Recent Developments

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TSM Newsletter - Volume 5

What's new in sustainable mining

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MAC now offer Towards Sustainable Mining with ESG reporting as a subscription service

The Mining Association of Canada now offers its Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) program as a subscription service. This performance system improves environmental and social practices in the mining sector. The first to sign up was Ioneer (ASX: INR), owner of the Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron development in Nevada.

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Mining association moves to boost diversity with new protocol

The mining business has a ways to go when it comes to including a diverse range of workers.

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New TSM protocol to change the face of Canada’s mining sector

The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) on Thursday published a new Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) protocol, focused on improving performance in the areas of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

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Mining association launches regulations to diversify mostly 'male and white' industry

Canada’s largest mining association has announced new regulations that its members must follow to tackle issues such as sexual harassment, bullying and gender discrimination at a time when the industry is finding it difficult to attract workers.

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Canada’s Mining Sector Commits to World-Leading EDI Standards

Today, the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) announced the publication of a brand new Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) protocol focused on improving performance in the areas of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). Released in tandem with a significant update to the TSM Safety and Health Protocol, renamed the TSM Safe, Healthy and Respectful Workplaces Protocol, that introduces a new performance indicator on psychological safety and respectful workplaces, these new groundbreaking additions will bring greater transparency and improved performance to the mining industry and help address longstanding work force challenges.

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Panama is ready to cash in on its copper boom

Panama is sitting on massive reserves of copper and other minerals crucial to the energy transition. Now it – and other Latin American nations – are wringing massive concessions from mining companies like Vancouver’s First Quantum Minerals

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IBRAM apresenta a estratégia de implantação do TSM no Brasil

O Instituto Brasileiro de Mineração (IBRAM) apresentou na tarde de segunda-feira, 15 de maio, no escritório do Instituto, em Belo Horizonte (MG), a estratégia de implantação do Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) no Brasil. O evento contou com a presença do diretor-presidente do IBRAM, Raul Jungmann, e do presidente da Mining Association of Canada (MAC), Pierre Gratton.

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Mining project leaders are trained in sustainability

Guatemala. Gremial de Recursos Naturales, Minas y Canteras de Guatemala (Grenat) organized the first workshop on TSM (Towards Sustainable Mining) mining sustainability standards in Guatemala, aimed at sustainability leaders, social responsibility, environment and community relations in the main projects of metal mining and non-metallic in the country. The two-day training was led by Ben Chalmers, Vice President of the Mining Association of Canada, and Carolina Gutiérrez, Director of Sustainability for the Colombian Mining Association.

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Canadian mining firms recognised for excellence in sustainable mining

The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) has awarded the Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) Excellence Awards to New Gold’s New Afton mine and Rio Tinto’s Diavik mine.

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New Gold and Rio Tinto receive sustainable mining excellence awards

The Mining Association of Canada’s (MAC) community of interest advisory panel has selected New Gold (TSE:NGD) and Rio Tinto (NSYE: RIO) as winners of the Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) Excellence Awards.

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Viser un développement minier durable

L’industrie minière a souvent mauvaise presse. Les nombreuses répercussions environnementales de ses activités et les relations parfois difficiles avec les populations locales, ici comme à l’étranger, sont régulièrement montrées du doigt. C’est pour corriger les erreurs ayant mené à cette réputation que l’Association minière du Canada (AMC) a mis sur pied l’initiative Vers le développement minier durable (VDMD), qui « aide les sociétés minières à évaluer et gérer leurs responsabilités environnementales et sociales ».

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TSM Newsletter - Volume 4

What's new in sustainable mining

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Panama’s mining chamber adopts Towards Sustainable Mining initiative

Implementation includes adopting indicators enabling the chamber to measure and publicly report on the practices of the mining industry

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BMO podcast: North America's Critical Minerals Advantage? Deep Dive on Community Engagement

In this episode of Sustainability Leaders, Susan McGeachie is joined by Remi Piet, Co-Founder & Senior Partner at Embellie Advisory, to discuss everything from prevailing concern over accelerating geopolitical competition for access to critical minerals to the role of climate justice in the energy transition.

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Panama adopts made-in-Canada TSM standard

Panama’s national mining chamber, Cámara Minera de Panamá (CAMIPA), has announced its adoption of Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM), a made-in-Canada corporate social responsibility performance system that improves environmental and social practices in the mining sector

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Why mining needs to be sustainable and socially responsible

Sustainable mining is at the core of any mining company’s license to operate. Miners have realised that to become viable is to operate environmentally and in a socially responsible way. The matters of climate change, resource scarcity and energy efficiency strongly resonate with the mining industry. Major miners are taking steps to be more sustainable to win over the community, being more profitable and it is also the right thing to do.

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Camimex y Asociación Minera de Canadá firman acuerdo para minería sostenible

La Cámara Minera de México (Camimex) y la Asociación Minera de Canadá (MAC, por sus siglas en inglés) han firmado un acuerdo para que empresas afiliadas a la Camimex adopten los estándares TSM (Towards Sustainable Mining).

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La Camimex se adhiere a la iniciativa Hacia una Minería Sostenible de MAC

La Cámara Minera de México (Camimex), el equivalente mexicano de la Asociación Minera de Canadá (MAC), adopta la iniciativa Hacia una Minería Sostenible (TSM) de MAC. La ceremonia oficial de firma entre ambas partes tuvo lugar esta semana en la convención de la Asociación de Prospectores y Desarrolladores de Canadá (PDAC), celebrada en Toronto.

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Mexico’s mining association signs onto MAC’s Towards Sustainable Mining

Cámara Minera de México (Camimex), the Mexican equivalent of the Mining Association of Canada (MAC), is adopting MAC’s Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) initiative. An official signing ceremony between the two took place this week at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s (PDAC) convention in Toronto.

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Community engagement and tailings management must go hand in hand

The integrated approach of Towards Sustainable Mining enhances community confidence in the way companies mine

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How Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy is accelerating the sector

Keean Nembhard, Press Secretary for the Office of the Minister of Natural Resources, outlines the details of the recently published Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy and what this means for Canada’s economy.

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TSM Newsletter - Volume 3

What's new in sustainable mining

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The Mining Association of Canada's Towards Sustainable Mining Initiative: in conversation with Mining Association of Canada Vice President Ben Chalmers

The Institute for the Study of Corporate Social Responsibility at Toronto Metropolitan University*(TMU) was pleased to present an online interactive zoom session, The Mining Association of Canada's Towards Sustainable Mining Initiative: in conversation with Mining Association of Canada Vice President Ben Chalmers, on February 17

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Mining takes star role in last leg of DENR's nationwide consultations

Mining became one of the major topics in the final leg of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ multi-stakeholder dialogue in Mindanao last week, with mining companies sharing how they have been managing the environmental and social aspects of their operations.

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The “Canadian way” in a geopolitically fragile world

Responsibly advancing the mined, processed and recycled metals and minerals needed by society.

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Mining is critical to a net-zero carbon future

‘Northern Ontario has all the ingredients to lead — unparalleled mineral wealth, the homegrown talent to develop it, and world-leading environmental and social practices’

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TSM Newsletter - Volume 2

What's new in sustainable mining

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Closure is the only certainty in mining: are we solving the right problem?

New mining projects can positively transform the social, economic, and technological landscape of a region. But closure of a mining project often unintentionally creates a stereotypical “boom and bust” cycle, creating economic, environmental, and social challenges for stakeholders. Like many major drivers of economic growth, mining projects have the potential to mold multigenerational social architecture at the same time as modifying the surrounding environment, communities, and region to have a positive outcome.

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Analizan el rol actual y potencial de la minería dentro de la economía nacional

Cámara de Industria de Guatemala (CIG) y la Gremial de Recursos Naturales, Minas y Canteras (GRENAT) reúnen a representantes del sector público, privado, sociedad civil y academia en el primer Congreso Nacional de Minería Responsable, para participar en un diálogo de interés nacional orientado a cómo lograr que la minería operada de forma responsable, se convierta en un importante motor de desarrollo económico y social para el país.

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Realizan el I Congreso Nacional de Minería Responsable "Construyendo la Guatemala del 2050"

La Cámara de Industria en Guatemala (Cig) y la Gremial de Recursos Naturales, Minas y Canteras (Grenat), reúnen a representantes del sector público, privado, sociedad civil y academia para participar en un diálogo sobre minería.

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How the Mining Industry Coexists with Nature in Natural Diamond Recovery

Diamond miners have shown it’s possible live in a world where mining is essential without negatively impacting our natural environment.

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Seizing the Moment: Canadians Want More Mining – Can We Deliver?

By now it is a foregone conclusion that in order for net-zero to be achieved, the increased adoption of low carbon technologies is essential, with mining propelling the current seismic energy transition. Electric cars cannot exist without lithium, nickel and cobalt, nuclear energy without uranium, wind turbines and solar panels without copper, zinc, iron and steel making coal. The enhanced understanding that mining has a significant role to play in the green tech revolution has led Canadians to show greater enthusiasm than ever before for the industry. In fact, in polling recently completed by Abacus Data, support was found to be at an all time high, with 80% reporting that they have a positive feeling about producers of minerals and metals in Canada and 84% giving mining companies in Canada a good or acceptable performance in contributing new materials for use in clean technologies. This broad public support may surprise many, but in reality Canada’s mining sector is widely considered to be a global leader in its commitment to strong ESG standards and community engagement, with made-in-Canada standards like Towards Sustainable Mining being adopted by mining chambers around the world.

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Pour un développement économique respectueux des peuples autochtones

Le 13 septembre 2007, l’Assemblée générale des Nations unies adoptait la Déclaration des Nations unies sur les droits des peuples autochtones (DNUDPA). Or, 15 ans plus tard, le Québec ne l’a toujours pas mise en oeuvre.

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TSM Newsletter - Volume 1

What's new in sustainable mining

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Responsible tailings management – the need for good governance

The Mining Association of Canada expands its Tailings Management Protocol, part of its Towards Sustainable Mining program

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'We have to do better': Why Canada's main mining lobby wants its members to get serious about workplace culture

Failure to do so could exacerbate a chronic shortage of skilled labour, says the Mining Association of Canada

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TSM Inclusive and Respectful Workplaces Protocol Public Comment Period

The mining sector is committed to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion, and recognizes that these values are key to safe and respectful workplaces. However, the industry continues to struggle to diversify the mining workforce, address systemic inequities, and create inclusive and respectful work environments. Recognizing the need for a collective, concerted effort to realize the industry’s commitment to inclusive and respectful workplaces, the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) is leading the development of a new standard on inclusive and respectful workplaces, as part of the Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) program. This draft protocol is being developed in collaboration with the Minerals Council of Australia and its members with the support of our other TSM national partner associations. MAC has drawn upon the insights of its members, Community of Interest Advisory Panel, and many valued experts and practitioners. We encourage any individual or organization to contribute to this work and will be accepting public comments until September 15, 2022.

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ESG 101: A primer

Everyone is still talking about ESG. Companies are producing ESG reports, governments have ESG policies, investors are ranking companies based on their ESG performance, and the list goes on. But that does not mean that everyone gets ESG. To be honest, the ESG field is changing and maturing so fast that there is not necessarily a firm definition or system for ranking ESG.

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Tools for ESG investing in mining are emerging but due diligence challenges remain

Investing in the mining sector through an environmental, social and governance (ESG) lens is more complex than just allocating to miners producing metals key to the energy transition to low-carbon technologies such as lithium, nickel and other components. Rather, it involves a broader approach of analyzing the mining process itself, according to experts.

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EI & Self-Audit: ‘Know yourself’

I was recently invited to speak on “Leading with Emotional Intelligence and why Self-Audit is essential” before the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as part of its 2022 BSP Miles Kumustahan Series.

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Mining, Minerals and Metals (M3) Standards Partnership Assessment Tool

The Mining, Minerals, and Metals Partnership (M3 Partnership) is a collaboration of the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA), Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC), ResponsibleSteel, and Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM). The M3 Partnership, made possible by the ISEAL Innovations Fund with support by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, aims to identify opportunities for alignment and collective action to drive improvement in social and environmental performance. The M3 Partnership Integrated Assessment Protocol (M3 IAP) is a tool designed to allow mine sites to be assessed against multiple site-level standards in a single audit, supporting identification of alignment across standards, and promoting demonstration of conformity with multiple standards with greater efficiency and reduced cost. The M3 IAP is responsive to concerns that the number of mining standards can be confusing, costly, time-consuming, risk greenwashing, and reduce the effectiveness of all.

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FinnMin posts their most recent self-assessment TSM results for companies

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Onyen adds local procurement reporting to ESG software

The Onyen Corporation has signed an agreement with Mining Shared Value (MSV), a non-profit initiative of Engineers Without Borders Canada, to offer mining companies using Onyen software the ability to report in accordance with the Mining Local Procurement Reporting Mechanism (LPRM).

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PDAC 2022 features a heavy emphasis on optimizing the mining world for the EV revolution

As the world moves toward electrification and electric vehicles, many discussions at PDAC, the annual international mining conference in Toronto, centred around Canada’s opportunity to leverage its unique resource base and policy environment to supply the critical minerals that will drive the revolution forward.

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Towards sustainable mining

As the administration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte comes to a resounding close, let me share with you an anecdote. A week after the then-Davao mayor won the presidency in the 2016 national elections, Philex Mining Corp. chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan and I met him in Davao City where he, among other things, iterated his challenge to the mining industry to adhere to strict international standards, particularly that of Australia and Canada.

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Canadian Mining Companies Recognized for Commitments to Sustainability and Outstanding Environmental and Community Engagement Achievements

The Mining Association of Canada's (MAC) Community of Interest Advisory Panel has selected the Gahcho Kué Mine, owned as a Joint Venture between De Beers Group and Mountain Province Diamonds, and Copper Mountain Mining Corporation, leaders in Canada's mining sector, to receive this year's prestigious Towards Sustainable Mining® (TSM) Excellence Awards in recognition of their innovative sustainability projects focused on community engagement and environmental stewardship. The companies were presented their awards yesterday at the CIM Awards Gala in Vancouver.

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Minerals Council of Australia members to adopt Canada’s TSM sustainability system

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.

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Australian Miners Adopt Stricter Rules for Indigenous and Environmental Impacts

Australian mining companies will now be required to follow stricter rules governing the impacts of their projects on First Nations communities and the environment, according to new guidelines adopted by the Minerals Council of Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

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Brazil adopts Canada's TSM Initiative

Instituto Brasileiro de Mineração (IBRAM), the national mining association in Brazil, today announced that it will adopt the Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) initiative, a corporate social responsibility program developed by the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) to improve environmental and social practices in the mining industry.

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Norway Adopts Canada's Towards Sustainable Mining initiative

Norsk Bergindustri, the national mining association in Norway, on Monday announced that it would adopt the Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) initiative, a corporate social responsibility programme developed by the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) to improve environmental and social practices in the mining industry.

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Brazil’s IBRAM to implement sustainable mining initiative

Brazil’s mining association Instituto Brasileiro de Mineração (IBRAM) is set to adopt the Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) initiative developed by the Mining Association of Canada (MAC).

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Norway adopts TSM initiative

Norsk Bergindustri (Norwegian Mineral Industry), the national mining association in Norway, will adopt the Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) initiative.

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Canadian mining companies receive Towards Sustainable Mining Excellence Awards

The Mining Association of Canada’s (MAC) Community of Interest Advisory Panel has selected Agnico Eagle and IAMGOLD to receive this year’s Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) Excellence Awards in recognition of their “innovative sustainability projects focused on community engagement and environmental stewardship.”

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Responsible mining is possible

A few days ago, I received a rejoinder from the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP), to my column last week on mining. Through its vice-president for communication Rocky Dimaculangan, COMP shares how mining companies have been managing the environmental and social aspects of their operations in line with the Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) standard that was first used in Canada. Rocky is also the national coordinator for TSM.

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Climate plan launched for Canada's mining industry

The new Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) Climate Change Protocol is designed to minimise the mining sector's carbon footprint, while enhancing climate change disclosure and strengthening the sector's ability to adapt to climate change.

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New TSM protocol emphasizes climate change adaptation

An update to the TSM standard changes how companies should tackle risks and opportunities from climate change.

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Colombia ingresa al grupo de países con mejores protocolos en minería

En el marco del ‘Congreso nacional de minería, por un mundo más verde’, realizado en Cartagena, la Asociación Colombiana de Minería (ACM) se comprometió a cumplir con nueve protocolos que promueve el estándar ‘Hacia una minería sostenible’ (TSM, por sus siglas en inglés), que ya se aplica en Canadá, España, Finlandia, Noruega, Botswana, Argentina, Brasil, Australia y Filipinas.

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Colombia Mining Association adopts MAC’s Towards Sustainable Mining

At the closing of Colombia’s National Mining Congress, and having as a witness Marianick Tremblay, Ambassador of Canada in Colombia, and Ivan Duque Marquez, the President of the Republic, the Asociación Colombiana de Minería (ACM) announced the adoption of Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM), a performance system developed by the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) that improves environmental and social practices in the mining sector.

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PH’s biggest miners adopt TSM climate change protocol

The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP), composed of some of the biggest mining companies in the country, has adopted a major climate change protocol to align with the global sustainability initiative among many mining companies around the world.

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Mining association to set up protocol to tackle discrimination, sexism by year-end

The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) plans to introduce measures that will “propel” its members to be “more transparent” on issues like sexual harassment and discrimination by the end of this year.

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Canada sets the gold standard in corporate social responsibility

What does it mean when one of the most significant mining jurisdictions in the world adopts a Canadian sustainability standard?

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Chamber of Mines accredits 13 new external verifiers

MANILA, Philippines — The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines has named 13 newly accredited verification service providers (VSPs) who will critically review the performance ratings of its members following the measurement tools prescribed by the Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) program.

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Comenzó proceso para certificar la minería sostenible

Accountability, transparency and credibility, the three pillars to which the members of the Colombian Mining...