Standards

Credit: ResponsibleSteelCredit: ResponsibleSteelStandards

Standards’ Role in a Responsible Transition: An IRMA-ResponsibleSteel Collaboration

29 July 2025By

[This is post also lives on the ResponsibleSteel website]

Exploring the role of standards in driving a responsible transition in steel and mining: A collaborative journey between IRMA and ResponsibleSteel

As the global shift toward decarbonisation gains momentum, so too do the questions around how the transition will affect people and communities. While emerging technologies bring a cleaner future, they also bring with them significant disruption, particularly in heavy industries like steel and mining. New technologies, shifting production geographies, and economic restructuring can create unintended social consequences such as job losses, community displacement, and weakened local economies.

In response to this, two Voluntary Sustainability Standards, the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) and ResponsibleSteel have come together to explore what a just transition looks like for these sectors, and to explore the role of standards in steel and mining to drive a responsible transition. This joint project, supported by the ISEAL Innovations Fund and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), seeks to understand the social impacts of transitions and how voluntary sustainability standards can help ensure that this transformation is fair, inclusive, and responsible.

This collaboration reflects a growing recognition of the value in shared learning between the steel and mining sectors. By working together, IRMA and ResponsibleSteel are exchanging insights, comparing approaches, and learning from each other’s experiences to strengthen how just transition principles are understood and applied.

A shared vision rooted in multi-stakeholder governance

IRMA and ResponsibleSteel were both founded on the principle of multi-stakeholder governance. Their boards include labour unions, civil society, and industry (Purchasers, Indigenous Rights Holders, Investors-IRMA), as well as affected communities in IRMA’s case, ensuring that decisions are not only transparent but also equitable. This approach forms the foundation of our collaboration on the just transition. Together, we bring complementary strengths: IRMA’s standard addresses upstream mining operations at the site level, while ResponsibleSteel covers the downstream steel production process.

The two initiatives are jointly exploring how standards can help mitigate adverse social impacts of decarbonisation, such as the economic consequences of site closures or workforce displacement. Our goal is to provide a common foundation that recognises diverse regional realities and reflects the voices of workers, Indigenous Rights Holders, communities, and industry actors alike in our voluntary sustainability systems.

Laying the groundwork: Research and stakeholder engagement

The first phase of the project centred on an in-depth literature review of over 200 sources, including international standards, academic and practitioner literature, case studies, and online materials, with a focus on content relevant to the steel and mining sectors. This review explored how voluntary sustainability standards, global frameworks, and national policies approach just transition issues, highlighting areas of alignment as well as gaps. Insights were drawn from 11 standards and frameworks relevant to the steel and mining sectors, along with case examples from seven additional countries. Building on this foundation, the team conducted over 30 stakeholder in-depth interviews with voices across industry, labour, Indigenous rights holders, supply chains, policymakers, academia, and civil society. These conversations were then complemented by two multi-stakeholder workshops in Johannesburg and Brussels, which brought together workers, unions, companies, NGOs, Indigenous representatives, and decision-makers. Each phase has contributed valuable, grounded perspectives that continue to shape the direction and priorities of the project.

Key insights from the project so far

What has become clear and consistent throughout both the literature review and the stakeholders’ engagement so far is the contested nature of the term ‘Just Transition’. As we all live in different worlds with different contexts of reality, everyone brings their own understanding and priorities when thinking about a just transition. As voluntary sustainability standards, we must be thoughtful in how we define and interpret this term. We need a flexible framework where local context can be well reflected, and the context and priorities are defined by local stakeholders.

Another key insight that emerged from all activities was the critical importance of an inclusive governance and management system that accommodates a meaningful stakeholders’ engagement process and inclusive decision making at every step of the way to achieve a just transition. This also presents a challenge – inherent tension between the urgency of just transition issues and the often time-consuming nature of stakeholders’ engagement. It is not just about having a process itself, but it is about recognising and addressing the existing power imbalance between stakeholders, and ensuring that the process facilitates meaningful consultation, which, in essence, means providing equitable access to consultation and decision-making processes.

Moving forward

Drawing on their sectoral expertise, multi-stakeholder governance models, and shared commitment to transparency and accountability, IRMA and ResponsibleSteel are exploring how standards can support a just transition in practice. This project marks an initial step toward building a stronger foundation for future efforts, recognising that meaningful progress will depend on continued collaboration and engagement.

Join the conversation

As this joint project progresses, ResponsibleSteel and IRMA would like to continue the conversation with stakeholders. An important milestone in this journey is an upcoming webinar, which will provide an opportunity to share key findings, share what we heard from those who contributed to the project, and explore how voluntary sustainability standards can play a meaningful role in supporting a responsible transition in the steel and mining sectors.

We invite you to join us for a webinar hosted by IRMA and ResponsibleSteel :

Date: Thursday, 4 September

To make it easier for participants in different time zones to join, the same session will be offered at two different times.

Session 1:
10:00–11:30 CEST / 10:00–11:30 SAST (South Africa)
9:00–10:30 BST (UK)
3:00–4:30 PM Southeast Asia (Jakarta Time)

Click here to register for session 1.

Session 2:
16:00–17:30 CEST / 16:00–17:30 SAST (South Africa))
15:00–16:30 BST (UK)
10:00–11:30 AM US Eastern Time (EDT)

Click here to register for session 2.

Find out more about ResponsibleSteel here.

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Standards

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

22 July 2025By

Today, IRMA releases a 2nd 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 1st 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 2nd 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 2nd 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 2nd 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 1st 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

Cover of the Report on the 2023-2024 1st 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:

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

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

The IRMA Board, supported by the IRMA Secretariat, has approved the release of this 2nd 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 2nd 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 2nd DRAFT, highlighting substantial differences.
  • Comparative mapping of the relevant sections of the 2nd 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 2nd 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 2nd 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 1st 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 2nd 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 2nd 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 2nd 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 – 1st 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

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Credit: Suki Lee via Pexels.com (free use license)Credit: Suki Lee via Pexels.com (free use license)Chain of Custody

Without a Trace: What’s Missing in Discussions about Supply Chain Traceability

29 June 2025By

Blockchain is the solution to supply chain traceability, right?

Well, perhaps it might help, one day. But while technology – including blockchain – promises to help amass and process the enormous volume of complex supply chain data, there remains a key, unresolved barrier to progress: people.

Likely every piece of data already exists today for brands to be able to figure out the provenance of the materials in their products. Existence of data is not the problem. Rather, it is its availability and accessibility. Whether intentionally or not, it is people within supply chains that are effectively acting as gatekeepers to critical supply chain information. Creating value for people to share data – even conditionally – is the key to ultimately unlocking the supply chain visibility that downstream brands are increasingly expecting.

An electronics brand recently managed to trace a critical mineral in its device through every step of the supply chain all the way to the specific mine from which the raw material was dug out of the ground. Yet you will not hear that brand make any claim as to this achievement. Why? Because the mine was unwilling to provide the necessary documentation to verify the data. Without that critical validation, the end-to-end tracing of that material – an astonishing feat given the complexity of today’s supply chains – was left unconfirmed.

There are a variety of reasons why suppliers might refuse to share data with customers, particularly those with whom they have an indirect relationship, multiple supply chain tiers apart. For some, perhaps it is yet another customer request for which they are consuming bandwidth and resources to fulfill with no clear benefit or reward. For others, perhaps it is a concern that giving customers information about their own business relationships might provide customers all they need to know to cut that supplier out and go straight to their sub-tier suppliers. For others still, perhaps there is a fear that the information could somehow be triangulated to determine the supplier’s ‘special sauce’ of material composition or manufacturing process. In other words, a trust problem. Whatever the reason, the result is the same: efforts toward supply chain visibility are starved of the data they need.

But does it matter? Brands are increasingly under legal, regulatory, market, investor, and activist pressure to be able to demonstrate the integrity of their supply chains, to prove that they are sourcing their materials and components responsibly and ethically. But even more than that, supply chain traceability is also what makes responsible mining real.

The experience of the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) demonstrates that the overwhelming primary motivator for mines to meet IRMA’s Responsible Mining Standard and to undergo independent third-party audit is customer request. But such requests are most powerful if a customer knows – and can demonstrate – who their suppliers are, by tracing the provenance of the materials in their products to the source. After all, it is important for us not to lose sight as to what traceability ultimately delivers to society. Traceability builds connection between everyday products like cars and phones to the source of their raw materials, providing the opportunity to positively influence the supply chain to reduce harm to real people and their lands from where those raw materials are sourced.

It is an irony therefore that upstream suppliers, including some mining companies, may claim that they do not hear customer demand for responsibly mined materials since, at the same time, upstream suppliers may be denying access to the very information that would allow customers to connect the dots and make those demands known. It is difficult for a customer to make demands to a supplier if they do not know who their supplier is, after all.

So how to fix this? Certainly, technology can help. There are service providers in the market who analyze vast quantities of customs and shipping records, for example, to seek to triangulate data and identify links in the supply chain. But easily the most direct route is to just get it from the source: incentivize upstream suppliers to provide the data necessary for supply chain traceability.

On the one hand, compulsion – either regulatory, contractual, or market – will drive conformance. It is unlikely, perhaps in the short term, that governments the world over will be scrambling to create a regulatory mandate for higher tier suppliers to provide data to their customers. More likely is that customers will require data sharing in their procurement specifications and contracts and in so doing also create a market incentive where data sharing and transparency becomes the price of entry to sell into a market, regardless of customer.

On the other hand, could we assuage the concerns of suppliers who do not trust how their data will be used? Is there context for conditional data sharing, where a limited amount of ‘just enough’ data is shared such that confidentiality is maintained? Or the opportunity to provide for data to be shared with independent third parties (such as auditors)? Or scrubbing and anonymizing data to protect elements of it that may be proprietary in nature while still providing customers with the information they need to meet their requirements? IRMA and some of its members will be exploring these possibilities in the year ahead as we trial the implementation of our own Chain of Custody Standard with a series of pilot initiatives. It may be that complete transparency may not be necessary and perhaps the quest for 100% openness may be impeding greater progress, and that there may be some forms of limited disclosure still worthy of public confidence.

Though the vast amounts of supply chain data and the flashy solutions on offer, (like blockchain) may lead us to believe that the answer is technological, in reality the impediment to meaningful supply chain traceability and transparency is very human. It will only be through meeting suppliers where they’re at – through requirements, incentives, workarounds, and trust building – that we can ever hope to solve the problem and enable those tech solutions to be able to crunch all that data that will hopefully one day magically become available. And in so doing make responsible supply chains more of a reality.

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Credit: Suki Lee via Pexels.com (free use license)Credit: Suki Lee via Pexels.com (free use license)Standards

Update on the IRMA Mining Standard revision process

3 June 2025By
Background

Following the release of a 1st Draft of the IRMA Mining Standard V2.0 in October 2023 for a 90-day public consultation, the IRMA Secretariat received more than 2,500 points of comments from 82 organizations, organized additional engagement with stakeholders and Indigenous rights-holders, and solicited complementary guidance from multiple topic-specific Expert Working Groups.

We first anticipated the release of a 2nd Draft – for a second round of public consultation – as early as Q3 2024, then subsequently announced that this would likely not be approved by the IRMA multi-stakeholder equally-governed Board of Directors before March 2025. We provided a detailed explanation for why the process was taking longer than planned.

Where are we now?

We are now in June and a sub-group of the IRMA Board of Directors is still actively working to resolve the final points of disagreements. This discussion is entirely focused on the draft revised Chapter dedicated to the management of Mine Waste Facilities, including tailings storage/management facilities (TSF or TMF), especially with regard to the GISTM standard and the recent announcement of a Global Tailings Management Institute being established to oversee it.

Once all issues are resolved and approved by the IRMA Board, the Secretariat will be able to release the 2nd Draft IRMA Mining Standard V2.0 for a 60-day consultation period.

(NOTE: the Board agreeing to release a Draft Standard for consultation does not constitute endorsement of everything in the Standard; it will be an invitation to the world to help further improve and refine the revision of the IRMA Mining Standard for the Responsible Exploration, Extraction, and Processing of Minerals.)

Expert Working Groups: 2025 and beyond

At the time of the release of the 2nd Draft IRMA Mining Standard V2.0 for public consultation, the IRMA Secretariat plans to circulate a call for interest to refresh and restart the topic-specific IRMA Expert Working Groups (EWG). The final list of topics to be covered is being finalized, and Terms of Reference are being updated.

We express our gratitude to you all again for your patience and understanding, as IRMA remains committed to working transparently on the revision of the world’s most comprehensive and rigorous standard available for the minerals sector.

If you don’t want to miss the relevant announcements, make sure to subscribe to the IRMA Newsletter!
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Hands together at the Mototolo workshopHands together at the Mototolo workshopStandards

Standards’ role in a responsible transition for steel and mining

20 February 2025By

ResponsibleSteel and the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) are collaborating on a joint project supported by a grant from the ISEAL Innovations Fund, which is supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO, to better understand the social impacts of the net-zero transition for the steel and mining sectors and how standards can help guide good practice.

Two project leads, Haruko Horii, Standards Manager at ResponsibleSteel, and Davidzo Muchawaya, Africa Regional Lead at IRMA, provide a short Q&A for readers to better understand the project.

Q: Haruko, what is the vision for the project?

With this project, we want to understand the social impacts of the transition to net zero and what role standards can play in guiding good practice.

The term ‘just transition’ is used by different people in different ways. We need to determine what this looks like for the mining and steel sectors. What exactly is a just transition? Whose transition are we discussing? Workers, local communities or supply chains? What is the scope of transition? These are some of the questions we need to consider.

Decarbonisation could have adverse social impacts such as job losses or displacement and significant effects on weakening the economic viability of affected communities. Initial research has shown that communities are facing significant social impacts caused by the transition to low-carbon practices. For instance, thousands of people have lost their jobs as a result of shifting from blast furnace technology to electric arc furnaces. These job losses have in turn impacted the wider community’s economic stability, community identity, and overall well-being.

These are the types of issues we aim to identify through this project, assessing how voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) can address them, identifying gaps, and outlining steps for future, more detailed work that could lead to larger-scale initiatives. We’ll test our findings by engaging with workers, unions, business leaders, community organisations, and other relevant stakeholders to identify an agreed approach and create practical guidance for players in the mining and steel industry.

Q: Davidzo, what do ResponsibleSteel and IRMA have in common, and why are they collaborating on a just transition?

We believe in the power of collaboration and mutual recognition. This project is just one of many examples of how different VSSs can complement and leverage each other’s work. Specifically, ResponsibleSteel leverages the assurance system of standards such as IRMA’s at mine site level, while focusing on the steel production aspects. Importantly, both ResponsibleSteel and IRMA were founded on a multi-stakeholder governance system, which has been recognised as a leading practice both by industry and NGOs. This model is recognised as best practice to ensure transparency, accountability, and inclusivity.

The collaboration specific to a just transition is born out of the necessity to ensure two hard-to-abate sectors, steel and mining, address the realities workers and communities are facing in our changing world as many existing mine and steelmaking sites face adaptation or closure. Given the varying impacts of decarbonisation across regions, IRMA and ResponsibleSteel are uniquely positioned to provide frameworks that apply across these different contexts since they are both standard-setting organisations operating globally. What is more, they are able to consider both decarbonisation and the potential social impacts of the transition at the same time.

Q: How do each of you respectively integrate just transition into your standards?

Haruko: Standards are going to play a critical role in promoting accountability during the transition, ensuring they are fair and equitable. Although there is no explicit reference to a just transition in the current ResponsibleSteel International Production Standard, there are some elements to address the transition under Principle 4: Decommissioning and Closure of sites, which requires consultation with key stakeholders to minimise any adverse impacts. In future, the scope of this principle could be expanded to address issues related to site closures, or the Production Standard could adopt a different approach by providing a Just Transition Framework giving steel producers guidelines and tools to navigate an equitable transition with workers and affected communities. We plan to discuss these approaches with stakeholders in the next phases of the project. Integrating practices into the Production Standard will help ensure the industry’s transition is both environmentally and socially just.

Davidzo: As for the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining, multiple chapters and requirements articulate what best practices could and should be for mining operations wishing to ensure a just transition for workers and affected communities. A prominent example is the requirement to involve affected communities and stakeholders in the development, design, and implementation of the mine rehabilitation and closure plan. Going beyond minimum transparency, the IRMA Standard outlines a series of requirements dedicated to the adequate estimation and financing of mine closure and post-closure. Research shows that the mining operations often leave behind environmental and social liabilities, without taking charge of costs associated with the rehabilitation or appropriate closure of the sites thereby foregoing an adequate transition.

Crucially, the role played by both ResponsibleSteel and IRMA would not be the same without their multi-stakeholder governance systems. Thanks to the decision making process that takes into account private sector players as well as rights holders and labour unions, they can ensure that the voices of all parties are heard and taken into account in an equal way – hopefully adding the “just” element to “transition”.

Q: Davidzo, who is the main audience for this project?

The main audience for this project is workers and labour unions, as workers are most directly affected by the transition. Operators, from mining companies to steelmakers, are also key since, as employers, their actions and decisions will be critical to the social impacts of the transition, alongside national and subnational governments. Local communities impacted by the transition, NGOs that aim to act in their interests and standard-setting organisations are also key stakeholders.

Q: Haruko, is there a specific geographic focus for the project?

While just transition challenges and opportunities vary from country to country and even from site to site, the project is truly global as it strives to bring the complexities of these different realities to light. We aim to engage with stakeholders across different regions during the project to hear from different stakeholders the realities of the transition in different contexts. More information on this to come!

Find out more about Responsible Steel at responsiblesteel.org. Find out more about IRMA at responsiblemining.net.

Find out more about the project background, visit the project page on the ISEAL website.

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Standard 2.0 updated timelineStandard 2.0 updated timelineStandards

Update on the IRMA Mining Standard 2.0 revision

13 February 2025By

NOTE: This post is superseded by the linked 3 June 2025 update.

Following the release of a first draft of Standard 2.0 in October 2023 for a 90-day public consultation, the IRMA Secretariat received more than 2,500 points of comments from 82 organizations (see previous update).

Although we had first anticipated the release of a second draft as early as Q3 2024 for a 60-day public consultation, such release is now expected for March 2025; and subject to approval by the IRMA multi-stakeholder equally-governed Board of Directors.

Standard 2.0 updated timeline
Click to enlarge.
Why is the process taking longer than planned?
  1. IRMA granted extensions to organizations that asked for more time during the first public consultation up to March 2024) to ensure all could contribute.
  2. The quality and length of most contributions required a longer processing time from our team of subject matter experts.
  3. During and after the first public consultation, IRMA received requests for additional engagement, including calls and in-person meetings, from a number of organizations (across NGOs, Indigenous rights’ organizations, mining companies, government agencies, and other industry actors). IRMA responded by engaging in all requests; this engagement occurred mainly April-July 2024, but also continued through November 2024.
  4. This lengthened process delayed our ability to prepare updated material and questions for our Expert Working Groups (see note below).
  5. A new consolidated draft was then submitted to the IRMA Board of Directors on 1st November 2024 for a 6-week review period, aiming for their approval before the end of 2024.
  6. Board members from the mining and the NGO sectors requested additional discussions about, and work on, the following topics:
    • Rationale for, and listing of, critical requirements;
    • Upstream and downstream sustainability due diligence;
    • Free, Prior, and Informed Consent of Indigenous Peoples;
    • Tailings management, especially with regard to the GISTM standard;
    • Water management;
    • Biodiversity offsets;
    • Carbon offsets;
    • Air quality and dust management.
  7. Finally, the fact that IRMA finalized and launched the first official version of the IRMA Chain of Custody Standard (with its associated Assurance Manual, and Claims Procedure and Communications Policy) over the course of the three first quarters of 2024 consumed attention, discussion, and refining time from both the IRMA Secretariat and the IRMA Board.
What’s next?

The second round of public consultation is coming up soon!

The IRMA Board, supported by the IRMA Secretariat, is working to finalize the new draft for a 60-day consultation period. This is now expected for March-April (NOTE: the Board agreeing to release the Standard for consultation doesn’t constitute endorsement of everything in the Standard It’s an invitation to the world to help further improve the new draft.)

Materials we will release in support of  this second consultation:

  1. A public report on the first consultation period;
  2. A fully detailed log of all the comments that were submitted (confidential contributions will be redacted), and the response from IRMA;
  3. The full draft Standard, that includes:
    • For each chapter: summary of the changes since the 2023 first draft; details on feedback received and proposed decision for every consultation question;
    • Applicability to respective development stages (exploration to permitting to operations) will be integrated within the design of the chapters;
    • An updated Glossary;
    • Updated annexes (including environmental quality tables);
  4. Comparative tables between IRMA Standard V1.0 and this second draft, highlighting substantial differences.

IRMA is committed to again offer opportunities for feedback from all stakeholders and Indigenous rightsholders.

We aspire to process all the comments, convene expert working groups, and meet requests for specific engagement, during Q2 and Q3 2025, so that a final Standard may be adopted as final by the IRMA Board  before the end of 2025.

We thank you all for your patience; we remain committed to working transparently on this updated IRMA Mining Standard that many are eager to use and implement.

Expert Working Groups: 2023-2024 update

Some of the Expert Working Groups that were convened in 2022 have been solicited again, while a new one was created (Mineral Supply Chain). Note that no group calls took place, and members were only asked to provide individual feedback. Details are provided in the table below:

IRMA Working Groups Status
Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas (CAHRAs) Asked for additional contribution in August 2024 on the new draft Chapter on “Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Area Due Diligence“.

It is anticipated that this working group will need to be reconvened during the second public consultation.
Land Acquisition, Displacement, and Resettlement Asked for additional contribution in April 2024 on the new draft Chapter.
Mineral Supply Chain Asked for additional contribution in August 2024 on the new draft Chapter on “Upstream and Downstream Sustainability Due Diligence“.

It is anticipated that this working group will need to be reconvened during the second public consultation.
Planning and Financing for Mine Closure Asked for additional contribution in August 2024 on the new draft Chapter on “Concurrent Reclamation, Closure, and Post-Closure“.
Waste and Materials Management Asked for additional contribution in August 2024 on the new draft Chapter on “Tailings Storage Facilities and Physical Stability Management“.

It is anticipated that this working group will need to be reconvened during the second public consultation.
Water Management Asked for additional contribution in August 2024 on the new draft Chapter on “Water Management“.

It is anticipated that this working group will need to be reconvened during the second public consultation.
Circularity Solicited feedback in October 2023 when 1st Draft was released.

No particular challenge identified since.
Gender Equality and Gender Protections Solicited feedback in October 2023 when 1st Draft was released.

No particular challenge identified since.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) Solicited feedback in October 2023 when 1st Draft was released.

No particular challenge identified at that time.

Former “Greenhouse Gas Emissions” chapter has been expanded, renamed “Climate Action” and peer-reviewed by an external consultancy firm, AGS Carbon, specializing in Climate Action, Standard setting, and audits. It is anticipated that this working group will need to be reconvened during the second public consultation.
Indigenous Peoples and FPIC Solicited feedback in October 2023 when 1st Draft was released.

No particular challenge identified at that time.

Following specific request for engagement, the new draft chapter was sent to 15 Indigenous leaders from across all 7 socio-cultural regions (most of them were not previously part of the Expert Working Group). An in-person closed-door meeting was also organized in November 2024, following a request from Indigenous rights’ organizations and Indigenous leaders to do so.

It is anticipated that this working group will need to be reconvened during the second public consultation.
Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Solicited feedback in in October 2023 when 1st Draft was released.

No particular challenge identified since.
Expert Working Group Demographics

Total number of Working Groups: 11
Total number of Experts: 159 (87 male, 72 female)
Countries represented: 26

Expert Working Group 2023-2024 Gender Pie Chart

IRMA Expert Working Groups 2023-2024 Geographic Diversity

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Standards

IRMA at Indaba: Mining Sustainability Standards interview

7 February 2025By

From the Mining Indaba website:

In this compelling interview for Mining Indaba TV, J.J. Messner de Latour, Sector Lead for Downstream Purchasers at the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA), delves into the challenges and opportunities of implementing rigorous mining standards in the African mining industry.

J.J. discusses ways to overcome obstacles, improve transparency and accountability, and align with global best practices to ensure sustainable development. He also addresses the complexity of multiple mining standards and explores whether a unified industry standard is the solution. For junior miners, J.J. shares valuable advice on adopting best practices from the outset of their projects. Finally, he offers his perspective on what future-proofing African mining means today.

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Standards

New version of the IRMA Guidance Document available (V1.3)

17 December 2024By

The IRMA Guidance Document to the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining V1.0 has been updated.

This latest version (V1.3), is available in English, and can be found under our Resources webpage.

Minor modifications were made in this updated version (V1.3) to ensure continued improvement on clarity, and auditability. The changes made are non-substantive changes that do not alter the intent of any requirement, and are based on learning and experience from audits and implementation.

Summary of changes – V1.3:
Chapter 2.5—Emergency Preparedness and Response: Updated links to APELL for Mining and APELL Handbook
(2nd Edition) to ensure access to original documents is maintained.

Chapter 3.5—Security Arrangements: Updated the chapter relevance to clarify applicability to any situation wheresecurity personnel are used at, or could be expected to be deployed to, the mine site or associated facilities, or in relation to transportation of products or ore, regardless of the level of decision-making and control of the operating company over such deployment. The sole term “used” had inadvertently limited interpretation of the chapter and requirement relevancy in a manner contradictory to the original intent of this chapter. This has also been reflected in the language used in the relevant means of verification and explanatory notes. Replaced the term “public security providers” with “authorities in charge of public security forces” to ensure coverage of situations where public security forces are “deployed” in spite of a formal arrangement with the operating company to “provide” such forces.

Chapter 4.7—Cyanide Management: Updated expectations for non-gold/silver mines that are not eligible for ICMI certification.

Indigenous Peoples: Capitalized all occurrences of “Indigenous Peoples” and updated all references to “Indigenous Peoples living in voluntary isolation” to also use the internationally recommended term of “Uncontacted Indigenous Peoples”. See updated Glossary for more details on these terms. This is relevant to Chapters 2.2, 2.4, and 3.7. Clarified expectations in situations where Uncontacted Indigenous Peoples or Indigenous Peoples Living in Voluntary Isolation or Initial Contact may be affected.

Glossary: Removed broken links to the Glossary of the IRMA Standard, as well as references to an overall glossary “at the end of the document” that was not included. Updated definitions of ‘Indigenous Peoples’ to account for the more modern and inclusive approach used currently by IRMA. Added new definitions for ‘Indigenous Peoples in Initial Contact’, ‘Indigenous Peoples Living in Voluntary Isolation’, and ‘Uncontacted Indigenous Peoples’. Updated definition of ‘Worker’ to ensure management personnel are also included.

General: For consistency, clarified in the Explanatory Notes that where references to “certification” / “certified” / ”certify” by IRMA appears in the formal language of a critical requirement, failure to meet such requirement will not only prevent the company to achieve IRMA 100, but also to achieve any Achievement Level higher than IRMA Transparency. Updated contact details of IRMA Standards Director.

IRMA Policy on Association: Replaced all references and links to the draft Policy with references and links to the official version approved in October 2023 by IRMA Board of Directors.”

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Chain of Custody

Responding to Market Demand, IRMA Releases Chain of Custody Standard

23 October 2024By

In September, IRMA’s equally-governed, multi-stakeholder board approved IRMA’s new Chain of Custody Standard (CoC Standard). The CoC Standard sets requirements for tracking material produced from mining operations audited against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining, enabling consumer-facing brands and other actors along the supply chain to make credible claims that they are using materials from  IRMA-assessed mines.

Chain of Custody Standard v1.0 coverIRMA developed the CoC Standard and system in response to demands from consumer-facing brands and other companies for independently verified socially and environmentally responsible mined materials. Using specific requirements for tracking material from verified IRMA-audited mines and mineral processors, companies can better understand impacts in their supply chains, choose to buy from operators increasing transparency, and support their suppliers to improve practices.

The CoC Standard is also designed to be compatible with other standards programs that ensure responsible sourcing of mined materials downstream of the mine (e.g., ResponsibleSteel). In addition, IRMA developed the CoC Standard to work in concert with existing and emerging traceability services and technologies (e.g., block chain, mineral ID scanning, testing, etc.).

Based on the ISO 22095:2020 guidance, the CoC Standard allows for five different chain of custody models for chain of custody systems. Four models require and assure the actual physical presence of material with an IRMA Achievement Level: Identity Preserved, Segregated, Controlled Blending, and Mass Balance. One model is not connected to the physical flow of material, but an administrative record to ensure the quantity and achievement levels booked for materials from IRMA-assessed mines are not exceeded by the claims for those materials: Book and Claim Credits. Each model has specific requirements that allow different claims to be made about materials or products that are delivered using that chain of custody model.

“The release of the IRMA Chain of Custody Standard is an important milestone for Fairphone and the rest of the industry. This Standard enables us to provide independent proof that our responsible sourcing practices are in line with our material use responsibility: the Book and Claim Credits model provides a legitimate and workable solution for complex supply chains assuring we cover our material use with responsible production, whilst the Mass Balance model also assures the flow of these materials throughout the supply chain. At Fairphone, we look forward to piloting this standard to improve transparency and invite our industry peers to join.” – Lisa Minère, Project Manager Fair Mining at Fairphone.

“The lack of visibility into the origin of key metals in our renewable energy projects is a big hurdle to mapping and mitigating social and environmental risks in our metal supply chains. While increasing transparency has its challenges, it is possible and needed to advance our work to ensure responsible mined materials for the renewable energy transition. We support IRMA developing their new Chain of Custody Standard to work towards this goal.”– Joel Frijhoff, Sustainability Due Diligence Manager at Ørsted.

For More Information

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Standards

Update on Standard for Responsible Mining 2.0

2 May 2024By

NOTE: This post is superseded by the linked 3 June 2025 update.

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:

  • Remain accountable to all sectors
  • Remain up-to-date with best practice
  • Add clarity and strengthen auditability
  • Add consistency, and
  • Fill in gaps

Seeking as much as possible to align with ISEAL’s Code of Good Practice for Sustainability Systems, this revision process is informed by:

  • 5 years of ongoing stakeholder engagement
  • Experiences from the initial IRMA third-party audits
  • Review of other standards and initiatives
  • Increased public awareness and evolving expectations of best practice
  • Review of emerging issues garnering international discussions
  • Changes to relevant legislation across the full scope of the standard
  • Comments on previous drafts (IRMA-Ready, Mineral Processing, Chain of Custody)
  • Targeted engagement activities on specific topics
  • IRMA Expert working groups, and
  • Public consultation

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:

  • Hosted 2 introductory webinars attended by 150 participants
  • Hosted 20 live topic consultation webinars — across multiple time zones — attended by 180 unique participants
  • 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:

Regions from which Standard 2.0 public comments were submitted

 

Sectors from which IRMA received public comments on Standard 2.0 draft

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:

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.

Standard 2.0 revision timeline

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