The IRMA Board of Directors, supported by the IRMA Secretariat, has approved the release of a 2nd DRAFT IRMA Standard v2.0 for a second 90-day consultation period, from July 22 to October 22, 2025.
Our Board leaders seek the wisdom and guidance of all readers to inform our revision, through an inclusive process one more time, to improve the IRMA Standard.
All individuals and organizations can submit their comments
IRMA believes that many of the negative social and environmental impacts of mining and mineral processing can be avoided if mines operate according to best practice. The IRMA Standard seeks to define best practice. Click here to learn more about the Standard.
Like the 1st DRAFT released for the first consultation period in 2023-2024, the 2nd DRAFT does not represent the IRMA Board’s endorsement of all its contents, but it is an invitation to all affected stakeholders and Indigenous rights-holders to engage with IRMA and further improve this new draft.
We invite you to contribute
Since its founding, IRMA has been a forum where all with an interest in mining and mineral processing can provide perspectives on what it means to mine more responsibly and work together to define best practices, to ensure that harm is prevented, rights are respected, and projects are viable over the long-term.
The second public consultation period is open from July 22 to October 22, 2025. All comments will be considered carefully – a summary of comments and IRMA’s responses will be provided after the consultation period ends.
What is included in this 2nd DRAFT?
The second consultation will support stakeholders and rights-holders to engage and submit feedback by offering these resources, among others (also available in the ‘Resources’ section):
- A public summary report on the first consultation period.
- A detailed log of all the comments that were submitted (confidential contributions have been redacted), and the individual responses from IRMA (pdf | csv).
- The full IRMA Standard v2.0 DRAFT 2 (the new consolidated draft developed based on the first consultation period), in English, that includes:
- For each chapter: summary of the changes since the 2023 first draft; details on feedback received and decision made for every consultation question.
- Applicability to respective development stages (exploration to permitting to operations) integrated within the design of the chapters.
- Updated charts, tables, annexes and glossary.
- All the requirements are also available in tabular format (xlsx).
- Individual Chapters can be downloaded from our Resources page.
- At-a-glance tables to easily compare the IRMA Standard v1.0 (2018) and this new consolidated 2nd DRAFT, highlighting substantial differences (excel versions are available here)
- A mapping of the relevant sections of the 2nd DRAFT against the OECD Guidance For Responsible Supply Chains (xlsx)
- A mapping of the relevant sections of the 2nd DRAFT against the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (xlsx)
- A mapping of the relevant sections of the 2nd DRAFT against the EU CSDDD DIRECTIVE (EU) 2024/1760 (.xlsx)
Via the web
An online commenting form is available, allowing for anonymous and/or confidential submissions.
Other methods
If you comment via one of the methods below please include with your comments:
- Your name, whether you want your comment to be confidential, organization (and whether you are commenting on behalf of that organization), email address, country, and sector.
- For each comment reference the relevant chapter, requirement, and/or consultation question so that we can incorporate it appropriately into our review.
Via WhatsApp
To comment via text or voice, scan the code at right or enter the IRMA WhatsApp number: +1.301.202.1445.
Via email
comments@responsiblemining.net
Via postal mail
Send to
IRMA Std Comments
600 1st Ave Ste 330 #74985
Seattle WA 98104
United States
Access the IRMA Standard V2.0 resources, including full text of the 2nd DRAFT as PDF (in English) or spreadsheet.
Comments, feedback, and suggestions are welcome on any aspect of this 2nd DRAFT version (including intent and text of the requirements, endnotes, annexes, format and structure, design, readability, etc.).
IRMA is particularly interested in hearing the views of rights-holders and stakeholders on the provisions in the Standard that are substantially new compared to the IRMA Standard v1.0 (for Responsible Mining). These provisions (requirements or at a sub-requirement level) are highlighted in yellow throughout this Draft, to ensure they are easily identifiable.
We ask readers to assist us in weighing these potential new provisions, and also hold awareness that, prior to adoption of the final version, many of these will be consolidated and reduced in overall number.
Although these new requirements have each been drafted in response to lessons learned, the current state of best practices, emerging expectations, and/or in response to requests and suggestions made during the previous public consultation, collectively they represent substantive increased expectations for both implementing entities and audit firms. The IRMA Board of Directors seeks to ensure that the IRMA Standard, while recognized the world’s most rigorous and comprehensive mining standard, continue to welcome and support uptake of newcomer companies engaging from the mineral supply chain around the world.
Thus, in this consultation, we seek guidance from all on the new provisions that seem most urgent to be integrated in the final version of the Standard v2.0, so that the revised Standard’s expectations are paced at a realistic level to support engagement of mineral operations of a range of sizes, materials and global contexts.
It is important to note that all new requirements and sub-requirements, including those not retained in the final v2.0, will serve as the basis for the ongoing review process once the v2.0 is approved and released by our Board, and will provide fodder for future revisions, when it is decided that a v2.1 or v3.0 is needed.
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.
You can access a Public Summary Report on the IRMA Standard V2.0 First Public Consultation and Changes Made (2023-2025) in English. It provides the following:
- Context on the review of the IRMA Standard V1.0 to consider a revision.
- The components of IRMA’s preparation for releasing a 1st DRAFT V2.0 for consultation.
- A summary of the first public consultation that took place over 2023-2024.
- An overview of key changes captured in the first public consultation.
- A summary of the remaining and arising issues that are included in the second public consultation.
- Plans for the second consultation and how to engage.
- Links to online resources that are relevant to both the 1st and 2nd public consultations, including more detailed summaries of the changes captured from the first consultation by Chapter, explanation of how each issue was considered, and a link to the full comments log with individual responses provided by the IRMA Secretariat.
Acknowledgments
IRMA would like to thank all those who provided comments and recommendations on the 1st DRAFT of the IRMA Standard V2.0. We would like to expand our gratitude to all the members and partners of IRMA, including Indigenous rights’ organizations, mining-affected community organizations and associations, national and international NGOs, labor organizations and unions, exploration and mining companies, mineral processing companies, downstream purchasers, finance organizations and banks, standard-setting organizations, industry associations, consultants and practitioners, and others. The full list of IRMA members and partners is available on our website.
General Disclaimer
The 2nd DRAFT does not represent content that has yet been formally endorsed by IRMA’s equally-governed multi-stakeholder Board of Directors. 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 draft document 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 (more on this in the Draft), for a version that will be presented to IRMA’s equally-governed multi-stakeholder Board of Directors for adoption and implementation.
IRMA is dedicated to a participatory process including public consultation with a wide range of affected people globally and seeks feedback, comments, questions, and recommendations for improvement of this Standard. IRMA believes that diverse participation and input is a crucial and determining factor in the effectiveness of a Standard that is used to improve environmental and social performance in a sector. To this end, every submission received will be reviewed and considered.
This current 2nd DRAFT is based on content already in practice in the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining V1.0 (2018) for mines in production, and its accompanying normative Guidance document and Supplementary Guidance, combined with the content drafted in the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mineral Development and Exploration (‘IRMA-Ready’ Standard – Draft v1.0 December 2021) and in the IRMA Standard for Responsible Minerals Processing (Draft v1.0 June 2021), and offers an updated version of the 1st DRAFT Version of the IRMA Standard V2.0 that received over 2,500 unique points of comments between 2023 and 2024.
Please note: The IRMA Standard V2.0 is new in its approach 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, now oversees a Chain of Custody Standard for tracking materials through the supply chain from mine-to-market end use products.
Note: For the full text of disclaimers, please read the PDF of the DRAFT.