OTTAWA & CHELTENHAM, March 26, 2024 – The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) and The Copper Mark are pleased to announce a new collaboration on an important pilot project to enhance the assurance processes of both Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) and the Copper Mark standards.
TSM and the Copper Mark have always been committed for their standards and assurance processes to provide accountability, transparency, and credibility for their users. Both standards are committed to leadership in equivalency and alignment in the mining standards’ space and are part of the initiative underway to simplify this landscape through consolidating their standards with ICMM’s and the World Gold Council’s (WGC) into one standard and multistakeholder oversight system.
As part of the pilot, MAC and the Copper Mark are merging their respective assurance processes for pilot testing by MAC members undergoing TSM verification in 2024, with the Copper Mark secretariat managing the assurance process on behalf of MAC. MAC expects nearly all of its members’ facilities undergoing verification in 2024 to do so, which represents approximately 30 facilities in 2024.
Verification results will be disclosed publicly on the TSM website by MAC consistent with TSM’s usual processes, as well as on the Copper Mark website. More information on this pilot will soon be available on the TSM and the Copper Mark websites.
According to Pierre Gratton, President and CEO of MAC, “TSM and the Copper Mark have established a close working relationship and already collaborate on cross-recognition of their respective protocols / standards, implemented through integrated audits joint training and accreditation of assurance providers. We have learned from each other over the past few years, helping each to develop and refine tools, processes and policies such as assurance processes, conflict of interest policies or assessment reports. This pilot takes this relationship to an exciting new level.”
TSM and the Copper Mark are building on comparable levels of market recognition of their systems, often engaging with the same stakeholders. TSM and the Copper Mark believe this closer collaboration is a significant step in strengthening the value proposition for implementing companies and their facilities and for customers seeking to buy responsibly produced materials. This value would expand even further through the consolidation process with the Responsible Gold Mining Principles and ICMM’s Mining Principles.
According to Michèle Brülhart, Executive Director of the Copper Mark, “The Copper Mark is built on the principle of collaboration to increase efficiencies and reduce the implementation burden for the users of our assurance framework. The close collaboration with TSM in the past few years on areas such as standards, training and integrated audits has shown the large similarity in our respective approach and complementarity of our programs. In particular, we look forward to engaging more directly with TSM’s strong mechanism to drive change at the national level through the Community-of-Interest panel and to further connect our respective networks of stakeholders. This pilot is an exciting opportunity to bring together the best of two frameworks for the benefits of companies implementing our standards and customers seeking to source responsibly and to inform the consolidation process.”
The pilot will improve the Copper Mark’s understanding of TSM and the important role played by national panels in TSM in Canada and elsewhere, with the Copper Mark staff joining as observers of MAC’s national Community-of-Interest panel, including the post-verification review process. The Copper Mark will also manage TSM’s Verification Oversight Process in 2024. MAC and the Copper Mark will also explore opportunities to cross-fertilize their stakeholder networks by looking for ways to enhance representation across their governance bodies.
Informing the consolidated standard
The consolidation process has highlighted the similarity of TSM and the Copper Mark’s approach to assurance and the high degree of complementarity between the two frameworks, in particular on their scope, stakeholder engagement and recognition in the market. The results of this year’s pilot will be evaluated with a view to informing the development of an assurance process for the new consolidated standard.
The merging of the features of both TSM and the Copper Mark’s assurance processes provides a practical example of how consolidation can build on, and not weaken, the existing standards landscape. Both TSM and the Copper Mark agree to add features to their respective assurance process with a view to strengthen the overall approach applied to their participating companies and sites. For example, site visits are now mandatory for TSM verifications (up to now, site visits had been strongly encouraged but not required) and MAC will now require its members to publish action plans that address identified performance gaps below the TSM good practice threshold of Level A.
About The Copper Mark
The Copper Mark is the leading assurance framework to promote responsible practices across the copper, molybdenum, nickel and zinc value chains. We work with companies and organisations throughout these metals’ value chains to enable them to better understand and meet the increasing demands for independently verified responsible practices, and to contribute positively to sustainable development. Please visit https://coppermark.org/
About MAC
The Mining Association of Canada is the national organization for the Canadian mining industry. Its members account for most of Canada’s production of base and precious metals, uranium, diamonds, metallurgical coal, mined oil sands and industrial minerals and are actively engaged in mineral exploration, mining, smelting, refining and semi-fabrication. Please visit www.mining.ca.
About TSM
TSM is a globally recognized sustainability program that supports mining companies in managing key environmental and social risks. TSM was the first responsible mining standard in the world to require site-level assessments with external verification and is mandatory for all companies that are members of implementing associations. Through TSM, critical aspects of social and environmental performance are evaluated, independently validated, and publicly reported against 34 distinct performance indicators. Please visit https://tsminitiative.com/
Media contacts:
Paul Hébert
Vice President, Communications, the Mining Association of Canada
Cell: 613.292.2876
Email: phebert@mining.ca
Michèle Brülhart
Executive Director, The Copper Mark
Cell: +41.78.723.5005