Our industry involvement includes the support of three key initiatives:
Mining Association of Canada
We’re an active member of the Mining Association of Canada (MAC), a national industry organization that seeks to promote the growth and development of Canada's mining and mineral-processing industry, for the benefit of all Canadians.
The association promotes the interests of the industry nationally and internationally, working with governments on policies affecting minerals and with provincial and other industry groups in Canada and other countries.
Towards Sustainable Mining
Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) is an initiative of MAC and its member companies to improve the reputation of the Canadian mining industry through improved operational performance, particularly in the social and environmental aspects of our business.
Inmet plays a leadership role in the TSM initiative by:
- measuring and reporting results for our domestic and international operations and our closed properties
- promoting TSM with our peers and the investment community.
Our Vice-President, People and Environment, Craig Ford, is also a MAC Board Member and an active member of the TSM Governance Team, an oversight committee of industry senior executives.
Our TSM performance
Inmet uses TSM as one tool in its risk management toolbox to improve its operational performance in priority risk areas. Our responsible growth depends on establishing and maintaining a sound reputation, one that can be demonstrated wherever we operate.
We made progress this year in managing risks in all four TSM performance areas. Our 2008 results were determined through self-assessment and verified by a MAC-certified external verifier. Despite some improvement, our performance scoring has changed little in the past few years. We have increased our communication among the operating sites on using TSM as a risk management tool designed to drive performance and will continue to share experiences on our successes and challenges.
Tailings management
Pyhäsalmi completed and implemented its tailings OMS Manual. Although this took longer than initially anticipated, we are now using the Pyhäsalmi and Closed Properties experiences to help revise Troilus’ manual, develop one at Çayeli and make better use of them among our operators.
Community dialogue (external outreach)
Las Cruces improved its community identification, engagement, and response scores due to its focus on improved community relations during the final phase of project development. Troilus continued to build on its working relationships with its Cree and community neighbours and in 2008 focused on meeting with them on closure planning; the result was community feedback being integrated into mine closure and increased TSM scores. We began using Anglo American’s Socio-Economic Assessment Toolbox (SEAT) at most of our operations and closed properties and will use it to help establish community development strategies.
Crisis and emergency management
All of our sites completed crisis simulation exercises and crisis plan reviews during 2008 which led to improved scores at Pyhäsalmi, Las Cruces and head office.
Energy and greenhouse gas management
Our performance in energy and greenhouse gas management began to improve during 2008. Pyhäsalmi, Çayeli and the Closed Properties developed energy conservation plans. Pyhäsalmi regularly measures and improves energy use and in 2008 achieved its site energy intensity target resulting in a level three score on that indicator. We continue to participate in the Carbon Disclosure Project and have incorporated Inmet’s five-year target of a 10 percent energy and GHG intensity reduction into management’s personal objectives.
Global Reporting Initiative
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is an independent organization that seeks to make reporting on economic, environmental and social performance as routine and comparable as financial reporting. GRI, through a network of staff and volunteer-based working groups of experts from around the world, has developed the GRI reporting framework.
We use the GRI reporting framework as the basis for reporting most of our quantitative data on sustainability and for measuring our performance.
Inmet Mining Corporation self-declares that its 2008 sustainability report fulfills the requirements for a level B+ in accordance with the criteria set by the Global Reporting Initiative under the G3 framework. The Technical Protocols, Indicator Protocols and the Mining Sector Supplement (G2) guided the development of this report. Although the 2008 sustainability report has been externally verified, GRI has not verified the contents of this report, nor does it take a position on the reliability of information reported in our annual sustainability report.
Devonshire Initiative
Inmet is a charter member and Working Group member of the Devonshire Initiative (DI). The Devonshire Initiative was launched by the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto in March 2007. It grew out of the multistakeholder national Corporate Social Responsibility Roundtables convened by the Canadian government to address corporate social responsibility by the Canadian extractive industry in developing countries.
The Roundtables highlighted the polarized and unproductive nature of the relationship between the extractive sector and a small segment of non-governmental organizations (NGO). To overcome this polarization and move towards productive, on-the-ground solutions to issues of mutual concern, development NGOs and some industry members have come together in a new dialogue that could see both sides working together in developing countries to achieve mutual objectives. This is an exciting opportunity and we are fully committed to the DI process.
Global Compact
On October 1, 2008 Inmet Mining joined the United Nations Global Compact, a voluntary initiative developed to support broader UN initiatives such as the Millennium Development Goals. The Global Compact is a social responsibility framework for businesses wishing to align themselves with best practices in human rights, labour, environmental protection, and anti-corruption. Starting on page 60 of our 2008 sustainability report, we provide lists of how we are aligned with the Global Compact, and how we are implementing its 10 principles.