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As the world looks for more sources of minerals like lithium and cobalt to power the transition away from fossil fuels, mining companies like to claim they have cleaned up their act and won't repeat the past that left the American West covered in toxic abandoned mines. But there's no agreement on what makes for "responsible mining" in the modern era—yet.
In his indispensable Land Desk newsletter, journalist Jonathan Thompson looks at one effort underway. The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance, or IRMA, was driven by businesses that want to know they're buying responsibly-mined minerals, along the lines of the way the Marine Stewardship Council provides independent certification of fisheries.
IRMA's standards include 40 non-negotiable requirements, including getting consent from the community. IRMA doesn't score thermal coal mines, since burning any more coal is fundamentally irresponsible. Similarly, IRMA standards don't include uranium mining. “There are too many ‘risk points’ between cradle and grave,” explains IRMA executive director Aimee Boulanger.
Once a mine meets IRMA's base requirements, it's audited and given a score based on how many additional standards it meets. So far, IRMA lists two mines with completed audits and eleven more with audits underway—none of which are in the United States. IRMA says 56 sites are conducting self-assessments under its standard, which is the first step before an independent audit.
CWP's podcast, The Landscape, also looks at the potential for mining reform in the second episode of our two-part series on critical minerals. In the latest episode, Aaron and Kate are joined by Aaron Mintzes, senior policy council at Earthworks, and Roger Flynn, the director and managing attorney at Western Mining Action Project who also teaches at the University of Colorado law school. Aaron and Roger lay out the case for updating the 150-year-old law that still governs hard rock mining in the West.
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In New Mexico alone there are nearly 350,000 acres of BLM-managed lands the agency agrees are largely undisturbed and have wilderness values. Across the West that figure climbs to roughly 28 million acres of wilderness-ready public lands.
