Introduction
The tuesday, november 30, 2021 the Regional Event was held in a virtual way. Experiences in the implementation of the IRMA Responsible Mining Standard in Latin America. This is the third in a series of six events on mining and climate change being organized by the Raw Materials and Climate Project (MCCP).MaPriC) with the support of the LEDS LAC platform. MaPriC is a project implemented by the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) together with the Ministry of Mines and Energy of Colombia. The event was co-organized with the Regional Cooperation for the Sustainable Management of Mining Resources in the Andean Countries project (MinSus) and in collaboration with the Responsible Mining Assurance Initiative (IRMA for its acronym in English). In a virtual format, 111 people from different countries such as Colombia, the United States, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Ecuador and Germany, among others, participated.
In the first panel, Adan Olivares CastroLatin America project coordinator for IRMAprovided information on the standard. In addition, Sergio RuizProject coordinator MaPriC and Nicolas Maennlingsenior advisor to MinSusexplained the relationship between their projects and the standard. In the second panel, representatives from different sectors shared their experience and relationship with IRMA, as well as the challenges observed in the implementation process. They presented Fadzai Midziprogram assistant for the Environmental Law Association of Zimbabwe (ZELA); Claudia Beckersenior expert in Sustainable Supply Chain Management at BMW (manufacturer of premium cars and motorcycles of German origin and capital); Ellen Lenny-PessagnoGlobal Vice President of Government and Community Affairs of Albemarle (a leading global lithium producer); Stephanie Alvarez Zuluagaleader in Industrial Innovation and Sustainability of ConConcreto (Colombian stone aggregates company); César Flores Unzagadeputy director of CooperAcción (Peruvian non-profit civil association) and Aimee Boulangerexecutive director of IRMA.
Key messages
First Segment: Context Presentations
About the responsible mining standard IRMA
The IRMA Responsible Mining Standard is a voluntary mining standard for industrial-scale mines, whose mission is to protect communities and the environment directly affected by mining. It is a global initiative, founded in 2006 and led by a multi-stakeholder partnership of NGOs, communities, buyers, investors, unions and mining companies interested in socially responsible mining. See IRMA Timeline. A noteworthy element of the standard is that it responds to and involves different actors and interests. For IRMA, not only the mining industry's point of view is important, but also that of the parties involved and possibly impacted by mining. To date, IRMA has 60 mines registered in its self-assessment system belonging to 4 continents. 16 mines belong to the Latin American region.
The standard has 26 chapters that are grouped according to its four principles: (i) Business Integrity; (ii) Social Responsibility; (iii) Planning; and (iv) Management of Positive Legacies. IRMA also administers a system of external and independent audits that measure the progress and achievements of mining companies in terms of social and environmental management.
About the MaPriC project
MaPriC is a project funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) of the Federal Republic of Germany. The project links climate change and mining under the premise that without climate-smart mining we will not be able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Since the mandate for MaPriC is to work with mining standards, it is very attractive to work with initiatives such as IRMA. As part of its support in this area, MaPric is translating the IRMA Self-Assessment Guide in order to promote it and multiply its application by mining companies.
About the MinSus project
MinSus, the Regional Cooperation Project for the Sustainable Management of Mining Resources in the Andean Countries, aims to promote responsible mining in the five countries of the Andean region. It has focused its work in recent years on standards and the supply chain, so they have worked in recent years with a group of NGOs to teach them more about standards and specifically about IRMA. In this context, they sought to identify how IRMA could help close existing gaps in transparency and information exchange.
Second Segment: Implementation of IRMA in Latin America
Global Perspective - Communities
The Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) promotes better governance of mineral resources and aims to enable people to benefit from their natural resources. The association had the opportunity to accompany communities impacted by the Unki mine during an IRMA audit of the mining project. In the process, the communities were supported in different ways so that they would not miss the great opportunity to participate. Finally, ZELA used the experience with Unki to encourage other mines to be audited and succeeded in getting a state-owned diamond mining company in Zimbabwe to pass the IRMA audit process.
Mineral buyer's perspective
BMW is a company that demands around 67 raw materials for its products, including minerals such as steel, aluminum, copper and lithium. BMW opted for IRMA because it considers it essential to maintain sustainability throughout its value chain and operate with the support of a standard that can be applied globally. For the company, multi-stakeholder involvement, external audits and transparency in reporting were essential. They also contractually require their suppliers to comply with the standard, which has enabled their suppliers to increase the number of certified materials in the value chain.
Lithium mining company outlook
Albemarle is the first lithium company in the world and its mine in Chile is the first in this country to work with the IRMA standard. They point out that IRMA is a very challenging and complete standard, which becomes a way to improve and not only to show the current status of the mining project. Although Albemarle considers it has a good relationship with the 18 communities impacted by its mining project in Chile, thanks to IRMA it has been able to identify certain gaps and needs of the communities with respect to cultural heritage issues or codes of conduct, which have required a more relevant adaptation to the local culture. Furthermore, the standard has provided Albemarle with the opportunity to improve its performance on issues that matter to all its stakeholders.
Perspective of stone aggregates mining company
ConConcreto is a Colombian mining company that has implemented the self-assessment tool to compare the management of water resources in its operations with the requirements of a demanding international standard such as IRMA. IRMA has also allowed them to improve the level of trust and the relationship with their stakeholders. In the case of monitoring and evaluation of their activities, they identified that although they complied with annual reporting to the competent authority, there had been a lack of greater involvement by the communities during the participatory process of gathering information. IRMA, he points out, is a standard that allows you to improve all the time.
NGO and civil society perspective
CooperAción is a Peruvian NGO that worked with GIZ and IRMA on the level of transparency of the Peruvian corporate mining sector. As a result, they identified that although there is a lot of information available, it is aggregated and not individualized by mining project. They also identified that, although the companies reported to the authorities, this information remained within the institutions because it was confidential. In this regard, they found that the population did not have much information about the companies and their mining projects and that this information was requested in the mechanisms for citizen participation. It became evident that IRMA is a very complete tool in terms of the level of information and transparency it offers.
Perspective IRMA
IRMA responds assertively to a current market need, since the market has more and more expectations and demands than the legislation applicable to the products consumed. On the other hand, it is inevitable that some mining companies do not feel comfortable working with IRMA because it is quite demanding compared to other standards. Moreover, the fact that it is a multi-stakeholder initiative may make some companies nervous about maintaining control of their information, processes and management. It is worth noting that IRMA can inspire governments to raise their standards on environmental and social responsibility in the mining sector.
Materials of inte'res
- Unki Mine undertakes the global certification program
- Anglo American company under the microscope
- Irma, a panacea to transparency in the diamond sector
- Understanding Who Benefits from the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA)
- https://extractivesforequality.org/blog/
- IRMA - Mines under assessment
- IRMA - Engagement Map
- IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining IRMA-STD-001
- Newsletter - IRMA
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