Outcomes from Governance of Long-Term Challenges and Opportunities in Mining Operations and Mining Territories

Mining operations and regions face many governance challenges. One is the tension between the short-term objectives of communities, governments, and stakeholders, and the longer-term objectives of mining sites (discovery through production), the SDGs, and the Paris Agreement. On July 12, 2023, the SDSN organized an online discussion about solutions and opportunities around governance, and how addressing risks early can maintain competitiveness.

Renato Ciminelli, from the Geopark Quadrilatero Ferrifero (an SDSN member organization), moderated the event. He opened the session with a brief overview of past events organized on this topic, and his overall goal for the SDSN to become a resource to promote solutions and good practices, and address future risks, such as climate change and water shortages. Dr. Ciminelli also noted that the group has a community of practice on WhatsApp and invited participants to join.

Maria Amélia Enríquez, of the Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA), presented first (slides). Her focus was on the many ways that mining can trigger a ‘resource curse’, or broadly not benefit the communities and countries in which operations are taking place. She also shared key solutions to improve governance and prevent this from happening, to ensure mining achieves local economic development and eventually capital for diversification. Solutions included comprehensive zoning that determines where mining will occur and where land will be set aside for conservation, promoting other economic activities in the mining region, leveraging mining infrastructure (e.g. rail and roads) to support other industries, using tax policy and rents to raise revenue and invest it in economic diversification and equity initiatives, and ensuring transparency and accountability from companies and government entities.

Adan Olivares Castro, of the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA), presented the second (slides). IRMA is a voluntary initiative that manages the standards by which third-party, independent audits of large-scale mines are conducted. They track environmental, social, and economic aspects of mining operations, such as revenue transparency, stakeholder engagement, legal compliance, and community health and safety. Olivares emphasized IRMA’s role as a tool to address long-term challenges, and work with companies to proactively address issues. Most companies approach IRMA as a long-term relationship, with the goal of improving achievement over time, and eventually becoming fully ‘certified’. The need for compliance with the IRMA standard is growing, as more and more consumers of raw materials, such as the auto industry, are placing pressure on mining operations to comply.