The Mining Association of Canada has made it easier for mining companies to stay on top of their environmental and social practices.
On Tuesday, the association announced it now offers the Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) program as a subscription service, allowing companies to publicly report on key sustainability data.
According to the latest report by the non-profit B.C. Mining Law Reform named “Dirty Dozen 2023: B.C.’s top polluting and risky mines,” mining in British Columbia has a serious environmental problem. The program lists the top 11 polluting mines in the province and exposes loopholes in regulations. This new system would allow companies to maintain greater transparency.
“The new TSM subscription service represents a natural evolution for the standard as uptake by mining associations internationally continues to grow alongside individual company interest focused on prioritizing greater transparency on how their mines operate,” said Pierre Gratton, President and CEO of the Mining Association of Canada, TSM’s founding member.
TSM provides a set of tools and indicators that drive performance and ensures that key mining risks are managed responsibly at participating mining and metallurgical facilities. TSM’s eight performance protocols focus on three core areas: communities and people, environmental stewardship and energy efficiency.
Ioneer (ASX: INR), owner and operator of the Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron development in Nevada, is the first company to sign up with TSM and has promised to follow its guidelines. In its next public report, coming out in September, the company will share how it’s doing in the eight important areas.
A few of these these areas include: dealing with climate change, managing waste, taking care of water and building good relationships with local communities and Indigenous people.
“Ioneer is proud to utilize TSM’s standards as part of our corporate reporting process. Transparency is key to stewardship, and we are committed to being a leader in the mining industry for both,” said Bernard Rowe, CEO and managing director at Ioneer.
Rowe also shared that the company is excited to update everyone about its work in mining lithium and boron – important materials made at its Nevada site. This work is helping speed up the use of electric cars in the U.S.
Founded in 2004, TSM helps improve safety and environmental reporting for mining sites while maintaining strong relationships with local communities where the mining happens.
Read more: Mining industry making strides in gender diversity, but more progress needed: S&P Global
Towards Sustainable Mining sets high standards for ESG practices
TSM sets high standards for mining companies to ensure they are environmentally friendly and socially responsible. Its approach to requiring site-level reporting with external verification ensures that companies aren’t just saying they’re sustainable but are actually proving it with their actions.
In early July, the Mining Association of Canada set new standards for diversity, equity and inclusion.
TSM has introduced a new framework called the ‘Safe, Healthy and Respectful Workplaces Protocol.’ This includes a new measure to ensure psychological safety and respect in the workplace. These new changes will make the mining industry more transparent, improve performance, and help tackle long-standing issues with the workforce.
At the Awards Gala hosted by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) in Montreal in April, two Canadian mines were honored with awards for their sustainable practices.
The Advisory Panel of the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) selected New Gold‘s (TSX: NGD) gold mine in B.C., called New Afton and Rio Tinto‘s (NYSE: RIO) (ASX: RIO) (LON: RIO) Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories as the winners of this year’s Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) Excellence Awards.
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