Zimbabwe

Kamativi Mining Company Source:KMCKamativi Mining Company Source:KMCAudits

Kamativi’s lithium operation to be audited

12 December 2025By

Kamativi Lithium Mining Operation to be independently audited against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining

Kamativi Mining Co, owned by Yahua Group, has signed agreements with IRMA and IRMA-approved audit firm Resilience Environmental Assurance (REA) to independently assess its Kamativi lithium mining operation against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining. The Kamativi mine is located in the Hwange District of Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland North Province.

The assessment includes a desk review (stage 1) followed by an on-site audit (stage 2) Stage 2 includes confidential interviews with local communities and workers without mine management present. After the on-site audit REA will draft an audit report which IRMA and Kamativi will then review, after which the company may choose to release the report or take up to twelve months to implement corrective actions first. When complete, IRMA will publish the final audit report in which REA assigns an overall IRMA Achievement Level, and explains how and why they scored Kamativi against each of the 400+ requirements of the IRMA Standard.

Stakeholder engagement in the assessment

Interested stakeholders and members of the public can sign up to receive updates about the Kamativi independent assessment (e.g., the timing of the stage 2 onsite visit, link to public summary of audit results). The Mines Under Assessment page of IRMA’s website will also provide up-to-date information on all assessments.

Members of the community, public officials, workers and representatives of the workforce, or other organizations are invited to submit comments regarding how the mine site is managing their impacts to the environment including air, water, waste, greenhouse gases, and ecosystems; how the mine supports their workforce; and how the mine interacts with the surrounding community, and how it impacts the community, positively or negatively.

Interested parties may contact the independent audit firm, REA, to share comments or to ask to be interviewed as part of the audit process. The audit firm can be reached via:

Email: stakeholderInput@resilience-assurance.com

Web form

or

REA QR code for webform

WhatsApp: +27 73 112 5526

or

REA QR code for WhatsApp

Please share this announcement, and feel free to contact REA directly to provide names and contact information for other REA stakeholders who may be interested in knowing about and participating in the mine site assessment process.

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Communities

Bridging the Gap: How IRMA Helped Rebuild Trust Between Mine and Community

5 December 2025By

Cover of Unki Case StudyEarlier in 2025, IRMA published a case study of the IRMA audit of the Unki mine in Shurugwi, Zimbabwe: Bridging the Gap: How IRMA Helped Rebuild Trust Between Mine and Community, excerpted below.

In the Beginning, Voices Were Lost in Translation

Before the audit, community members rarely had a seat at the table. Now, they bring the chairs.

That’s how it feels in Shurugwi, Zimbabwe, where a shift in how mining is done – and who gets to speak about it – has started to take hold.

The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA), a global standard for more responsible mining, played a big role in that shift. IRMA is not just about emissions or tick-box safety, but the full picture: labor, land, community, biodiversity, water, human rights. It brings companies, workers, communities and civil society to the same table, and it doesn’t just ask for compliance — it pushes for better.

The audits are independent, the findings are public, and the focus is on shared progress. Change doesn’t come from slogans or public relations campaigns. It comes from patient work: dialogue, discomfort, and the simple act of being heard.

Read the rest of the Unki case study.

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Audits

SCS to Conduct On-site IRMA Renewal Assessment of Valterra Platinum’s Unki Mine

7 November 2025By

Read this announcement in Shona

SCS Seeks Input from Local Community and Other Stakeholders

Today, November 7, SCS Global Services announces that from December 8 to December 13, its auditors will visit Valterra Platinum’s Unki Mine in the Midlands Province, Zimbabwe, to conduct the on-site phase of its independent Renewal Assessment (audit) evaluating the site’s continuing performance against the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) Standard for Responsible Mining.

During the onsite visit, independent auditors from SCS Global Services will inspect the operation and associated facilities and collect feedback from local stakeholders – anyone directly or indirectly affected by the mine including community members, mine workers, and government officials.

The IRMA assessment results will be published on the IRMA audit page and available on request from the site. The IRMA audit report will describe how and why SCS Global Services scored Unki Mine against each of the 428 requirements of the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining. The report will also  present an overall achievement level: IRMA Transparency, IRMA 50, IRMA 75, or IRMA 100.

8-13 December 2025

Your comments will help SCS Global Services assess the impact of Unki Mine on local communities and measure its performance against best mining practices. SCS Global Services invites you to sign up for an interview with auditors during the on-site visit, and/or submit written comments about Unki Mine using the contact details below.

Interviews can be held in Shona or English. Interviews requested by November 30 can be conducted remotely or in-person. Interview requests made after that date will most likely be conducted remotely but may also be conducted in-person if time permits, and remotely if it does not. Written comments can be submitted anytime until December 19.
On the web

Email: feedback@scsglobalservices.com

Telephone: +1 520 248 4276 (voice or text)

QR code to access online form:

QR code for SCS-IRMA-feedback
Comments and interviews are confidential and interviews are conducted without mine personnel present. SCS Global Services does not share the names of stakeholder interviewees/commenters or copies of written comments with Valterra Platinum or IRMA. Only the general nature of comments will be summarized in the final audit report.

Valterra Platinum uses the results on environmental and social performance of the Unki Mine to improve its practices. Other stakeholders, particularly affected communities and mine workers, may use this audit report to engage with Valterra Platinum and others to improve the operation in the ways that matter most to them.

Unki underwent a comprehensive Initial Audit in 2021 achieving IRMA 75, followed 3 years later by an abbreviated Surveillance Audit to ensure site performance still supported its IRMA Achievement level and to monitor progress on the site’s Corrective Action Plan. Before the expiration of IRMA Achievement level, the operation completes a comprehensive Renewal Audit at which point the audit firm awards a new IRMA Achievement level. Ordinarily the entire initial-surveillance-renewal audit cycle takes 3 years, but because Unki was the first operation to complete the cycle the timeframe was extended to accommodate learnings and process improvements

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Africa

Valterra Platinum’s Unki Mine is First to Undergo IRMA Renewal Audit

10 October 2025By

SCS Seeks Input from Local Community and Other Stakeholders

Valterra Platinum has signed agreements with the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA), and IRMA-approved independent audit firm SCS Global Services (SCS), to continue to independently assess its Unki platinum operations against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining. Located in Zimbabwe’s Shurugwi region, Unki is the first mine in the IRMA system to undergo an independent Renewal Audit. Unki’s initial and surveillance audits occurred under Anglo American ownership. Valterra Platinum, a South Africa-based company, assumed site ownership on 31 May 2025.

IRMA Assessment Cycle

In the IRMA assessment cycle, a mining operation first undergoes a comprehensive Initial Audit and the independent audit firm awards an IRMA Achievement level, valid for 3 years. Midway between the publication of the initial audit and the expiration of the awarded IRMA Achievement level, the operation completes an abbreviated Surveillance Audit to ensure site performance still supports its IRMA Achievement and to monitor progress on the site’s Corrective Action Plan. Before the expiration of IRMA Achievement level, the operation completes a comprehensive Renewal Audit at which point the audit firm awards a new IRMA Achievement level. The Unki operation audit cycle has extended beyond 3 years because they were the first operation to be independently audited against the IRMA standard; the timeframe was adapted to accommodate learnings and process improvements.

SCS will conduct the Renewal Audit, which includes a desk review (stage 1) followed by an onsite audit (stage 2). When the assessment is complete, IRMA will publish a final report in which SCS re-evaluates, explains how and why they scored Unki against each of the 400+ requirements of the IRMA Standard, and awards an updated IRMA Achievement level.

Stakeholder Engagement in the Assessment

Interested stakeholders and members of the public can sign up to receive updates about the Unki Renewal Audit (e.g., the timing of the stage 2 onsite visit, link to public summary of audit results). IRMA’s Mines Under Assessment webpage also provides information on all independent assessments.

Members of the community, public officials, representatives of the workforce, or other organizations are invited to submit comments regarding how the mine site is managing their impacts to the environment including air, water, waste, greenhouse gases, and ecosystems; how the mine supports their workforce; and how the mine interacts with the surrounding community, and how it impacts the community, positively or negatively.

Interested parties may contact the independent audit firm, SCS, to share comments or to ask to be interviewed as part of the audit process. The audit firm can be reached via:

On the web

Email: feedback@scsglobalservices.com

QR code to access online form:

QR code for SCS-IRMA-feedback

Please share this announcement, and feel free to contact SCS directly to provide names and contact information for other Unki stakeholders who may be interested in knowing about and participating in the mine site assessment process.

More Information 
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At the Unki audit. Credit: Michelle SmithAt the Unki audit. Credit: Michelle SmithBlog

Community perspectives on IRMA: The Unki Mine audit

22 July 2024By

In late June the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA, an IRMA member) published Community success stories: Tracking service delivery and environmental issues, a blog explaining the Shurugwi Development Trust’s experiences with the independent audit of Anglo American’s Unki platinum group metals mine in Zimbabwe. We excerpt it below:

Through meetings facilitated by the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA), Unki mine embarked on a third party-audit process against the IRMA standard in 2019 that involved the Shurugwi community, [achieved] IRMA 75 in the audit report. In 2022, a surveillance audit for Unki Mine was done, communities shared their concerns with the audit firm SCS Global. This was after the mine publicly audited against the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) [voluntary] standard for Responsible Mining in 2019.

ZELA, which is the only Zimbabwean member of the IRMA Civil Society Organisations global working group on worker and community engagement rights participated in development of data collection tools for communities such as the Community impact survey, IRMA Audits and Communities, sample letter to mining company, tools that can be used to monitor service delivery, engage with mining companies and government. The IRMA processes have enhanced Unki Mine’s relationship with the community, through the community engagement forum which meets quarterly to discuss the company’s mining operations in the community.

Benefits of the Unki IRMA processes and audit to the Shurugwi Community

  • There is now great improvement in the relationship and trust between the company and the community.
  • There is now an active quarterly community engagement forum meeting where 2 people were selected from each of the surrounding villages to represent the community. The relationship is promoting access to information which is enshrined in Section 62 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
  • In addition to the Community Engagement Forum, there is an emergency and response Coordinator which includes village chairpersons.
  • The IRMA audit report is a source of information, assists in identifying gaps and strengths to improve our engagements with government through evidence gathering on mining operations and their impact on communities’ wellbeing, rights and the environment.
  • The IRMA audit reports assist us in carrying out our advocacy work and provides us with information to participate in national, regional and international dialogues such as Alternative Mining Indaba.
  • Unki mine funded 4 partners – Technoserve, World vision, Zvandiri and Apostolic Women Empowerment Trust (AWET) – to implement community development projects.
  • The company is capacitating women with knowledge on their health and empowering them to stand for their rights. It also encourages women in the apostolic sect to register and go for hospital deliveries.  In support, AWET also trains behavior change facilitators (BCFs) on safe motherhood.
  • Unki mine promoted hygiene in the community, building Double Blair Ventilated Improved Pit Latrines in ward 19 and part of ward 18 (now ward 4).
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Unki audit picture with Anglo IRMA SCS logosUnki audit picture with Anglo IRMA SCS logosBlog

Unki Mine Surveillance Assessment Update

12 August 2022By

The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) is pleased to announce the completion of the on-site portion of the third-party independent surveillance assessment of the Unki platinum group metals (PGM) mine against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining. The Unki mine, located in the Midlands province of Zimbabwe, is operated by Anglo American Platinum. The on-site surveillance assessment occurred Aug 3-5.

What is a Surveillance Audit?

A surveillance audit is a mid-cycle verification to ensure no material negative changes have occurred at a site. It is not a re-assessment of all IRMA requirements. Surveillance audits follow much of the same process as a certification audit and include document review, on site-assessment, and community and stakeholder engagement. An IRMA surveillance audit confirms continued performance against critical requirements, verifies ongoing regulatory compliance processes, and evaluates progress on corrective actions. It also follows up on stakeholder input received since the prior audit and areas of risk identified in the previous audit and confirms no major changes have occurred that would impact the previously assessed achievement level.

SCS Global Services (SCS) is the IRMA-approved certification body carrying out the surveillance assessment.

Stakeholder Engagement in the Assessment

Interested stakeholders and members of the public can sign up to receive updates about the Unki mine assessment. The Mines Under Assessment page of IRMA’s website will also provide up-to-date information on all assessments.

Mine site stakeholders are invited to submit comments to SCS on the social and environmental performance of the Unki mine (in particular, how the mine measures against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining).

Unki mine stakeholders may also contact SCS if they are interested in being interviewed as part of the assessment process or being notified of the publication of the public report.

Stakeholder comments and expressions of interest in being interviewed as part of the audit process should be submitted by email or mail to:

SCS Global Services
2000 Powell St. #600
Emeryville, California, USA 94608

Email: visit the SCS website for this information and more on the audit.

Please forward this announcement, and feel free to contact SCS directly to provide names and contact information for other mine site stakeholders who may be interested in knowing about and participating in the mine site assessment process.

For More Information

 

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NGOs

Member Spotlight: Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association

10 March 2022By

From time to time, our blog will feature IRMA Member organizations, allowing them to explain, in their own words, their interest in forwarding more responsible mining and why they are engaged with IRMA.

Below are responses from Fadzai Midzi, Programmes Assistant, ZELA

What is the mission and primary work of ZELA?

Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) exists to promote equitable, just, and sustainable environmental and natural resources management and protection of marginalised communities and citizens in Southern Africa. ZELA is motivated by a strategic mandate to influence mineral resource governance to ensure that communities benefit from exploitation of natural resource. Our, our work is mainly based on legal, policy reforms, partnership building, implementation and participatory research, impact and strategic litigation and movements such as the Publish What You Pay Coalition, that ZELA coordinates.

How did you become engaged with IRMA?

ZELA believes in partnership building locally, regionally, and international. In driving the mission, ZELA has collaborated with likeminded organisations including chairing platforms such as the Alternative Mining Indaba and the Kimberly Process – Civil Society Coalition. Through such platforms, ZELA learnt the value of being affiliated to the IRMA, whose mission is linked with that of ZELA, that is to protect people and the environment directly affected by mining. Thus, ZELA decided to engage and learn from IRMA whose value cannot be overemphasized.

The engagement started in 2019, when UNKI Mine was undergoing its audit certification process. IRMA came into the country when the Zimbabwean government had expressed interest to adopt and implement the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI), a globally recognised standard on promoting transparency and accountability in the extractives sector.

Through Unki Mine, IRMA proved that disclosure in mineral exploitation is possible. When the Unki Mine IRMA audit report came out, ZELA managed to raise community awareness on the report, as a way of encouraging grassroot level participation of marginalised communities in development of correctional action plans, in response to the audit. In 2021, ZELA joined IRMA and the organisation has been advocating for adoption of the IRMA audit tool, in Zimbabwe.

Are you finding value in having an IRMA audit report on the performance of a mine in your region?

  • IRMA has ignited our work which is mainly based on evidential rigor to influence better natural resource reforms.
  • We acknowledge the usefulness of the IRMA audit report information helping us to improve our engagements through evidence gathering and access to information provided by the audit reports on mining operations and their impact on communities’ wellbeing, rights, and the environment.
  • The IRMA audit report also informs in carrying out advocacy work during national, regional, and international dialogue processes such as the Zimbabwe Alternative Mining Indaba (ZAMI), the Alternative Mining Indaba (AMI) and the Kimberly Process-Certification Civil Society Coalition
  • The IRMA audit tools help to bring out and plug some of the governance gaps for mining companies, for instance that was noted through the UNKI Mine audit.

What more or different would be helpful to you in your work to drive more responsible practices where mining is happening?

What would be helpful to our work is to have more companies adopt IRMA in Zimbabwe, to prove that the private sector has the capacity to be transparent and promote good governance in natural resource governance. Hopefully, that should encourage government to also take interest in utilising the audit tool for state owned enterprises. Partnerships with other IRMA members, and cross pollination of ideas with other IRMA members, contributes to advocacy for responsible mining.

For more information:
Visit the ZELA website

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Unki AuditUnki AuditAudits

IRMA’s 2nd Audit Report released: Anglo American’s Unki Mine

18 February 2021By

Today the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) is pleased to publish the results from Unki Mine’s independent, third-party assessment. The platinum group metals mine, located in Zimbabwe, is the first of Anglo American’s portfolio of mines to be assessed against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining – the most rigorous and high-bar set of metrics currently available for measuring responsible practices at mine sites globally.

The audit report details results from an independent assessment carried out by SCS Global Services. SCS awarded Unki an achievement level of IRMA 75, a first in the IRMA system and a representation of both Anglo American’s leadership in the sector and the improvements made at the site over the last few years to align with IRMA’s high-bar expectations. The achievement level of IRMA 75 means that a mine has met at least 75% of the requirements in each of the four principle areas of the Standard (Business Integrity, Planning for Positive Legacies, Social Responsibility and Environmental Responsibility), as well as a set of 40 critical requirements.

The audit report is now available for public review. Those reviewing the report should note that some requirements were not scored as part of the audit process. These requirements were identified as needing additional guidance to enable a more accurate and consistent rating of them. In order to be responsive to these challenges, IRMA will update its auditor guidance in 2021 and the Unki mine will have these requirements assessed during its surveillance audit, a process which will occur within 18 months of today’s release. Such learning and adjustment was expected in the first years of assessing mines against the IRMA Standard, and those mines that have stepped into the process during this early phase have allowed IRMA to learn and improve for the benefit of all stakeholders.

Anglo American has long been engaged with IRMA, and for close to a decade has served on IRMA’s Board of Directors and has helped inform and support the creation of IRMA’s Standard for Responsible Mining. The Unki mine was also the site of a field test of an early draft of the IRMA Standard.

“Anglo American’s leadership has been pivotal to the success of IRMA,” said Aimee Boulanger, IRMA’s Executive Director. “During the ten-year process of crafting IRMA’s Standard, they did not shy away from difficult conversations about how to best measure responsible mining in a way that is at once practicable for the industry and meets the expectations of civil society. Now, they are sharing the results of their own operations as measured against the world’s most robust definition of responsible mining. We commend their continued leadership in advancing IRMA’s vision.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

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Audits

Unki Mine Site Assessment Announcement

30 September 2019By

The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) is pleased to announce the commencement of a third-party independent assessment of the Unki platinum group metals (PGM) mine against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining. The Unki mine, located in Zimbabwe, is operated by Anglo American Platinum.

SCS Global Services (SCS), an IRMA-approved certification body, will be carrying out the assessment, which includes a desk review (stage 1) followed by an onsite audit (stage 2).

Stakeholder Engagement in the Assessment

Interested stakeholders and members of the public can sign up to receive updates about the Unki mine assessment (e.g., the timing of the stage 2 onsite visit, link to pubic summary of audit results). The Mines Under Assessment page of IRMA’s website will also provide up-to-date information on all assessments.

Mine site stakeholders are invited to submit comments to SCS on the social and environmental performance of the Unki mine (in particular, how the mine measures against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining).

Unki mine stakeholders may also contact SCS if they are interested in being interviewed as part of the assessment process.

Stakeholder comments and expressions of interest in being interviewed as part of the audit process should be submitted by email or mail to:

SCS Global Services
2000 Powell St. #600
Emeryville, California, USA 94608

Email: visit the SCS website for this information and more on the audit.

Please forward this announcement, and feel free to contact SCS directly to provide names and contact information for other mine site stakeholders who may be interested in knowing about and participating in the mine site assessment process.

For more information on the Unki Mine Site Assessment, contact IRMA’s Director of Standards and Assurance: lsumi@responsiblemining.net

For general information on the IRMA mine site assessment and certification process, visit the IRMA website.

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