The Standard for Responsible Mining
- The Standard for Responsible Mining v.1.0 (English – EN)
- The Standard for Responsible Mining v.1.0 (Español – ES)
- The Standard for Responsible Mining v.1.0 (French – FR)
- The Standard for Responsible Mining v.1.0 (Português – PT)
- The Standard for Responsible Mining v.1.0 (Chinese – ZH)
- Guidance Document for the Standard for Responsible Mining (English – EN)
- Guidance Document for the Standard for Responsible Mining (Español – ES)
- Guidance Document for the Standard for Responsible Mining (Português – PT)
- Guidance for Chapter 2.1-Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and Management (English – EN)
- Guidance for Chapter 2.1-Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and Management (Español – ES)
- Guidance for Chapter 2.6-Reclamation and Closure: financial assurance (Nov 2022) (English – EN)
- Guidance for Chapter 4.1-Waste and Materials Management: application to brine operations (English – EN)
- Critical Requirements from the IRMA Standard (English – EN)
- Fact Sheet: Gender Equality and Gender-Based Protections in the IRMA Mining Standard (English – EN)
- Fact Sheet: IRMA’s Approach to Indigenous Rights and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (English – EN)
Principle 1: Business Integrity
- Chapter 1.1—Legal Compliance
- Chapter 1.2—Community and Stakeholder Engagement
- Chapter 1.3—Human Rights Due Diligence
- Chapter 1.4— Complaints and Grievance Mechanism and Access to Remedy
- Chapter 1.5—Revenue and Payments Transparency
Principle 2: Planning and Managing for Positive Legacies
- Chapter 2.1—Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and Management
- Chapter 2.2—Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)
- Chapter 2.3—Obtaining Community Support and Delivering Benefits
- Chapter 2.4—Resettlement
- Chapter 2.5—Emergency Preparedness and Response
- Chapter 2.6—Planning and Financing Reclamation and Closure
Principle 3: Social Responsibility
- Chapter 3.1—Fair Labor and Terms of Work
- Chapter 3.2—Occupational Health and Safety
- Chapter 3.3—Community Health and Safety
- Chapter 3.4—Mining and Conflict-Affected or High-Risk Areas
- Chapter 3.5—Security Arrangements
- Chapter 3.6—Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining
- Chapter 3.7—Cultural Heritage
Principle 4: Environmental Responsibility
- Chapter 4.1—Waste and Materials Management
- Chapter 4.2—Water Management
- Chapter 4.3—Air Quality
- Chapter 4.4—Noise and Vibration
- Chapter 4.5—Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- Chapter 4.6—Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Protected Areas
- Chapter 4.7—Cyanide
- Chapter 4.8—Mercury Management
Drafts of the Standard for Responsible Mining
- Draft Standard for Responsible Mining, version 1.0 (2014)
- Comments and Responses to Stakeholder Feedback on Draft v.1.0
- Draft Standard for Responsible Mining, version 2.0 (2016)
- Comments and Responses to Stakeholder Feedback on Draft v.2.0
Field Tests
IRMA System Documents and Resources
IRMA’s first 60-day comment period on its draft Standard for Responsible Mineral Processing closed on 16 August 2021. IRMA is in the process of considering comments received to-date, and will be piloting the draft Mineral Processing Standard in the next few months before revising the document and circulating a second draft for public comment.
Feedback on the first draft is still welcome, and can be sent to: comments@responsiblemining.net
–> Download the draft Standard as a pdf document (English, Spanish)
–> Download the draft Standard as a Word document (English, Spanish)
IRMA’s initial comment period on its draft IRMA-Ready Standard for Responsible Mineral Exploration and Development closed on 15 April 2022. However, if stakeholders are still interested in providing comments, please feel free to submit an extension request to comments@responsiblemining.net
In the following months, IRMA will review input received, including comments from a set of mineral development companies that are in the process of piloting the draft IRMA-Ready Standard. Based on all input, we will then revise the document and circulate a second draft for public comment.
Please visit our dedicated IRMA-Ready web page for much more information, and to download the draft IRMA-Ready Standard.
IRMA’s draft Chain of Custody (CoC) Standard is still available for download.
–> Download the draft CoC Standard
IRMA is in the process of considering comments received to-date, and will be piloting the draft CoC Standard in the next few months before revising the document and circulating a second draft for public comment.
Feedback on the first draft can still be sent to: comments@responsiblemining.net
- IRMA Bylaws v.1.0
- Certification Body Requirements – v.1.0 (Certification Body Requirements are under revision)
- Communications and Claims Policy – v.1.1
- IRMA Interim Policy on Auditing During Exceptional Circumstances (COVID-19)
- IRMA Issues Resolution Procedure
- IRMA Oversight of Certification Bodies Procedure – v.1.1 (Dec 2022)
- IRMA Stakeholder Complaints Form
- IRMA Standards Development Procedure
- IRMA Standard Setting Public System Report
- IRMA Policy on Association (currently under development)
Resources for Communities
- What is IRMA? (Sep 2021)
- IRMA: A Tool for NGO, Community and Labor Leaders
- How is Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) addressed by the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining? (Sep 2021)
- How to file a complaint related to IRMA? The IRMA issues resolutions procedure. (Sep 2021)
- Sample letter to mining companies (Oct 2022)
- Community Impact Survey template (Oct 2022)
- IRMA Audits & Communities: a Pre-Audit Overview (Nov 2022)
- ¿Qué es IRMA? (Sep 2021)
- ¿Cómo se aborda el Consentimiento libre previo e informado (CLPI) en el Estándar para la Minería Responsable de IRMA? (Sep 2021)
- ¿Cómo presentar una queja relacionada con IRMA? El Procedimiento de IRMA para la Resolución de Agravios (Sep 2021)
- Modelo de carta a empresas mineras (Oct 2022)
- Encuesta a la comunidad sobre el impacto (Oct 2022)
Resources for Mines
- Read about self-assessment on our website
- Mine Measure Instruction Manual (English), (French), (Portuguese), (Spanish)
- Achievement level calculator for self-assessing mines
- Visit the Mine Measure self-assessment and audit preparation website
- Assessment Manual for Mines (Updated Sep 2022)
- Application Form for Independent Mine Site Assessment
- Participation Agreement
- Certification Fee Policy
- View mines in the IRMA system
- IRMA Public Webinar for Mining Companies (July 27, 2020)
- Assurance Committee Record of Decision resolving Surveillance Audit related questions (June 23, 2022)
- IRMA is working with SCS Global Services and ERM Certification and Verification Services (ERM-CVS) as its first audit program partners. Both SCS and ERM-CVS have experience auditing social, environmental and technical issues at industrial-scale mines. Interested mines should contact our approved Certification Bodies directly to request a bid, or find out more about their services:
ERM-CVS: Will Huggett will.huggett@ermcvs.com
SCS Global Service: Susan Courter scourter@scsglobalservices.com
Press releases, webinars and other presentations
- IRMA leaders react to Brazil mine tailings failure (30 January 2019)
- First Mine Audited Against World’s Most Rigorous Mining Standard (21 October 2020) – English and Spanish
- IRMA and ARM agreement to promote collaborative approaches between large-scale mining and ASM (10 November 2020)
- Introduction to IRMA (April 2022)
- IRMA Ready Introduction Webinar (December 2021)
- IRMA Ready Pilot Webinar (December 2021)
- Introduction to the IRMA draft Standard for Responsible Mineral Processing (29 June 2021)
- IRMA – Due Diligence Beyond Geographic Criteria – Presentation for OECD’s 14th Forum on Responsible Mineral Supply Chains (26 April 2021)
- IRMA Public Webinar: Climate Change and the Push for More Mining (25 September 2020)
- IRMA Public Webinar: IRMA’s Value for Mining Companies (27 July 2020)
- IRMA Public Webinar: IRMA’s Value for Purchasers and Investors (18 June 2020)
- IRMA Public Webinar: Responsible Mining in the Time of COVID-19 (20 May 2020)
- IRMA Public Webinar: What is IRMA and how can you use it? (19 May 2020)
- IRMA Public Webinar: Update on Standard for Responsible Mining (July 2019)
- IRMA Self-Assessment Webinar (October 2018)
Introduction to IRMA (April 2022)
IRMA Ready Introduction Webinar (15 December 2021)
IRMA Ready Pilot Webinar (16 December 2021)
Introduction to the IRMA draft Standard for Responsible Mineral Processing (29 June 2021)
IRMA – Due Diligence Beyond Geographic Criteria – Presentation for OECD’s 14th Forum on Responsible Mineral Supply Chains (26 April 2021)
IRMA Public Webinar: Climate Change and the Push for More Mining (25 September 2020)
IRMA Public Webinar: IRMA’s Value for Mining Companies (27 July 2020)
IRMA Public Webinar: IRMA’s Value for Purchasers and Investors (18 June 2020)
IRMA Public Webinar: Responsible Mining in the Time of COVID-19 (20 May 2020)
IRMA Public Webinar: What is IRMA and how can you use it? (19 May 2020)
- IRMA: Sebuah Alat untuk Tata Kelola Rantai Pasokan Indonesia yang Bertanggung Jawab (27 October 2021)
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