Update on Standard for Responsible Mining 2.0
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:
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:
- Hosted 1 live consultation event: 41 participants
- Received 80 distinct comments from 10 different organizations based in Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, UK, and the USA
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.