Stakeholder Sectors

IRMA Buyers Group Statement

5 August 2025By J.J. Messner de Latour

[this was also posted to IRMA’s LinkedIn]

The IRMA Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance Purchasing Sector members and Processors Working Group participants have been a driving force behind the scaling of IRMA at mine sites worldwide. Over the initial years of IRMA’s audit system, much has been learned about how customer expectations and requirements around IRMA are effectively communicated to suppliers.

💡 While every customer formulates their own policies and expectations of their suppliers, one common understanding has become clear: regardless of any specific achievement level a mine might reach in its first audit, the transparency, opportunity for engagement, dialogue, and continuous improvement offered by the IRMA process is what carries the greatest value.

📈 Beyond the audit and its outcomes, purchasers see IRMA as more than just an audit framework. It is a roadmap for operational excellence, a platform for positive stakeholder engagement, and a pathway to generating trust — all in service of reducing long-term negative impacts and supply chain risks.

🤝 In this general statement shared by the IRMA Buyers Group, what purchasers are saying to mines in their upstream supply chains is this — simply embarking on an audit is the most important first step.

Standards

IRMA Standard v2.0: Second DRAFT out for public consultation until October 22

22 July 2025By Pierre Petit-De Pasquale

Today, IRMA releases a 2^nd DRAFT of the IRMA Standard v2.0 (for Responsible Exploration, Extraction, and Processing of Minerals) for a new round of worldwide public consultation – open until October 22, 2025.

This new draft builds on the 1^st DRAFT version published in October 2023, and invites a global conversation to improve and update the 2018 IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining V1.0. This 2^nd DRAFT is intended to provide as final of a look-and-feel as possible, although input from this consultation will result in final edits, and consolidation to reduce overall number of requirements, for a version that will be presented to IRMA’s unique equally-governed multi-stakeholder Board of Directors for adoption and implementation.

The 2^nd DRAFT does not represent content that has yet been formally endorsed by the IRMA Board. IRMA’s Board leaders seek the wisdom and guidance of all readers to inform this through an inclusive revision process one more time, to improve the Standard.

This 2^nd DRAFT has been prepared and updated by the IRMA Secretariat based on:

learnings from the implementation of the current IRMA Standard (V1.0)
experience from the first mines independently audited (as of July 2025, 24 sites have completed audits or are in the process of being audited)
evolving expectations for best practices in mining to reduce harm
comments and recommendations received from stakeholders and Indigenous rights-holders
the input of subject-specific Expert Working Groups convened by IRMA between 2022 and 2024
all comments and contributions received during the public-comment period of the 1^st DRAFT version (October 2023-March 2024)

Please note: The IRMA Standard v2.0 is new in its approach (compared to v1.0, currently in use) in that it now covers more phases of the mining and mineral supply chain, from exploration and development, through mining, closure, and mineral processing. IRMA also, separately, oversees a Chain of Custody Standard for tracking materials through the supply chain from mine-to-market end use products.

Summary of the first public consultation

IRMA held a 90-day public consultation on the Draft IRMA Standard v2.0 which ran from October 26, 2023, to January 26, 2024. The consultation aimed to receive feedback from a wide range of members and partners of IRMA, and the diverse categories of rights-holders and stakeholders that IRMA serves and that would be affected by the changes to the IRMA Standard requirements. IRMA worked to ensure that all comments could be received in a wide range of languages and channels for communications, and we informed stakeholders that all comments would be considered carefully, objectively and equally. Comments could be sent using a diverse set of communication channels (emails, online platform, live webinars, letters, text messages via phones). Respondents could contribute in a confidential and/or anonymous manner.

During this first round, we received more than 2,500 points of comments from 82 organizations. Feedback came primarily from NGOs and the private sector with additional comments from Indigenous organizations, governments and multilaterals, organized labor and other standards systems. We were encouraged to see more than 10% of the organizations commenting were Indigenous organizations. In addition, more than 20% of the organizations were from the Global South.

A public summary report of this first public consultation and changes made is available here.
It provides the following:

Context on the review of the IRMA Standard V1.0 to consider a revision.
The components of IRMA’s preparation for releasing a 1^st DRAFT v2.0 for consultation.
A summary of the first public consultation that took place over 2023-2024.
An overview of key changes captured in the first public consultation.
A summary of the remaining and arising issues that are included in the second public consultation.
Plans for the second consultation and how to engage.
Links to online resources that are relevant to both the 1^st and 2^nd public consultations.

What is included in this 2^nd DRAFT and how to engage?

The IRMA Board, supported by the IRMA Secretariat, has approved the release of this 2^nd DRAFT IRMA Standard v2.0 for a second 90-day consultation period, from July 22 to October 22, 2025.

The second consultation will support rights-holders and stakeholders to engage and submit feedback by offering these resources, among others (see ‘Resources’ section below):

The public summary report on the first consultation period (see above).
A detailed log of all the comments that were submitted (confidential contributions have been redacted), and the individual responses from IRMA.
The full 2^nd DRAFT Mining Standard v2.0 (the new consolidated draft developed based on the first consultation period), in English, that includes:
1. For each chapter: summary of the changes since the 2023 first draft; details on feedback received and decision made for every consultation question.
2. Applicability to respective development stages (exploration to permitting to operations) integrated within the design of the chapters.
3. Updated charts, tables, annexes and glossary.
At-a-glance tables to easily compare the IRMA Standard V1.0 (2018) and this new consolidated 2^nd DRAFT, highlighting substantial differences.
Comparative mapping of the relevant sections of the 2^nd DRAFT against the OECD Guidance For Responsible Supply Chains, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the EU CSDDD Directive (ET) 2024/1760.

How to engage?

Our dedicated consultation page lists all the ways to comment, including:

- - An online commenting form, allowing for anonymous and/or confidential submissions.
  - Email (at comments@responsiblemining.net) and postal options; including confidential options;
  - WhatsApp (+1 301 202 1445) for text or voice comments; including confidential and encrypted options.
  - Webinars and live consultations, to be announced in the coming weeks.

IRMA Expert Advisors and Expert Working Group

Building on the positive experience of Expert Working Groups, IRMA welcomes the contribution of individual experts as follows:

Expert Advisors

Pools of Expert Advisors will be created for the year 2025, seeking their individual perspective and suggestions on the following topics:
—        Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Area Due Diligence
—        Upstream and Downstream Sustainability Due Diligence
—        Indigenous Peoples and Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC)
—        Climate Action
—        Applicability of the Standard to Mineral Exploration and Development
—        Applicability of the Standard to Mineral Processing Projects and Operations

The Terms of Reference applicable to these Expert Advisors, including instructions on how to apply, are available at (click on this link): ToR for Expert Advisors 2025.

If you are interested in participating in joining the 2025 pools of IRMA Expert Advisors on one or more of these topics, please contact IRMA’s Standards Director, as explained in the Terms of Reference

Expert Working Group

Additionally, and acknowledging that several issues and challenges related to the management of tailings storage and mine waste facilities could not be resolved during the development of this 2nd DRAFT, IRMA proposes to discuss and explore potential approaches within an IRMA Expert Working Group dedicated to Tailings Storage and Mine Waste Facility Management.

The Terms of Reference applicable to this Expert Working Group, including instructions on how to apply, are available at (click on this link): ToR for Expert Working Group 2025.

If you are interested in participating in the IRMA Expert Working Group on Tailings and Mine Waste Storage Management, please contact IRMA’s Standards Director, as explained in the Terms of Reference.

Resources

➭ 2nd DRAFT for public consultation
To access the 2^nd DRAFT of the IRMA Standard v2.0, open for public consultation until October 17, 2025, click here for a pdf version, and here for a tabular version (Excel).

Individual chapters are available here too.

➭ Public summary report of the first public consultation
To access the public summary report, click here for a pdf version.

➭ Summary of changes made in the 2nd DRAFT
To view the summary of the changes by Chapter that were completed during the first public consultation and resulted in the new 2^nd DRAFT that is open for the second public consultation until October 17, 2025, click here for a pdf version.

➭ Comparative tables (2018-2025)
To access the comparative tables between the IRMA Standard v1.0 (2018) and this new 2nd DRAFT, highlighting all substantial differences, click here for a pdf version (excel versions are available here)

➭ All comments received during the 1^st public consultation and IRMA responses
To view the full comments log for the first public consultation of the DRAFT IRMA Standard v2.0, click here for a pdf version, and here for a csv version (machine-readable).

➭ Summary of feedback received on consultation questions and decisions made
To view a summary of the feedback received for each consultation together with decisions made by IRMA, click here for a pdf version.

➭ Mapping of the 2^nd DRAFT against the OECD Guidance
To view a mapping of the relevant section of the 2nd DRAFT against the OECD Guidance For Responsible Supply Chains, click here for an excel version.

➭ Mapping of the 2^nd DRAFT against the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
To view a mapping of the relevant section of the 2nd DRAFT against the OECD Guidance For Responsible Supply Chains, click here for an excel version.

➭ Mapping of the 2^nd DRAFT against the EU CSDDD DIRECTIVE (EU) 2024/1760
To view a mapping of the relevant section of the 2nd DRAFT against the EU CSDDD DIRECTIVE (EU) 2024/1760, click here for an excel version.

Additional resources

Individual Chapters can be downloaded from our Resources page: click here
Key External References Used in IRMA Standards (July 2025 update): click here
Log of the main documents and publications considered for the IRMA Standard review and revision (until 2023): Log of main documents and publications
IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining v1.0 (2018) – EN | ES | FR | PT | ZH
IRMA Standard (for Responsible Mining and Mineral Processing) v2.0 – 1^st DRAFT for public consultation – used for the first public consultation held October 2023 to January 2024) – EN | ES

Note: If you wish to discuss your previously submitted comments you can write to IRMA’s Standards Director Pierre Petit-De Pasquale: pdepasquale@responsiblemining.net

Credit: Gemini.aiGovernment

IRMA Launches Law & Policy Forum

10 June 2025By Kristi Disney Bruckner

On 19th May IRMA hosted the inaugural meeting of its IRMA Law & Policy Forum. Formed in response to requests across IRMA’s six houses, the Forum serves as a regular hub for IRMA Members and Partners to:

share updates related to law and policy frameworks relevant to responsible mining, mineral processing, and mineral value chains;
develop and implement strategies to integrate the best practices in the IRMA Standard into law and policy frameworks; and
inform the IRMA Standards and system, ensuring that IRMA maintains best practice approaches that incorporate relevant international frameworks and standards and reduce duplication in reporting requirements.

IRMA is committed to supporting governments and working across sectors to incorporate the best practices in IRMA Standards into law and policy frameworks. The Forum kicked off with updates on IRMA’s engagement with governments and policymakers across jurisdictions, including an overview of the 10 Key Benefits of IRMA for Governments and Policymakers. We discussed ways that governments around the world, including Indigenous and Tribal Governments, have referenced IRMA, with examples from Australia, British Columbia First Nations and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, Chile, the European Union, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and beyond. We shared ways that we are working with intergovernmental bodies, including to advance implementation of the UN Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals Guiding Principles and Actionable Recommendations. The IRMA Secretariat also shared updates on IRMA’s first National Level Forum in Indonesia, a multi-stakeholder forum focused on cross-sector engagement and implementation of IRMA in Indonesia.

The remainder of the meeting was a space for IRMA Members & Partners to share their priorities and expertise and participate in a cross-sector discussion of key developments, such as the EU Omnibus package proposing changes to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).

The Forum will continue to meet on a quarterly basis. It is available to anyone in IRMA Member & Partner organizations working on law and policy and seeking to engage across IRMA sectors to advance IRMA’s Mission and Vision.

Credit: Creazilla, published under Creazilla Open LicenseBlog

How IRMA Benefits Affected Communities

20 May 2025By IRMA

A new resource for mining affected communities is now available.

Mining-affected communities are the often-forgotten voice among mining stakeholders. But their voice is essential in creating a responsible mining future in the face of increased demand for more mined materials. The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) offers a solution to that problem. IRMA was founded on the belief that every individual impacted by mining should have a say in how responsible mining is defined and measured. By convening experts, advocates, and industry leaders across six key sectors, we have developed an independent, best-practice standard for responsible mining, as well as a transparent process for assessing mine performance against that standard.

Learn how IRMA Benefits Affected Communities Mining Affected Communities

Image by Vectorportal.com, CC BYGovernment

How IRMA Benefits Governments and Policymakers

23 April 2025By Kristi Disney Bruckner

A new resource for the governments and policymakers is now available.

The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) seeks to be a collaborative partner with governments. Government actors, from intergovernmental bodies to tribal governments and national and subnational government bodies, are key partners in accomplishing IRMA’s mission and vision for responsible mining. IRMA complements, but can never replace, the important role of governments to create and implement robust laws and regulations.

Governments, policymakers, and advocates use the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining, based on over a decade of global multi-stakeholder dialogue, as a benchmark for internationally recognized best practices and the IRMA system as an avenue to provide market recognition for responsible actors. Governments and policymakers increasingly work with IRMA to incentivize responsible supply chains and enhance trade competitiveness.

Learn more by reading How IRMA Benefits Governments and Policymakers.

Black, Chinese & White Laborers in S. African Gold Mine [c1890-1923] Frank & Frances Carpenter. Credit: ralphrepo/CCA 2.0 generic licenseLabor

How IRMA Benefits Labor Organizations

9 April 2025By IRMA

A new resource for the labor sector is now available on the IRMA website.

Labor unions and workers, as key stakeholders in mining operations, have a significant interest in how workplace conditions, labor rights, and safety standards are managed. This is particularly important as the industry expands to meet the growing demand for minerals essential to the global energy transition. Current and emerging regulations, along with the expectations of workers, labor organizations, and mining companies seeking to mitigate risk and maintain a stable workforce, are driving the industry to adopt more transparent and responsible labor practices.

IRMA recognizes the challenges workers and labor organizations face, including inconsistencies in regulatory enforcement, historical gaps in labor protections, and the complexities of operating in high-risk regions. How IRMA Benefits Labor summarizes how labor organizations and workers can use IRMA’s credible system to advocate for their rights, improve working conditions, and ensure greater accountability in the mining industry as it expands to meet the growing demand.

Credit: Mohamed Hassan via Creative Commons - CC0 LicenseFinance

How IRMA Benefits the Finance Sector

9 April 2025By IRMA

A new resource for the finance sector is now available on the IRMA website.

The mining industry and companies using mined materials—and their financiers and investors—share a need to optimize the benefits delivered to communities and workers to de-risk mine operations and build resilience across the mineral supply chain. The world is now expecting even more from the mining sector, especially given the role it will play in the global energy transition. Finance will benefit from more responsible mining and, at this critical juncture, has a critical role to play in incentivizing it.

How IRMA Benefits Finance describes how IRMA advances mining performance and de-risks the supply chain, focuses on continuous improvement, assesses material impacts and systemic risks, and simplifies the mining standards landscape.

Stakeholder Sectors

IRMA Board Meeting Cross-Stakeholder Dialogue

3 April 2025By IRMA

As part of IRMA’s annual in-person board meeting hosted by Mercedes-Benz in early March, IRMA convened a dialogue between 80+ attendees to better understand how they can work together and also use the IRMA system to achieve their diverse goals.

For a full afternoon, attendees exchanged learnings and ideas about how to grapple with ever-present questions about transparency, traceability, and the cost of responsible mining, all with the aim of hearing from each other and taking back fresh ideas on how to inform their own work.

The dialogue occurred in two parts. To begin, IRMA Board members representing our six governing houses – Meshack Mbangula from Mining Affected Communities United in Action in South Africa, Glen Mpufane from IndustriALL Global Union, Jim Wormington from Human Rights Watch, Johannes Danz from Mercedes, Katie Fergusson from Anglo American, and Ashley Claxton from Royal London Asset Management – each how they have used an IRMA audit to advance their organizations’ goals.

After that all attendees divided into nine groups to discuss one of three issues:

Is there such a thing as too much transparency? Although transparency benefits all stakeholders, it can also bring heightened scrutiny and criticism for mines, consumer-facing brands, and investors. What do diverse stakeholders most need when it comes to valuing transparency?
What do diverse stakeholders most need when it comes to market signals and traceability given the indirect contact between the many upstream and downstream players in the mineral supply chain?
What’s really at play when it comes to the cost of an IRMA audit? Stakeholders find audit cost concerns are more related to the cost of improvements that result from an IRMA audit’s transparency, rather than the audit itself. How can stakeholders signal the value of an audit?

Some of the discussion results:

For mines, IRMA audits and the audit process provide a clear roadmap and driver toward operational excellence. The audit is as much for a mine’s own operational and strategic benefit as it is for anybody else’s.
For impacted communities, nothing about us without us. The *process* of the IRMA audit provides as much or more value to communities as the audit itself. It provides an opportunity for inclusiveness, fairness, dignity, and importantly, a voice.
As demand for mining rapidly increases, so too does the need for capital to finance it. For investors, IRMA audits provide the necessary visibility and assurance to credibly understand an investment’s risk profile and suitability for investment, thus providing a clearer path to enabling that access to capital.

The ability to catalyze candid discussion amongst wary stakeholders is one of the benefits of IRMA’s governance model, the only place in modern industrial mining where civil society has equal power and voice to the private sector.

Stakeholder Engagement and Remedy panel at Mining Indaba 2025Africa

Indaba 2025: Advancing Stakeholder Engagement and Remedy

21 March 2025By IRMA

On February 6th of 2025, IRMA had the privilege of hosting an interactive workshop on “Advancing Stakeholder Engagement and Remedy in the Mining Sector” as a side session of Investing in African Mining Indaba and Alternative Mining Indaba. The workshop reunited stakeholders in mining and responsible sourcing, as well as representatives of NGOs, workers, and local communities for an engaging discussion on the future of responsible mining.

The keynote

The workshop was opened with a keynote by Estelle Levin-Nally, a human rights expert and Founder of Levin Sources, who shared her experience with remedy and its significance. She highlighted that remediation is one of the three core pillars of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and as these principles are increasingly being incorporated into national and international law, companies must demonstrate compliance, not only to meet legal requirements but also to align with business partner expectations.

She emphasized that unremediated past harms can leave individuals aggrieved, which undermines trust, discourages participation in company or regulatory initiatives, increases the likelihood of resistance and conflict, and hinders cooperative efforts that could maximize positive impacts for both business and society. Therefore, remedy serves as a pathway to healing for victims and their families, as the consequences of unremediated harms often persist across generations.

Estelle also shared insights into the challenges of implementing effective remedy in the mining sector. These include weak rule of law in many jurisdictions, which limits access to justice; autocratic regimes, which can lead to deregulation; the exclusion of remedy as a sixth step in due diligence under the OECD Minerals Guidance; and the complexity of different remedy pathways, which can create confusion for rightsholders regarding their entitlements and the mechanisms available to them. She concluded by stressing that business partners and civil society can do more to support affected rightsholders in understanding and accessing remedy when harms occur. While companies must be prepared for remediation, they should always prioritize prevention.

The workshop

Cecilia Mattea, IRMA’s Europe Regional Lead, continued the discussion by introducing the draft IRMA Remedy Framework and its purpose to respond to communities and workers who have been harmed by mineral exploration, development, and processing. Because the absence of remediation often leads to conflict and mistrust, the remedy framework could provide meaningful solutions for past and ongoing harms and a pathway for mining companies to regain trust.

She also outlined and explained IRMA’s accountability mechanisms that support remediation efforts, including IRMA-Standard requirements for operational-level grievance mechanism; IRMA Membership Principles and Policy of Association and its policy of disassociation; the IRMA Feedback and Complaints Mechanism; and, finally, the IRMA Remedy Framework, which is currently under development.

Participants were then invited to reflect on and engage with key questions regarding the Remedy Framework. For example:

What should the IRMA Remedy Framework include? What would you like to see?
How far past should remediation go? How to ensure that communities are aware of their rights, and whose role is that?
Should the IRMA remedy framework be limited to assessed sites?

Cecilia shared some of the suggestions IRMA received from previous engagements with stakeholders, NGOs, and remediation experts. These recommendations include ensuring that the framework is inclusive in its design, reflects the complexities on the ground, aligns with regulatory requirements such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, and does not impose an additional burden on Indigenous Peoples but rather complements existing tools.

As participants engaged in the discussion, interesting points were raised regarding how governments can engage in this process and how to ensure it doesn’t restrict access to remedy through the judicial system but rather establishes a positive link to it; which other institutions could play a role in the remediation process; how traditional leaderships structures could contribute to the process; and whether it would be better for IRMA to support access to remedy rather than create a new framework.

At the end of the session, Johannes Danz, sustainability expert at Mercedes Benz, shared the business perspective on supporting the project and standards, highlighting their benefits in fostering interaction across the supply chain, resolving conflicts, building trust, strengthening relationships, and improving access to remedy.

The workshop provided an invaluable learning experience across sectors through dialogue and engagement, fostering a deeper understanding of the role of the IRMA Remedy Framework and stakeholders’ expectations.

IRMA thanks all the participants for their contributions in the workshop.

Sulfidic tremolitite (platinum-palladium ore) Credit: James St. John via Wikimedia Commons under CC-by-2.0Mining

How IRMA Benefits the Mining Sector

20 January 2025By IRMA

A new resource for the mining sector is now available on the IRMA website.

IRMA acknowledges the challenges mining companies face, such as the fact that governments have not always required certain standards, the market didn’t previously value them, and that companies often operate in complex regions. By using IRMA, mining companies can tell a transparent and truthful story about the materials we rely on every day, highlighting ongoing efforts and progress.

How IRMA Benefits Mining Operators describes how IRMA offers a robust solution by providing a comprehensive, independently verified standard and assessment system that allows mining companies to receive credit for the positive work they are already doing, while also identifying areas for improvement.

Stakeholder Sectors

IRMA Buyers Group Statement

IRMA Standard v2.0: Second DRAFT out for public consultation until October 22