Madeline Ravich

Madeline Ravich is a Justmeans staff writer and sustainability consultant with interests in CSR ratings and rankings systems, sustainability data visualization, standards for product responsibility, and general corporate responsibility strategy....

CSR Update: Responsible Mining Industry Initiatives

old-coal-miner In my last post, I wrote about the GRI guidelines for ethical and responsible mining. I also promised to offer you some perspective on how to discern a Massey from a company adopting best CSR practices.

As mentioned before, this is no easy task in an industry that is rife with environmental and social problems. Nevertheless, a number of the bigger companies seek to differentiate their brands through involvement in industry initiatives. Here are four examples (see Table 1 for a chart of companies participating in these four initiatives):

The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) lists Anglo American, Anglogold Ashanti, BHP Billiton, DeBeers Group, Newmont, Rio Tinto, Boucheron, Tiffany & Co., and Wal-Mart/Sam's Clubs as companies "working toward a world where mining operations are consistent with healthy communities and environments, and they leave positive legacies."

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) lists 46 corporate "supporters", 35 of which fill out a form disclosing information about their activities.

The International Council on Mining & Metals (ICMM) includes "19 of the world's leading mining and metals companies to address the core sustainable development challenges faced by the industry". (see Table 2 for the ten principles outlined in ICMM's Sustainable Development Framework).

The U.N. Global Compact lists at least 26 signatories to its "strategic policy initiative for businesses that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour,environment and anti-corruption." (see Table 3 for the ten U.N. Global Compact principles). Note that the U.N. Global Compact is an international initiative not specific to the mining industry.

So readers: Are there responsible or ethical mining certifications or groups that I left out? Please weigh in and share what you know. And stay tuned for next time, when I will demonstrate how the companies mentioned here fare in CSR rankings.

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