Mining: Mining sites still care too little about the environment

In its recent assessment of 40 companies and 250 mine sites, the Responsible Mining Foundation (RMF) finds a striking disconnect between company commitments and mine site actions on key ESG issues. Self-commitments are now commonplace, but basic measures at mine sites - such as informing and engaging communities and workers on safety issues or environmental impacts, for example - are rarely observed. According to the 2022 RMI report, approximately 94 % of mine sites score less than 20 % on average across the fifteen basic ESG issues assessed. The risk of harm is notoriously high at mine sites; from that perspective, mining companies should be expected to protect those most exposed to these risks. And without evidence that company commitments and protocols are being implemented at the mine site level, the credibility of these measures will be limited. The RMI authors' call is clear, then: "At a time when many companies are announcing record profits and ambitious plans on technical issues such as emissions reductions or efficiency improvements, there is an urgent need for a similar level of effort and leadership to ensure responsible practices across the business."

Mine sites fall short of corporate standards

The vast majority of the 250 mine sites assessed in 53 countries cannot demonstrate that they inform and engage site communities and workers on key ESG risk factors, despite the fact that many companies require these basic measures from their mine sites. For example, most companies have a number of corporate protocols for their operations to communicate with other water users about water management and with worker representatives about occupational health and safety. But only a minority of the 250 mining sites assessed can demonstrate that they have implemented these requirements. Hélène Piaget, executive director of RMF, says: "We have seen examples of good corporate practice in many areas - companies are proving that it can be done. What we need is much faster adoption of these best practices so that the industry, especially at the mine site level, can prevent harm, limit risk and build trust."

Some companies and mine sites are catching up

However, the report also notes that although scores on corporate policies and practices remain low in many areas, overall it is encouraging that companies have improved by an average of 11 % since the last assessment in 2020. However, this average would still hide significant differences between companies at opposite ends of the performance spectrum. Companies in the first tier - those with the best overall scores - show an average improvement in their scores of only 8 %. This contrasts with the average improvement of 41 % for tier three companies, which are beginning to catch up by adopting policies and practices across a range of ESG issues while increasing their transparency.

Responsible mining must become the norm

RMI's 2022 report notes that formal ESG commitments are increasingly becoming the norm. It is clearly within the realm of possibility for any company to meet society's expectations of ESG commitments. But implementation and performance tracking are still lagging. If companies are serious about ESG and sustainability, management must ensure that these departments have sufficient budget, staff, representation and respect within the organization.

There is much scope for companies to improve their responsible policies and practices by adopting the good examples of their peers, which are highlighted as leading practices in the report. As the energy transition continues to drive demand for minerals and metals, it is more important than ever for companies to accelerate their continuous improvement efforts and make responsible mining the norm.

Source: Responsible Mining Foundation