SQM’s Salar de Atacama Lithium Mine Completes IRMA Surveillance Audit
On 17 March 2026 – the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) released the surveillance audit report of SQM’s Salar de Atacama Lithium mine, located in Chile’s Salar de Atacama. IRMA-approved audit firm ERM CVS conducted the audit and assessed the progress made on the corrective action plan that the operation committed to in the initial audit report.
IRMA’s independent assessment cycle occurs in 3 stages: (1) initial audit, (2) surveillance audit, and (3) reassessment audit. Mines in the IRMA system must undergo a surveillance audit during each 3-year audit cycle, and this audit must occur between 12 and 18 months after an initial audit report has been publicly released. Surveillance audits are not full audits, meaning that conformance with all requirements reviewed in the initial audit does not need to be re-established. Typically, during a surveillance audit the audit team verifies that the mine’s systems and controls are still in place and are functioning effectively, that no major changes have occurred since the initial audit that negatively affect the mine’s performance. The surveillance audit includes confidential interviews with workers and engagement with Indigenous rightsholders and community stakeholders. The initial and surveillance IRMA audit reports for the operation are available on the SQM Salar de Atacama Mine audit page on the IRMA website.
As the IRMA Standard is recognized and adopted around the globe, these audits are important steps in a deepening dialogue between mining companies and those affected by their operations. Because the IRMA process is always improving from the experience of the most recent audit, audit results should be reviewed and interpreted accordingly.
The independent IRMA system is the only global mining standard that provides equal power to the public sector (communities and Indigenous rights holders, mine workers, and environmental and human rights advocates) alongside the private sector (mining companies, mined materials purchasers and investors).
For More Information:
- Adan Olivares Castro, Regional Lead, Americas and the Caribbean
contact@responsiblemining.net +1.360.217.9080 (WhatsApp)
- SQM Salar de Atacama Mine surveillance audit packet: responsiblemining.net/sqm-atacama-srv-audit-packet-en
- SQM Salar de Atacama Mine IRMA audit page: responsiblemining.net/sqm-atacama
