Australia’s minerals industry is to introduce the Mining Association of Canada’s Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) system to, the Minerals Council of Australia says, further improve site-level performance through regular and transparent reporting on safety, environmental and social indicators, including partnerships with First Nations landholders and communities.
Adopting TSM – implemented worldwide among key mining nations – will support companies in demonstrating site-level safety, sustainability and environmental, social and governance performance through better measurement and accountability, the MCA said. TSM will also show how operations engage with Traditional Owners while supporting social and economic aspirations and heritage protection.
MCA CEO, Tania Constable, said the phased introduction of TSM as an expectation of MCA membership will give industry stakeholders, including First Nations partners, local communities and groups, investors and customers, additional assurance and visibility on the sector’s site-level sustainability performance across a range of important practical measures.
TSM builds on existing commitments to Enduring Value – the Australian minerals industry’s corporate-level sustainable development framework – by providing a consistent and independently verified approach to assess and communicate site level performance, supporting trust and enhancing confidence in the industry’s sustainability credentials, the MCA said.
Constable added: “Australian mining is a global leader in sustainability performance, and it’s time to take another step forward to enhance community, investor and customer trust and confidence in the industry.”
Mining Association of Canada CEO, Pierre Gratton, said: “TSM has led to better outcomes for mining communities in Canada and around the world, and it’s great that Australia has chosen TSM as the vehicle to demonstrate environmental and social performance in its mining sector. We are very proud of TSM’s increasingly global reach and power to improve sustainability through measuring site-level performance.”
The system includes guiding principles and standardised protocols to be adapted for Australian implementation, including:
- Communities and people: Indigenous and community relationships, safety and health, crisis management and communication planning, preventing child and forced labour;
- Environmental stewardship: biodiversity conservation management, tailings management, water stewardship; and
- Climate change: site-level targets and management.
The program was established in 2004 by the Mining Association of Canada to enable mining companies to demonstrate how they are meeting society’s needs for minerals, metals and energy products in the most socially, economically and environmentally responsible way, with its core strengths including:
- Accountability: participation in TSM will be an expectation for all Mining Association of Canada members for their Australian operations, with assessments conducted at the facility level where the mining activity takes place;
- Transparency: members will publicly report their performance in line with standardised protocols and indicators; and
- Credibility: TSM includes ongoing consultation with a national Community of Interest Advisory Panel, an independent multi-stakeholder group, to oversee and shape the program for continual advancement.