmental criteria. Kumba Iron Ore is an Anglo American subsidiary.
The IRMA 75 achievement level means that ERM-CVS verified that the operations at least substantially met all 40 critical requirements of the IRMA Standard, as well as at least 75% of the Standard’s criteria in each of the four principle areas: social responsibility, environmental responsibility, business integrity and planning for positive legacies. The full audit reports are available on the Kolomela and Sishen audit pages on the IRMA website.
“The information stakeholders need to decide what’s going well — and what may require more attention.”
As the IRMA Standard is recognized and adopted around the globe, these audits are first steps in a deepening dialogue between mining companies and those affected by their operations. Because the process is still evolving, IRMA cautions that the initial results should be reviewed and interpreted accordingly.
The report also provides an honest accounting of IRMA’s own progress as the Standard and assessment process continue to mature.
The IRMA Standard is being updated in 2024; input on how to improve the IRMA Standard is welcomed. Chapters in the IRMA Standard include requirements on protection to human rights, water resources, worker health and safety, biodiversity, Indigenous free, prior, informed consent and more.
“Committing to an IRMA audit reflects our desire to improve and our openness to dialogue”
Including Kolomela and Sishen, 19 industrial-scale mines worldwide are within the IRMA independent assessment system. After an initial self-assessment, a participating mine engages a third-party audit firm — trained and approved by IRMA — to conduct a detailed independent evaluation, including on-site visits to the mine and nearby communities. Following the release of the initial audit, a shorter surveillance audit checks on the mine’s performance. Three years after the initial audit, the operation is fully audited again (Note: The first mines audited in the IRMA system have had extensions to this timeline due to Covid delays and launch-phase learning; updated full reviews will be required to maintain or increase achievement scores.)
The independent IRMA system is the only global mining standard that provides equal power to the public sector (communities and Indigenous rights holders, mine workers, and environmental and human rights advocates) alongside the private sector (mining companies, mined materials purchasers and investors).
Apr 4th Webinar Q&A
For More Information:
“Sustainable Critical Minerals Supply Chains” ISO Workshop
Share Your Experience: ISO Workshop on “Sustainable Critical Minerals Supply Chains” 16-17 April, New York City
RSVP with ISO for Virtual or In-Person Participation
IRMA is participating in a series of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) International Workshop Agreement (IWA) 45 sessions focused on “sustainable critical minerals supply chains.” ISO welcomes you to share your experience at the second session of IWA 45 this 16-17 April.
The series, hosted by Standards Australia, explores sustainability tools, guides, and frameworks available to “assist in improving an organization’s sustainability outcomes.” Following a first in-person only session held in Tokyo, Japan, the second IWA 45 session aims to broaden stakeholder engagement, including by enabling both in-person and virtual participation in the New York City session.
The IWA 45 series is important as it will inform the work of the ISO and the national standards bodies of its member countries, including, for example, work under ISO/PC 348 to specify criteria for sustainable raw materials from extraction to final product manufacturing.
For More Information:
IRMA Mining Engagement – March 2024
As of March 2024, 82 mining companies are now engaged in IRMA representing 104 sites:
61 sites are self-assessing under the IRMA Standard (39 have made this public), the first step before an independent audit;
24 are piloting the draft IRMA exploration (IRMA Ready) or mineral processing standard self-assessments
19 are in the independent assessment system: 13 audits are underway (USA, South Africa, Senegal, Mozambique, Brazil, Chile, Argentina) and 6 completed audits have been published (Zimbabwe, Mexico, Chile)
They encompass 30 countries.
Details and maps of the mining sector’s engagement with IRMA are available here.