Summary
Details
- Global
The IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining applies to industrial-scale mines in operation, including co-located mineral processing at the mine site.
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Background
IRMA was created to define leading practices for more responsible mining. The standard is built around four broad principles: Business Integrity, Planning for Positive Legacies, Social Responsibility, and Environmental Responsibility. The standard contains over 400 auditable and assessable requirements. The environmental part of the standard is broad. Greenhouse gas emissions management requirements sit alongside requirements for water, waste, air quality, biodiversity, ecosystem services, protected areas, cyanide, and mercury. This makes the standard relevant for mine sites seeking to demonstrate climate action within a wider environmental-management framework.
Climate and Environmental Provisions
The greenhouse gas chapter’s stated objective is to minimize climate-change impacts through increased energy efficiency, reduced energy consumption, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The chapter is relevant for all mines covered by the standard. Key climate-related requirements include:
Greenhouse gas policy: The operating company or corporate owner must develop and maintain a greenhouse gas, or equivalent, policy. The policy must commit the company to identifying and measuring project-level greenhouse gas emissions, identifying energy-efficiency and reduction opportunities, setting meaningful and achievable emissions-reduction targets, and reviewing the policy at least every five years.
Emissions measurement: Mine operators must use widely accepted emissions quantification methods, such as the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard or GRI 305. This anchors IRMA’s climate requirements in recognized reporting methods rather than allowing sites to use ad hoc accounting approaches.
Reduction targets: The standard requires meaningful and achievable targets for absolute greenhouse gas reductions at mine-site level or on a corporate-wide basis. For this requirement, Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions must be included in the target, while Scope 3 emissions may also be included.
Reduction strategy: The greenhouse gas policy must be backed by a plan describing the actions that will be taken to achieve the targets. The operating company must demonstrate progress toward its targets and document investigations into emissions-reduction strategies.
Annual reporting: The greenhouse gas policy must be publicly available. Each year, the operating company or corporate owner publicly report emissions, target progress, and reduction efforts at mine-site or corporate level.
IRMA’s climate requirements sit within a broader legal and environmental-management framework. Mine operators must comply with applicable host-country climate laws, meet IRMA’s stricter requirements where legally possible, and consider climate-related impacts through environmental and social impact assessment so that mitigation and emissions-reduction measures can be built into mine planning.
Current Status & Outlook
The current in-use framework is IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining V1.0, which applies to operating industrial mine sites and co-located mineral processing. IRMA is now developing Standard V2.0. A second draft was released for public consultation from 22 July to 22 October 2025, and IRMA says it is intended to broaden coverage across exploration, development, mining, closure, and mineral processing in a new Climate Action chapter.
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