First established by the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) in 2004, TSM was the first mining standard in the world to require site-level reporting with external verification.

From 2025 each year, mine sites will use TSM to report on 8 protocols with 30 indicators of social and environmental performance. Qualified external verifiers review and confirm these results every three years. An independent, multi-interest advisory body will oversee all aspects of the TSM program. Interested individuals and groups can also comment on draft TSM policies and protocols during public comment periods.

To learn more about TSM, you can download the TSM Primer or undertake training.

In Australia, administration and management of the TSM is fully funded by MCA members through annual association membership fees.

Rating System

TSM is implemented through a suite of protocols that mining companies measure and publicly report their performance against in annual TSM Progress Reports.

Each protocol is made up of a set of indicators that are designed to measure the quality and comprehensiveness of facility-level management systems and are intended to provide the public with an overview of the industry’s performance in key environmental and social areas. TSM utilises benchmarks that provide a grade (Level C to Level AAA) to communicate a facilities performance.

The goal is for each facility to acheive Level A or higher in all performance areas.