Blog

New Year, New Board Members

As we welcome the new year, we are thrilled to welcome three new board members:

Community Sector: Pavel Sulyandziga, Russia

Pavel is an Indigenous leader and human rights activist from the Bikin River valley in Siberia. He is dedicated to protecting indigenous communities, whose rights are often violated by business. Pavel has a PhD in Economics and is President of the International Indigenous Fund for Development and Solidarity “Batani” (Batani Foundation). He’s currently a Visiting Scholar at Dartmouth College (US) and at Law School University of Maine and was a member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (2005 – 2010) and Member of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights (2011 -2018). He joins Meshack Mbangula of Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA) in representing the Community Sector.

Labor Sector: Meg Gingrich, Canada

Meg Gingrich is Assistant to the National Director of United Steelworkers (USW) Canada. For ten years she’s been on staff at USW Canada’s National Office, first as a researcher and now as the Assistant to the National Director. In that position she’s the senior administrative and policy advisor to the USW in Canada, with lead responsibility on issues relating to trade, industrial policy, and strategic planning. She’s also the central liaison on these issues with the leadership of USW United States. Meg is also the President of Blue Green Canada, which was co-founded in 2008 along with Environmental Defence as a joint labour-environment-community coalition. She joins Glen Mpufane of IndustriALL Global Union in representing the Labor Sector.

Purchaser Sector: Claudia Becker, Germany

Claudia is BMW Group’s Expert on Raw Material Strategy and Sustainable Supply Chain Management. Claudia has been working for the BMW Group since 2012 in operational and strategic purchasing functions. In 2016 she joined BMW’s responsible sourcing team with a focus on due diligence in mineral supply chains. Claudia works closely with supply chain partners and represents BMW in various international and cross-industry initiatives, such as Drive Sustainability, RMI and the GBA. Before joining the BMW Group, Claudia worked in the sector of international development cooperation including for the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Cambodia on sustainable urban development. Claudia has an academic background in Geography from the University of Bonn with a focus on development cooperation, sustainability, and urbanism. Claudia joins J.J. Messner de Latour of Microsoft in representing the Purchasing Sector.

As we welcome Claudia, Meg, and Pavel to the IRMA board, we reflect with appreciation on the invaluable contributions of those who have served IRMA’s governance since its founding: Dewa Mavhinga, Mike Kowalski, Anisa Kamadoli Costa, Samara Rudolph, Joan Krajewski, Ephi Banaynal dela Cruz, Susan Posnock, Joe Drexler, Mark Rowlinson, Alan Knight, Nuskmata, Larson Bill, Loretta Williams, and many more to whom we owe deep appreciation for their work.

New Year, Same Unique Governance Model

While there are other multi-stakeholder, extraction-related and metals-related standards, IRMA’s governance model is unique: equal governing authority shared between six sectors with an interest in mining. For any board vote, if the two representatives from any given sector oppose a motion, the vote fails even if all other board members are in support. To our knowledge, the IRMA board is the only place in the world where communities, labor, and civil society have an equal voice alongside mining companies and other multinational corporations.

Looking Forward

2023 will be an important year 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.

Our work to create financial value for mines independently assessed against the world’s most robust mining standard will take a major leap forward. Audit reports for at least ten mine sites will be released in 2023, including the first lithium mines assessed in IRMA. 2023 will also see the IRMA Standard expand to include exploration and development, before mines are operating, and also mineral processing operations, as well as updating the current Standard for active mining operations.

We do this work to integrate learning from the first mine audits, and to create value for an evolving definition of “best practices”, shared across stakeholder sectors, for environmental and social responsibility. As with all of IRMA’s work, this is only possible through the engagement of all affected stakeholders and we welcome your engagement.

At the end of October, the IRMA Secretariat had our first in-person annual planning retreat since the onset of the COVID pandemic. At the retreat’s opening, those in attendance shared with one another why we work for IRMA. Below we share those reasons with you.

“Industrialized societies used mined materials every day but most people don’t know much about mining, the places these materials come from, and the impacts of extraction. Among the people who know the issues well, there is deeply broken trust between companies and affected communities. It’s meaningful to work with diverse stakeholders and indigenous rights holders committed to addressing these issues in a respectful way and working together to reduce harm.” — Aimee Boulanger, Executive Director

“I work for IRMA because in a time of peak political will to improve environmental and social performance in the mining sector, the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining provides a detailed roadmap informed by over a decade of input across sectors. The IRMA Standard is an excellent tool for assessing and improving legal frameworks as well as mine site performance, promoting the level of protections and transparency so greatly needed in this era of energy transition.” — Kristi Disney Bruckner, Senior Policy Advisor

“Since the beginning of my career, I have believed business—when managed responsibly—can have substantial, positive impacts in the places it operates, from source point to end consumer. IRMA provides a clear path for companies along the mineral value chain to perform at a higher level and align with the expectations of customers and civil society alike.” — Rebecca Burton, Director of Corporate Engagement

“The IRMA Standards have the potential to bridge the gaps between mining policies and the demands of various stakeholders impacted by resource extraction. As a part of the IRMA Secretariat, I have the unique opportunity to work together with some of the most passionate people to reach the full potential of the IRMA mission and vision in a manner that gives an equal voice to all stakeholders.” — Adan Olivares Castro, Special Projects Coordinator for Latin America

“As traditional means of protecting communities and the environment are increasingly hamstrung by bad faith actors, I believe that IRMA is the best way to help the most people and the ecosystems we all rely upon by encouraging mining companies to operate more responsibly — and showing them how.” — Alan Septoff, Information Systems & Communications Director

“We live in a world that requires metals to address today’s needs and provide solutions for tomorrow. I am inspired every day to have the opportunity to support a holistic and honest assessment of the impact of mining on people and the planet, and I am humbled with the opportunity to set expectations for best practice mining that honors the diverse interests and rights of stakeholders.” — Michelle Smith, Director of Standards & Assurance

“As the demand for mined materials and natural resources increase, the IRMA team is navigating a better way for the mining industry and finding solutions for best practices which includes the critical work of reducing impacts and harm to affected communities and the environment. This is approached with great passion, intelligence and respect for all our stakeholders, and I am proud to be part of making such meaningful and positive changes for the world.” — Kristen Vissers, Program Coordinator

As of September 2022, 65 mining companies are now engaged in IRMA representing 76 sites:

• 56 sites are self-assessing under the IRMA Standard, the first step before an independent audit;
• 9 are piloting the draft IRMA exploration (IRMA Ready) or mineral processing standard self-assessments
• 11 independent audits under way: nine initial audits (South Africa, Brazil, Chile, Argentina) and two surveillance audits (Mexico, Zimbabwe)
• 2 independent audit reports have been released — Anglo American’s Unki mine in Zimbabwe, and Carrizal’s Zimapán mine in Mexico
• They encompass 25 countries:
  1. Argentina
  2. Australia
  3. Brazil
  4. Canada
  5. Chile
  6. Colombia
  7. Dominican Rep.
  8. Finland
  9. France
  10. Indonesia
  11. Liberia
  12. Mexico
  13. Mozambique
  14. Namibia
  15. New Caledonia
  16. Panama
  17. Philippines
  18. Russia
  19. South Africa
  20. Spain
  21. Sri Lanka
  22. Turkey
  23. Ukraine
  24. United States
  25. Zimbabwe
• And 52 minerals and mineral types:
  1. Aggregates
  2. Barite
  3. Bauxite
  4. Cerium
  5. Chromite
  6. Chromium
  7. Coal (metallurgical)
  8. Cobalt
  9. Copper
  10. Diamonds
  11. Europium
  12. Feldspar
  13. Gadolinium
  14. Gold
  15. Graphite
  16. Iridium
  17. Iron
  18. Kyanite
  19. Lanthanum
  20. Lead
  21. Limestone
  22. Lithium
  23. Magnesium
  24. Mica
  25. Mineral sands
  26. Molybdenum
  27. Monazite sand
  28. Neodymium
  29. Nickel
  30. Osmium
  31. Palladium
  32. Praseodymium
  33. Platinum
  34. Potash
  35. Quartz
  36. Rare earth elements
  37. Rhodium
  38. Ruthenium
  39. Samarium
  40. Sand
  41. Selenium
  42. Silver
  43. Staurolite
  44. Sulphur
  45. Talc
  46. Tellurium
  47. Titanium
  48. Tourmaline
  49. Vanadium
  50. Xenotime
  51. Zinc
  52. Zircon

(Note: this blog appeared in the Sep 22, 2022 IRMA newsletter)

On September 11 in South Africa about 500km southwest of Johannesburg, the tailings dam failed at the Jagersfontein mine waste impoundment. Three people were killed, four more are still missing, and 40 were hospitalized.

This is a tragedy, and all the more so because it was predictable.

IRMA Board member Meshack Mbangula of Mining Affected Communities United in Action and other MACUA leaders are currently in the region, gathering the perspectives of communities. Meshack shares that some are still without water, electricity, sewage management, and with road blockages limiting children’s access to school.

From the world’s repeated recent experience with mine waste disasters, we know that poor tailings facility designs, aging facilities, and increasing frequency of extreme weather associated with climate change will combine to cause more mine waste tragedies around the world for communities living near mining operations.

We can act to minimize that threat. We join with others asking three questions:

1. How can we prevent the construction of new mining waste facilities with this type of risk to fail?
2. How can we provide sufficient funds for communities and governments to protect public safety from these mine waste risks even when mine ownership changes?
3. The unbelievably difficult question of how to put protection of human life first at the thousands of places around the world where these dams already exist?

The disaster, and reports of years of community effort to raise concern and attention to the risks, shows the importance of ongoing community involvement in addressing a mine’s impacts – for as long as the mine’s impacts exist.

IRMA’s Standard for Responsible Mining seeks to address these issues in not only our chapter on waste management, but also chapters on emergency preparedness and response, protecting water resources, stakeholder engagement, and reclamation, closure and financial assurance.  Learning from this experience will inform the update of how diverse stakeholders together define “best practices” in the IRMA Standard, due out in 2023.