Today, 25 October 2024, ERM CVS announces that on November 25 – December 6, 2024 it will visit the Sibanye-Stillwater Marikana mining operations in the Rustenburg/Mabineg local municipality, South Africa to conduct the onsite phase of its independent, third-party Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) assessment of the operation. In May Sibanye-Stillwater announced its commitment of the Marikana operation to IRMA independent audit.
When finished, an IRMA assessment results in a public audit report released locally and on the internet. This report will describe how ERM CVS scored Sibanye-Stillwater Marikana against each of the 400+ requirements of the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining, and why ERM CVS gave Sibanye-Stillwater Marikana that score. The report will also assign an overall achievement level: IRMA Transparency, IRMA 50, IRMA 75, or IRMA 100.
Sibanye-Stillwater can use this information about the environmental and social impacts of the Marikana mining operation to improve its practices. Other stakeholders, particularly affected communities, may use this audit report to engage with Sibanye-Stillwater and others on a more equal footing to improve the operation in the ways that matter most to them.
During ERM CVS’s time at Sibanye-Stillwater Marikana, they will collect feedback from local stakeholders – anyone directly or indirectly affected by the mine — including community members, mine workers, and government officials. The ERM CVS team will also inspect the operation and its associated facilities.
November 25 – December 6, 2024
ERM CVS invites you to sign-up for an interview while we are in the area, and/or submit written comments about Sibanye-Stillwater Marikana using the contact details below. You must contact us before 11 November 2024 to be interviewed. Written comments submitted before 4 December 2024 will be considered.
Interviews occur without mine personnel present. Interviews with non-management workers occur without management present and occur offsite on request. Comments will be kept confidential upon request.
Your comments will help ERM CVS assess the impact of Sibanye-Stillwater Marikana on local communities and measure its performance against best mining practices.
ERM CVS is an independent IRMA-approved and trained audit firm. For more about ERM CVS visit ermcvs.com.
IRMA’s mission is to protect the environment and people directly affected by mining. For more about IRMA including the assessment process, the IRMA Standard, and to see audit reports of other mines visit responsiblemining.net.
Seattle/Jakarta – 07 Oct 2024 – PT Trimegah Bangun Persada, Tbk, atau Harita Nickel, sebuah perusahaan pertambangan dan pemrosesan nikel terintegrasi, telah berkomitmen untuk melakukan penilaian independen pihak ketiga terhadap Standar IRMA untuk Pertambangan yang Bertanggung Jawab. Tambang Harita Nickel yang berlokasi di Pulau Obi, Halmahera Selatan, Maluku Utara, merupakan yang pertama di Indonesia yang secara resmi berkomitmen untuk diaudit oleh IRMA.
“Dengan mengajukan diri agar operasi pertambangannya untuk diaudit secara independen terhadap standar pertambangan global yang paling ketat di dunia, Harita Nickel menjadi contoh mengenai transparansi operasional pertambangan yang belum pernah terjadi sebelumnya di Indonesia,” ucap Direktur Eksekutif IRMA, Aimee Boulanger. “Harita akan memberikan informasi kepada para pemangku kepentingan yang terdampak yang dapat mereka gunakan untuk berinteraksi dengan perusahaan mengenai cara bagaimana mendorong agar pertambangan mereka lebih bertanggung jawab. Ini merupakan momen yang tepat mengingat pentingnya peran nikel dalam mendukung transisi energi, dan permintaan dari pembeli di hilir untuk mendapatkan nikel yang ditambang secara lebih bertanggung jawab, khususnya untuk sektor otomotif dan energi terbarukan.”
“Komitmen Harita Nickel untuk menjalani audit IRMA yang ketat mencerminkan dedikasi mereka terhadap praktik penambangan yang bertanggung jawab di Indonesia. Kami sangat mengapresiasi inisiatif mereka, yang tidak hanya menjadi tolok ukur bagi industri, tetapi juga mendukung visi pemerintah untuk sektor pertambangan yang lebih transparan serta bertanggung jawab secara lingkungan dan sosial. Upaya ini menggarisbawahi pentingnya penyelarasan industrialisasi nasional dengan standar global, memastikan manfaat jangka panjang bagi masyarakat dan lingkungan kita,” kata Septian Hario Seto, Deputi Kementerian Koordinator Bidang Kemaritiman dan Investasi Indonesia.
“Kami ingin para pembeli kami yakin bahwa mereka membeli nikel yang didapatkan secara bertanggung jawab,” kata Roy Arman Arfandy, Direktur Utama PT Trimegah Bangun Persada, Tbk (Harita Nickel). “Dengan menjalani audit IRMA yang independen, kami bertujuan untuk menyelaraskan operasi kami dengan praktik terbaik dan mengidentifikasi ruang untuk perbaikan yang berkelanjutan bersama dengan para pemangku kepentingan terdampak dan pemegang hak terkait. Kami berkomitmen untuk melakukan penyelarasan dengan standar internasional untuk penambangan yang bertanggung jawab dalam jangka panjang.”
Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) adalah (1) standar pertambangan sukarela yang menjelaskan praktik terbaik untuk melindungi masyarakat dan lingkungan, (2) proses penjaminan untuk mengukur tambang terhadap standar tersebut, dan (3) organisasi yang dikelola secara setara oleh perwakilan dari enam sektor pemangku kepentingan yang terdampak – masyarakat, buruh terorganisasi, LSM, keuangan, pembeli, dan perusahaan pertambangan — yang mengendalikan standar dan proses jaminan. IRMA unik secara global karena tata kelolanya memberikan masyarakat kekuatan yang sama dengan perusahaan pertambangan, dan kepentingan nonkomersial memiliki kekuatan yang sama dengan kepentingan komersial.
Harita Nickel memiliki izin pertambangan yang memulai operasinya di tahun 2010. Melalui anak perusahaan dan afiliasinya, Harita Nickel telah mengoperasikan smelter bijih nikel kadar tinggi (saprolit) sejak tahun 2017, fasilitas pemurnian bijih nikel kadar rendah (limonit) sejak tahun 2021, dan fasilitas produksi nikel sulfat dan kobalt sulfat sejak tahun 2023. Semua fasilitas ini berlokasi di dua wilayah konsesi pertambangan aktif Harita Nickel. Harita Nickel memproduksi bahan baku utama untuk baterai kendaraan listrik – dengan memproses dan memurnikan bijih nikel kadar rendah (limonit) menggunakan teknologi High-Pressure Acid Leach (HPAL) untuk menghasilkan Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate (MHP), yang kemudian diproses lebih lanjut menjadi nikel sulfat (NiSO4) dan kobalt sulfat (CoSO4).
SCS Global Services, firma audit independen yang disetujui IRMA, akan melakukan penilaian, yang mencakup tinjauan meja (tahap 1) diikuti oleh audit lapangan (tahap 2) [English]. Dengan menggunakan informasi kontak di bawah ini, anggota masyarakat yang terkena dampak, pejabat publik, perwakilan tenaga kerja, atau pihak berkepentingan lainnya diundang untuk menyampaikan komentar dari saat ini mengenai bagaimana lokasi tambang mengelola dampaknya terhadap lingkungan termasuk udara, air, limbah, gas rumah kaca, dan ekosistem; bagaimana tambang mendukung tenaga kerja mereka; dan bagaimana tambang berinteraksi dengan masyarakat sekitar, dan bagaimana hal itu berdampak pada masyarakat. Pihak yang berkepentingan juga dapat meminta untuk diwawancarai oleh auditor setelah mereka berada di lokasi tambang.
Untuk sumber daya berbahasa Indonesia atau untuk menghubungi Koordinator Penjangkauan Masyarakat IRMA yang berbasis di Indonesia, Andre Barahamin, kunjungi halaman selamat datang di Indonesia IRMA
Jika Anda ingin mendapatkan informasi lebih lanjut tentang bagaimana audit dilakukan terhadap standar IRMA — hubungi Direktur Jaminan IRMA: Michelle Smith, msmith@responsiblemining.net [English]
Pihak yang tertarik dapat menghubungi firma audit independen SCS Global Services (feedback@scsglobalservices.com), untuk berkomentar atau meminta untuk diwawancarai sebagai bagian dari proses audit. Setidaknya 30 hari sebelum audit di tempat, SCS akan membuat pengumuman dan undangannya sendiri secara langsung ke komunitas lokal
Seattle/Jakarta – 07 Oct 2024 – PT Trimegah Bangun Persada, Tbk or Harita Nickel, an integrated nickel mining and processing company, has committed its nickel mining and related processing operations to third-party independent assessment against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining. Harita Nickel’s mine is the first in Indonesia to formally commit to an IRMA audit. Harita Nickel is located on Obi Island, South Halmahera, North Maluku.
“By volunteering the Harita Nickel mining operation for independent audit against the world’s most rigorous global mining standard, Harita Nickel is providing unprecedented transparency into the operations of an Indonesian mine,” said IRMA Executive Director Aimee Boulanger. “Harita will provide affected stakeholders with information they can use to engage the company in dialogue about how to make their mine more responsible. This is especially timely given the importance of nickel to support the energy transition, and the demand from downstream purchasers to source more responsibly mined nickel, particularly for the automotive and renewable energy sectors.”
“Harita Nickel’s commitment to undergoing the rigorous IRMA audit reflects their dedication to responsible mining practices in Indonesia. We highly appreciate their initiative, which not only sets a benchmark for the industry but also supports the government’s vision for a more transparent, and environmentally and socially responsible mining sector. This effort underscores the importance of aligning national industrialization with global standards, ensuring long-term benefits for our communities and the environment,” said Septian Hario Seto, Indonesia’s Deputy of Coordinating Ministry of Maritime and Investment.
“We want our purchasers to have confidence that they are buying responsibly sourced nickel,” said Roy Arman Arfandy, President Director of PT Trimegah Bangun Persada, Tbk (Harita Nickel). “By undergoing an independent IRMA audit, we aim to align our operations with best practices and, with affected stakeholders and rights holders, identify areas for ongoing improvement. We are committed to aligning with international standards for responsible mining for the long term.”
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 have the same power as commercial interests.
Harita Nickel holds mining licenses, under which mining operations commenced in 2010. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, the Company has been operating high-grade nickel ore (saprolite) smelters since 2017, low-grade nickel ore (limonite) processing refinery facilities since 2021, and a nickel and cobalt sulfate refinery since 2023. All these facilities are located in Harita Nickel’s 2 active mining concession areas, on former mining pits. Harita Nickel produces key raw materials for electric vehicle batteries – by processing and refining low-grade nickel ore (limonite) using High-Pressure Acid Leach to produce Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate (MHP), which is then further processed into nickel sulfate (NiSO4) and cobalt sulfate (CoSO4).
SCS Global Services, an IRMA-approved independent audit firm, will be carrying out the assessment, which includes a desktop 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 interested parties are invited to submit comments starting now regarding how the mine site is managing their impacts to the environment including air, water, waste, greenhouse gasses, and ecosystems; how the mine supports their workforce; and how the mine interacts with the surrounding community, and how it impacts the community. Interested parties may also ask to be interviewed by auditors once they are on the mine site.
If you would like more information on how the audits are 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. At least 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
Today, 5 October 2024, ERM CVS announces that on November 4 – November 12, 2024 it will visit the Sibanye-
Stillwater Rustenburg mining operations in the Rustenburg local municipality, South Africa to conduct the onsite
phase of its independent, third-party Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) assessment of the
operation.
When finished, an IRMA assessment results in a public audit report released locally and on the internet. This report
will describe how ERM CVS scored Sibanye-Stillwater Rustenburg against each of the 400+ requirements of the IRMA
Standard for Responsible Mining, and why ERM CVS gave Sibanye-Stillwater Rustenburg that score. The report will
also assign an overall achievement level: IRMA Transparency, IRMA 50, IRMA 75, or IRMA 100.
Sibanye-Stillwater can use this information about the environmental and social impacts of the Rustenburg mining
operation to improve its practices. Other stakeholders, particularly affected communities, may use this audit report to
engage with Sibanye-Stillwater and others on a more equal footing to improve the operation in the ways that matter
most to them.
During ERM CVS’s time at Sibanye-Stillwater Rustenburg, they will collect feedback from local stakeholders – anyone
directly or indirectly affected by the mine — including community members, mine workers, and government officials.
The ERM CVS team will also inspect the operation and its associated facilities.
November 4 – November 12, 2024
ERM CVS invites you to sign-up for an interview while we are in the area, and/or submit written comments about Sibanye-Stillwater Rustenburg using the contact details below. You must contact us before 21 October 2024 to be interviewed. Written comments submitted before 11 November 2024 will be considered.
Interviews occur without mine personnel present. Interviews with non-management workers occur without management present and occur offsite on request. Comments will be kept confidential upon request.
Your comments will help ERM CVS assess the impact of Sibanye-Stillwater Rustenburg on local communities and measure its performance against best mining practices.
ERM CVS is an independent IRMA-approved and trained audit firm. For more about ERM CVS visit ermcvs.com.
IRMA’s mission is to protect the environment and people directly affected by mining. For more about IRMA including
the assessment process, the IRMA Standard, and to see audit reports of other mines visit responsiblemining.net.
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 11th 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.
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.
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
This February three members of the IRMA Secretariat participated in events in Cape Town at and around the Investing in African Mining Indaba and Alternative Mining Indaba. This was IRMA’s largest delegation to Indaba to date, an indication of the growing importance of these gatherings and the wide range of associated side events to IRMA’s mission and accountability across stakeholder sectors.
IRMA led a breakfast side event that incorporated opportunities for cross-sector sharing and featured a panel of Syrah Resources’ Agnaldo Laice, IRMA’s Kristi Disney Bruckner and Scott Sellwood, IRMA Board Member and IndustriALL Global Union’s Glen Mpufane, Anglo American’s Mahlogonolo Rangata, Mercedes Benz’s Johannes Danz, and Earthworks’ Vuyisile Ncube.
IRMA also partnered with IRMA-member Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) to host an interactive discussion at Alternative Mining Indaba on the role of standards and third-party assurance in promoting environmental and social governance. The discussion focused on how affected communities, NGOs, and organized labor have used the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining and IRMA audit reports, with small group discussions on the types of tools and strategies that would help participants make use of IRMA to protect their rights.
This year, joining long-standing participation from mining companies, the presence of purchasing companies was more prominent at Indaba, including multiple members of the IRMA Buyer’s Group calling for more responsible mineral supply chains and engagement in IRMA.
IRMA attended a wide range of events and held meetings with government, company, investor, purchasing company, civil society, and labor representatives. Indaba and Alternative Mining Indaba continue to be important forums for sharing IRMA’s value and deepening our accountability across sectors. We look forward to engaging in these important forums again in 2025!
As the ISO takes on important work on responsible mining, IRMA restates the importance of inclusive and meaningful multi-stakeholder engagement
On 15-16 February 2024 in Tokyo, Japan, IRMA participated in the first working session of the ISO IWA 45, an international working agreement on “sustainable critical mineral supply chains.” This project is led by Standards Australia (Australia’s national standardization body) under the auspices of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and is tasked to “understand the range of sustainability tools/guides/frameworks available which will assist in improving an organization’s sustainability outcomes.” ISO is a quasi-governmental organization dedicated to standard development, headquartered in Switzerland and composed of the national standards bodies of its member countries.
This workshop was an in-person-only event which, while providing constructive opportunity for people to connect directly, dramatically reduced the number and diversity of stakeholders affected by mining and mineral value chains to participate. There were about 45 participants, with a majority from industry (mining and mineral processing) and consultants to the private sector, followed by government delegations (including national standardization bodies and state agencies or research institutions). The most represented countries were the United States, Canada, China, and Japan.
Articulating the perspectives of our members from six houses—affected communities, downstream purchasers, investment and finance, mining industry, NGOs, and organized labor—IRMA worked actively in the session to integrate the perspectives of civil society and organized labor, as those groups were not in attendance. We are concerned about how their absence might leave a significant gap in this process and encourage the event organizers to increase this outreach.
The working session opened with a summary of the results obtained from a preliminary survey circulated by Standards Australia in January 2024. Of the 115 full responses received, two-thirds came from the mining and mineral processing industry, 7% from NGOs, and 7% from academia. Most of the responses originated from China and Canada (over 10%), followed by the U.S., the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Germany, South Africa, and Sweden; other countries were all under 3%.
Given the survey feedback was foremost from industry, the main insights shared by the workshop organizer reflected the positions of industry representatives who engaged in the survey, including the “proliferation,” “overlap,” and “inefficiency” of sustainability standards, the “confusion” they would create, and the “burden” created by assurance mechanisms that would be “significant, costly, and time-consuming”.
It is worth noting that IRMA has never heard civil society or mine workers complain that “assurance processes are too expensive,” but rather that they see need for increased investment in transparent sharing of information on performance and for improved practices. We hope that Standards Australia will be able to soon provide a breakdown of the responses by stakeholder groups and increase outreach to civil society, Indigenous rights holders, and labor leaders.
IRMA emphasized throughout the workshop the importance of inclusive and meaningful multi-stakeholder engagement for ISO to ensure robustness and credibility in its processes and its efforts to standardize responsible business practice. A number of other participants similarly asked for more proactive and targeted outreach to all stakeholder groups. The issue of inclusive and meaningful multi-stakeholder engagement was then selected by the organizer as the final topic for plenary discussion.
As currently designed, IWA and ISO processes, including IWA 45, are not inclusive for affected communities, NGOs, and organized labor, and do not allow for meaningful multi-stakeholder engagement. We ask that this fundamental gap be identified as the top priority in the final report that will be produced by Standards Australia this year, including as a key recommendation to inform the other ongoing ISO committees and workstreams on responsible mining and sustainable mineral value chains.
16 Feb 2024 – Today the Initiative for Responsible Mining (IRMA) released the audits of Anglo American’s Amandelbult and Mototolo PGM operations against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining. Independent audit firm ERM-CVS assessed Amandelbult at IRMA 50 and Mototolo at IRMA 75 when measuring their performance against the Standard’s best practice social and environmental criteria.
IRMA also released the surveillance (interim) audit for Anglo’s Unki PGM operation in Zimbabwe, as conducted by audit firm SCS Global. In 2021, Unki achieved IRMA 75 in IRMA’s first-ever on-site audit; a surveillance audit is a more limited check-in, so it does not result in further detailed scoring but rather provides updates on performance.
IRMA 50 or 75 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 50 or 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 Amandelbult and Mototolo audit pages, as well as Unki’s surveillance report, 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”
Craig Miller, CEO of Anglo American Platinum said, “This significant milestone at Mototolo and Amandelbult mines in our overall adoption of IRMA enables us to promote transparency and best practice in sustainability, while adding value to our global customers by helping them to meet increasing expectations for responsibly mined materials in an efficient and credible way. With Unki mine achieving IRMA 75 in 2021, and now the achievements of Mototolo with IRMA 75 and Amandelbult with IRMA 50, we are continuing to make great progress towards our sustainable mining plan target of having all our mining operations assured against a recognised responsible mining standard by 2025.”
Including Amandelbult, Mototolo and Unki, 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).
Feb 27th Webinar Q&A
Speakers: IRMA Executive Director Aimee Boulanger, IRMA Africa Regional Lead Davidzo Muchawaya, IRMA Assurance Director Michelle Smith, and Anglo American Platinum Head of Sustainability Stephen Bullock