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Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM)

Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) is an initiative curated by the industry membership organisation the Mining Association of Canada (MAC).

The Standard evaluates eight topics related to social and environmental performance. TSM was the first mining sustainability standard in the world to require site-level assessments. It is mandatory for all companies that are members of the MAC for their Canadian operations and has been adopted by several other mining chambers around the world.

SMETA Audit

Sedex is a membership organisation that provides an online platform for companies to manage and improve working conditions in their global supply chains.

Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA) is Sedex’s social auditing standard, which businesses can use to assess a supplier’s working conditions, across the areas of labour, health and safety, environment and business ethics, to improve performance and signal zero tolerance of human rights abuses such as child and forced labour.

SA8000 Standard

Social Accountability International is a global non-governmental organisation advancing human rights in the workplace, which curates the SA8000 Standard.

The Standard and accompanying certification system provide a framework for organizations of all types, in any industry, to operate in a way that respects workers' rights and demonstrates their adherence to high social performance.

The Standard emphasises strong management systems, worker engagement and a culture of continuous improvement.

RMI Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) Standard for Mineral Supply Chains

The Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) is a membership organisation that encourages the responsible sourcing of minerals globally.

The RMI's Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) Standard provides a set of criteria for facility level assessment, applicable to mineral processors, smelters and refiners, including those integrated with mine sites. It significantly extends the RMI’s scope, as the organisation had previously been focused on adherence to the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas.

The RMI’s ESG Standard includes environmental criteria, occupational health and safety provisions, social obligations and governance requirements.

RJC Code of Practices

The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) is a standard-setting organisation for the jewellery and watch industry.

The RJC Code of Practices establishes benchmarks for responsible business practices throughout the jewellery supply chain, from mine to retail. It sets out a common standard for ethical, social, human rights and environmental practices, and certification against the Code of Practices is mandatory for all RJC member companies.

RJC Chain of Custody

The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) is a standard-setting organisation for the jewellery and watch industry.

The RJC Chain of Custody certification is applicable to gold and platinum group metals, and is designed to promote traceability and give assurances on how products and materials have been sourced and processed through the supply chain. The certification is voluntary for RJC member companies, which may undertake it once after they have been successfully certified against the RJC Code of Practices.

ResponsibleSteel Standard

ResponsibleSteel is an international, non-profit multi-stakeholder membership organisation and certification initiative.

The ResponsibleSteel Standard contains twelve principles for the responsible sourcing and production of steel, across a broad range of environmental, social and governance topics.

The Standard aims to maximise steel's contribution to a sustainable society. It sets benchmark levels of company performance in the implementation of its principles so as to encourage broad participation by businesses while meeting the expectations of civil society stakeholders.

ISO/TS 22451:2021 – Recycling of rare earth elements

ISO is a non-governmental international standard-setting organization with a membership of 167 national standards bodies. It establishes best practices in a very wide range of activities and is not limited to mineral supply chains.

ISO/TS 22451 provides measurement methods for quantifying rare earth elements (REEs) in industrial wastes and end-of-life products in solid, solid-liquid mixture or liquid forms. It provides an overview of sample preparation and measurement of REEs in industrial waste and end-of-life products.

ISO 50015 – Energy Management Systems

ISO is a non-governmental international standard-setting organization with a membership of 167 national standards bodies. It establishes best practices in a very wide range of activities and is not limited to mineral supply chains.

ISO 50001 is designed to provide a practical way to improve energy use, through the development of an energy management system. It establishes general principles and guidelines for the process of measurement and verification of energy performance of an organization or its components.

ISO 45001 – Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems

ISO is a non-governmental international standard-setting organization with a membership of 167 national standards bodies. It establishes best practices in a very wide range of activities and is not limited to mineral supply chains.

ISO 45001:2018 specifies requirements for an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system, and gives guidance for its use, to enable organizations to provide safe and healthy workplaces by preventing work-related injury and ill health, and proactively improving their OH&S performance.

ISO 37001 – Anti-Bribery Management Systems

ISO is a non-governmental international standard-setting organization with a membership of 167 national standards bodies. It establishes best practices in a very wide range of activities and is not limited to mineral supply chains.

ISO 37001 specifies requirements and provides provides guidance for establishing, implementing, maintaining, reviewing and improving an anti-bribery management system. The system can be stand-alone or can be integrated into an overall management system.

ISO 26000 – Social Responsibility Management Systems

ISO is a non-governmental international standard-setting organisation with a membership of 167 national standards bodies. It establishes best practices in a very wide range of activities and is not limited to mineral supply chains.

ISO 26000 provides guidance for all types of organisation, clarifying what social responsibility is, helping businesses to translate principles into effective actions and sharing best practices relating to social responsibility, globally. It is not a management system standard and is not intended for certification purposes.

ISO 23664 – Traceability of Rare Earths in the Supply Chain from Mine to Separated Products

ISO is a non-governmental international standard-setting organisation with a membership of 167 national standards bodies. It establishes best practices in a very wide range of activities and is not limited to mineral supply chains.

ISO 23664 gives guidance on the design and use of a traceability system in a rare earth supply chain. It specifies the information to be recorded by supply chain businesses for rare earth materials or products passing through the supply chain from mine to separated products.

ISO 14064 – GHG Management Systems

ISO is a non-governmental international standard-setting organization with a membership of 167 national standards bodies. It establishes best practices in a very wide range of activities and is not limited to mineral supply chains.

ISO 14064.1 specifies principles at the organizational level for the quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals. It includes requirements for the design, development, management, reporting and verification of an organisation's GHG inventory. Additional guidance documents, ISO 14064.2 and 14064.3, cover GHG emissions at project level and the verification and validation of greenhouse gas statements, respectively.

ISO 14001 – Environmental Management Systems

ISO is a non-governmental international standard-setting organization with a membership of 167 national standards bodies. It establishes best practices in a very wide range of activities and is not limited to mineral supply chains.

ISO 14001 sets out the criteria for an environmental management system and can be certified against these criteria. It maps out a framework that a company or organization can follow, to provide assurance to company management and employees as well as external stakeholders that environmental impact is being measured and improved.

IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining

The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) is a multi-stakeholder body created to meet global demand for more socially and environmentally responsible mining.

The Standard for Responsible Mining v.1.0 was created by IRMA through a multi-year collaborative process, led by a multi-stakeholder board of directors. The Standard is designed to support 4 overarching principles: Business integrity; Planning and Managing for Positive Legacies; Social Responsibility; and Environmental Responsibility.

The IRMA certification is third-party assured against a comprehensive standard for all mined materials (except thermal coal) from industrial-scale mines.

Global Workplace Responsible Sourcing Environmental Health and Safety Due Diligence Standard for Mica Processors

The Responsible Mica Initiative is committed to establishing a fair, responsible and sustainable mica supply chain in the states of Jharkhand and Bihar in India.

The Standard includes environmental, social, health and safety, governance, and supply chain due diligence criteria for mica, following the five-step framework for risk-based due diligence from the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Mineral Supply Chains.

Global Industry Standard for Tailings Management (GISTM)

The Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management strives for the ultimate goal of zero harm to people and the environment, with zero tolerance for human fatalities from incidences associated with tailings. It requires operators to take responsibility and prioritise the safety of tailings facilities, through all phases of a facility’s lifecycle, including closure and post-closure. It also requires the disclosure of relevant information to support public accountability.

Fairtrade Standard for Gold and Associated Precious Metals for Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining

Fairtrade seeks to make trade fair by connecting farmers and workers with the people who buy their products.The FAIRTRADE Mark represents fairly produced and fairly traded products. It also indicates that the product is fully traceable from farm to shelf.

The Fairtrade Standard for Gold seeks to create opportunities for artisanal and small-scale miners and their communities by promoting the formalisation of the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector through establishing membership-based artisanal and small-scale mining organizations (ASMO).

The aims are to improve working conditions for miners and strengthened mining organizations and their capacity to lobby for a range of improvements and benefits.

Fairmined Standard

The Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) developed the Standard Zero standard for responsibly mined gold, silver and platinum into the ASM sector between 2006 and 2008. In 2009, based on Standard Zero, the first version of the Fairmined Standard was developed in partnership with Fairtrade. By 2013, ARM and Fairtrade were seeking different objectives with the standard and decided to not continue the joint development of the voluntary certification scheme for gold and the initiatives discontinued their partnership.

The Fairmined Standard seeks to support the sustainable development of artisanal and small-scale mining organisations. It includes requirements for mining operations to operate formally and legally, and requirements for environmental protection, improved working conditions, traceability and socio-economic development. The latter is achieved through the Fairmined Premium for mined materials. The Standard also specifies requirements for other participants in the supply chain.

Copper Mark Criteria for Responsible Production

The Copper Mark is a comprehensive assurance framework focused on demonstrating the copper industry’s responsible production practices.

The Copper Mark Criteria for Responsible Production are management system requirements defined in the Risk Readiness Assessment and the Criteria Guide. The Criteria Guide provides additional guidance, including a description of the performance determination and means of verification for each criterion. All participants of the Copper Mark commit to fully meet all criteria within 24 months. The Risk Readiness Assessment (RRA) is created by the Responsible Minerals Initiative. It represents the core expectations from over 40 leading existing voluntary sustainability standards across all major environmental, social, and governance topics.

Participation in the Copper Mark is open to multi-metal mines that produce other metals alongside copper.

Code of Risk-mitigation for ASM Engaging in Formal Trade (CRAFT)

The Code of Risk-Mitigation for ASM Engaging in Formal Trade (CRAFT) is a multi-stakeholder, open-source market entry standard, developed by the Alliance for Responsible Mining and RESOLVE.

CRAFT enables ASM gold producers to access formal markets by proactively facilitating due diligence of their supply chains at the earliest stage of their development.

ASI Chain of Custody Standard

The Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) is a membership initiative, designed to drive responsible production, sourcing and stewardship in the global aluminium value chain.

The ASI Chain of Custody (CoC) Standard complements the ASI Performance Standard, and is voluntary for ASI Members, though encouraged. The CoC Standard sets out a framework for the creation of a Chain of Custody for relevant material, including ASI aluminium.

BGR Certified Trading Chains

The German Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) developed the Certified Trading Chains (CTC) approach and has implemented it at the pilot scale with its national partners in Rwanda (2009-2011) and, in adapted form, in the DRC (2009-2016). The CTC was adopted by the Congolese government as part of a technical partnership with BGR.

The CTC scheme is designed to certify responsible mining and trade of minerals, with a focus on tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold. The scheme is geared to addressing the specific challenges that are associated with artisanal mining, and emphasises feasibility and impact in an artisanal context. The CTC standard places emphasis on the processes towards the achievement of performance targets.

In 2019, the CTC manual was updated for the DRC and retropectively applied to the copper-cobalt sector, with no certifications to date.

ASI Performance Standard

The Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) is a membership initiative, designed to drive responsible production, sourcing and stewardship in the global aluminium value chain.

The ASI Performance standard covers a broad range of environmental, social and governance topics, and can be applied at each stage of the aluminium value chain. It is currently in its third version. Members of the ASI are required to demonstrate Conformance to version 3 of the Standard in all new and re-certification audits conducted from 1st June 2023 onwards. Audits conducted between 1st June 2022 and 31st May 2023 may be against either version 2 or version 3 of the Standard.