Risk Readiness Assessment Revision

The Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) and the Copper Mark are revising the Risk Readiness Assessment (RRA) Criteria and corresponding Criteria Guide in 2021 / 2022.

The first public consultation on the revised RRA Criteria and Criteria Guide took place from 2^nd May 2022 to 1^st July 2022.

Summary feedback from that public consultation can be found here.

The draft documents on which stakeholders provided feedback during the first public consultation are here:

DRAFT Risk Readiness Assessment (RRA) Criteria (ESP, CHI)

DRAFT Criteria Guide (ESP, CHI)

Please note, that while we welcome feedback at any time, we are currently revising the draft RRA Criteria and Criteria Guide that formed the basis of the first public consultation. A second public consultation on the revised draft will take place before the end of 2022 and we encourage you to provide feedback on that revised draft during the second public consultation.

Providing Feedback

The RMI and the Copper Mark have developed a detailed stakeholder engagement plan, available here.

We invite any interested stakeholder to provide feedback at any time by sending an email to info@coppermark.org and / or RMI@responsiblebusiness.org.

In order to ensure the feedback is constructive, please consider the following guidelines:

• Provide input into either the methodology, criteria, or format;
• Provide overarching comments and / or specific points for consideration but avoid “red-lining”;
• Avoid recommending changes where previously adopted language from international or other schemes’ standards / frameworks is directly referenced or used; and

Please provide contact information to allow us to follow up with any questions.

Read about the process, stakeholder engagement plan, and Technical Committee Terms of Reference:

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The RRA is used by over 320 mining, smelting, refining, and manufacturing sites across multiple metals including Aluminum, Alumina, Bauxite, Cobalt, Copper, Gold, Graphite, Iron Ore, Lead, Lithium, Mica, Molybdenum, Nickel, Palladium, Platinum, Rare Earth Elements, Silver, Steel, Tantalum, Tin, Tungsten, and Zinc

The RRA is both a set of criteria for responsible production and a tool for companies to communicate their environmental, social and governance practices. Its main uses are:

1. As voluntary self-assessment and self-reporting tool for minerals and metals producers and processors participating in the RMI’s Responsible Minerals Assurance Process.
2. As the foundation of the RMI’s Environmental, Social, and Governance Standard for Mineral Supply Chains; and
3. As the foundation of the Copper Mark Criteria for Responsible Production against which sites are independently assessed during the Copper Mark Assurance Process.

The methodology of the RRA is available on the RMI website here.

Objectives

The last revision of the RRA Criteria was finalized in 2019. In this second revision, the RMI and the Copper Mark will work together to achieve the following main objectives:

1. Ensure the recognition and acceptance of the RRA as a credible set of criteria for responsible mineral production practices by key stakeholder groups, namely mineral producers, refiners, smelters or other producers of a finished metal product, supply chain companies, investors and civil society organizations actively involved in addressing social and environmental impacts of mineral production.
2. Respond to findings of benchmarking exercises with other voluntary standards applicable to mining, smelting and / or refining operations to adjust the RRA to:
   1. Ensure full coverage of relevant issue areas,
   2. Provide more clarity and prescription on the scope of the criteria, and / or
   3. Strengthen criteria where appropriate to ensure these continue to reflect the core expectations formalized in leading voluntary standards in this field as well as of key stakeholder groups.
3. Clarify requirements for the implementation and assurance of the RRA Criteria through accompanying Criteria Guide aimed at both implementing companies and assessors.

Timeline

An approximate timeline for the project is included below. All timings are indicative only and subject to change.