RMI Report 2022 Summary en
RMI Report 2022 Summary en
Report
2022
Summary
RMI Report 2022
Summary
Table of Contents
20 Economic Development
About the RMI Report 2022
The RMI Report 2022 is an evidence-based assessment of 40 large mining
22 Business Conduct
companies’ policies and practices on economic, environmental, social and
governance issues, with a separate assessment of 250 mine sites. This summary 24 Lifecycle Management
report provides some overall results and extracts from the RMI Report 2022.
The full results and individual company and mine-site reports are available at 26 Community Wellbeing
www.responsibleminingindex.org.
28 Working Conditions
Acknowledgements
The Responsible Mining Foundation would like to thank all those who provided 30 Environmental Responsibility
comments and recommendations subsequent to the earlier RMI Reports including
mining-affected community members, representatives of local community 32 Human Rights
associations, people’s movements, national and international NGOs, government
Harm prevention
Funders
The RMF wishes to thank its funders: 53 Annex
• Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs
• The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs 54 Learning tools in the RMI Report 2022
• Triodos Foundation
Report design
• Omdat Ontwerp, The Netherlands
The vast majority of the 250 assessed mine sites across 53 countries cannot demonstrate that 0% 50% 100%
they are informing and engaging with host communities and workers on basic risk factors such as
environmental impacts, safety issues or grievances. Some 94% of the mine sites score an average of
less than 20% on the fifteen basic ESG issues assessed (see Figure 1). At the same time, a few mine
sites show better practices on some of these issues, proving ‘it can be done’. It is at mine-site level that 16 sites 150 sites 14 sites No site
these issues matter most – for local stakeholders who risk exposure to harmful impacts, for investors score score between score between scores
0% 1% and 9% 20% and 29% 50% or more
who need to know about asset-level risks, for Board members and senior executives to know if risks
69 sites 2 sites
are being well managed, and for companies seeking to show respect for their neighbours and host score between score between
communities. All companies are encouraged to move beyond consolidated reporting and aggregate 10% and 19% 30% and 49%
figures to meet stakeholders’ needs for relevant information and meaningful engagement.
Some improvement at corporate level Figure 2 Improvements in corporate results, 2020 to 2022
While the results on corporate policies and practices remain low on many issues, companies show
an overall average improvement of 11% over the RMI 2020 results. Marked improvements have 100% Society Expectations
been achieved by some lower performing companies (see Figure 2) who are to be acknowledged for
their efforts to strengthen their ESG practices and transparency. In addition, 37 of the 40 assessed 90%
Tier 3
companies show up among the best performers on at least one indicator, offering better practice Average increase
models for their peers. These are encouraging signs of continued movement on ESG issues, 80% 41%
Tier 2
of notable progress in setting basic measures in place, and of widespread good practice models Average increase
across the different issues. There are now ample opportunities for industry-wide learning on ESG 70% 22%
Tier 1
performance. All companies across the industry can use the learning tools embedded in the Average increase
RMI 2022 digital report to further improve their responsible mining practices. 60% 8%
50%
Most of the stronger performing companies show limited evidence of improvement in their responsible 30%
policies and practices at corporate level since 2020. The 8% average improvement among the
first-tier performers contrasts with the 22% and 41% average improvements seen among companies 20%
in the second and third tiers, respectively (see Figure 2). The remaining gaps seen among the
first-tier companies include a lack of corporate measures on a wide range of key issues. There is a risk 10%
of stalling of momentum among the leaders on ESG issues, even as the industry announces ambitious
plans on technical issues, such as emissions reductions or efficiency gains. Applying the same level 0%
of effort and leadership to, for example, social performance issues or the management and disclosure
Companies' overall scores in RMI Report 2020
of local environmental impacts, would do much to help the industry meet society expectations on
Companies' overall scores in RMI Report 2022
these critical issues. Companies are encouraged to use the RMI framework and results as a guide to
prioritise areas for improvement. HOW TO READ THIS
This graph shows the performances of the 37 companies that
were assessed in both the RMI Reports 2020 and 2022. The
companies are grouped into three tiers to highlight the differences
in relative improvement levels from the first to third tiers.
Companies assessed
Anglo American
AngloGold Ashanti
Antofagasta
ArcelorMittal
Banpu
Barrick
BHP
Boliden
Buenaventura
Bumi Resources
China Shenhua
Coal India
CODELCO
ERG
Evraz
Exxaro
First Quantum
Fortescue
Freeport-McMoRan
Glencore
Gold Fields
Grupo México
Peñoles
KGHM
MMG
Navoi MMC
Newcrest
Newmont
NMDC
Nordgold
OCP Group
Orano
Polymetal
Rio Tinto
Home countries, where companies are headquartered
RUSAL
Producing countries, where companies have mining operations Sibanye-Stillwater
Teck
Mine sites selected for mine-site-level assessment
Vale
Other operational mine sites Vedanta
Closed or suspended mine sites (known) Zijin
The assessment findings have demonstrated that formal ESG commitments are There is little correlation between the existence of corporate systems on specific ESG issues and
evidence of mine-site action on these same issues. For example, most companies show some level
becoming the norm. The Collective Best Score for commitment indicators, i.e.,
of corporate protocols for their operations to engage with other water users on water management and
the sum of the best scores seen on all commitment indicators, stands at 94%. to engage with worker representatives on occupational health and safety. However only a minority
It is clearly within every company’s reach to meet society expectations on ESG of the 250 assessed mine sites show any evidence of having implemented these requirements.
policy commitments (see Figure 3). In contrast, companies’ results are much Without evidence that corporate systems are being implemented at mine-site level, the credibility of
weaker on effectiveness indicators, which assess companies’ efforts to track and these systems will be limited.
improve their performance on particular ESG issues. As long as performance
monitoring remains weak, companies will find it difficult to demonstrate that their
commitments are making a difference to their management of ESG issues. 3 Slow adoption of good practices
There is a wide gap between the overall average performance seen across the 40 companies and
lym s
Pe no
Oraup the much stronger performance that the companies are collectively proving possible, as evidenced
Tin l
ye RU to
llw L
Te r
ck
Ve Vale
nta
in
cM ue
Gle oRan
Gru old core
Mé s
KG o
Na M M
vo MG
w C
wm st
N nt
OC rdg C
P G old
An Ash an
Arc tofag nti
elo asta
Ba tal
Ba pu
k
Bu B BHP
m ve n
Ch i Res ntura
s
a
DE ia
O
G
st Exx z
Qu aro
ort rt m
Rio eta
ate
Sh rce
po Field
Po ñole
ra
-Sti SA
rric
Co nhu
xic
Bu ena olide
Ne MM
No MD
ER
LC
CO l Ind
Ne cre
Zij
H
ep Fo antu
o
ld ric
it
-M esc
ro
a
Ev
da
rM
ina ou
G n
Go me
i
a
glo A
An nglo
Fir
an
A
Sib
by the Collective Best Score (see Figure 4). The Collective Best Score for a given thematic area is
Fre
Figure 3 Commitments largely in place, focus on effective actions less evident an aggregate measure of the best results seen among all the companies across all the indicators
in that area. There is much scope for companies to improve their responsible policies and practices
by adopting the good examples shown by their peers. This wide gap between average scores and
100% 100% 100% Collective Best Scores has been a feature since the first RMI Report in 2018, showing that, overall,
90% 90% 90%
the uptake of existing good practices has been moving slowly.
Wide gap between average performances and what companies are collectively
70% 70% 70% Figure 4
proving possible
60% 60% 60%
20%
0% 0% 0%
Working Lifecycle
Note: Each bar on the charts represents one company (total of 40 companies)
Conditions Management
Community
Wellbeing
Encouragingly, nearly one-quarter of the companies have increased their scores by 30% or more over Many companies show a wide range of performance levels across the different thematic areas,
the last two years (see Table 1). Most of the strongest improvements seen have come from some with their weakest scores often less than 50% of their strongest scores (see Figure 5). This generally
of the lower-performing companies, which are beginning to catch up by putting in place policies and high level of inconsistency suggests that many companies are selective in which types of ESG issues
practices on a range of ESG issues, while increasing their transparency. This includes for example they choose to address.
establishing formal commitments to respect human rights and prevent bribery and corruption,
improving accountability for ESG performance, conducting due diligence on ESG supply chain risks,
and publicly disclosing payments to governments and workplace safety incidents. Importantly, some
of these companies have also stepped up their performance monitoring to track and review the
effectiveness of some of their ESG measures.
Table 1 Improvements in company performance Most companies show widely varying performance levels across the different
Figure 5
thematic areas
in
Tin l
ye RU to
illw L
Te r
ck
Ve Vale
nta
w C
wm st
N nt
OC rdg C
P G old
Or up
Pe ano
lym s
cM cue
Gle oRan
Gr old core
éx s
KG co
HM
vo MG
DE ia
O
Ev G
st Exx az
ep Fo ntu o
or rt m
ck
Bu Bo BHP
m ve n
ina ou a
s
a
An Ash an
Ar tofag nti
lor asta
Ba tal
Ba u
Rio eta
ate
Po ñole
o M ld
Sh rce
-St SA
Ch i Res ntur
Co enhu
Q u ar
np
Bu ena lide
Ne MM
No MD
ER
LC
CO Ind
Ne cre
Zij
o
r
rri
i
ld ric
ro
a
up Fie
da
Mi
Na M
Banpu 12% NMDC** -6%
t-M es
G n
Go me
a
al
i
glo A
ce
Evraz 11%
An nglo
Fir
an
A
Sib
Fre
* Boliden, KGHM and OCP Group are excluded as they were not included in the RMI Report 2020.
** The decrease in NMDC’s score is due to a lack of updated data related to tracking the implementation or effectiveness of
several ESG measures. HOW TO READ THIS
The length of each bar represents, for each company, the level of variation in its
thematic area scores. The position of the top of the bar shows the company's best
thematic area score and that of the bottom of the bar its worst thematic area score.
As part of regular reviews of the RMI Report assessment process, additional requirements were included In order to align with evolving society expectations of mining companies, this assessment includes
this time to a number of effectiveness indicators, in order to assess the extent to which companies track new indicators on for example preparedness for pandemics, assessing the implications for workers of
their performance against specific targets. These newly-added targets relate for example to tracking the move to more automation, protecting the deep sea, and reducing waste through circular materials
the implementation of progressive rehabilitation, the functioning of grievance mechanisms, and the management. The results on these new indicators were surprisingly low, and reflect poorly on the
management of noise and vibration levels. The evidence for these targets was extremely weak with industry’s ability to keep pace with emerging expectations on these issues.
practically no cases of companies setting targets on these issues, despite the fact that the mining industry
is familiar with using targets for tracking other issues, such as greenhouse gas emissions or the gender
balance of boards. Given the importance of targets for driving improvement and tracking progress,
it is important that companies set specific targets for the full range of their ESG-related initiatives.
10 Positive influence of external requirements
A small number of issues have shown quite widespread improvement in company practices over
the last six years. Movement on these issues, which include for example, anti-bribery and corruption,
7 Good reporting requires detail and substance human rights, responsible sourcing and disclosure of payments to governments, can be attributed
at least in part to external drivers as the issues have become integrated into legislation, requirements
Companies are making many more documents publicly available – some 6,550 documents were and/or reporting frameworks. By contrast, there is a lack of evidence that voluntary measures such as
covered in the assessment (and scrutinised by analysts without the use of Artificial Intelligence) – non-binding expectations have an impact on company practices.
this is an increase of over 70% on the number of public domain documents available for the RMI
Report 2020. While this increase in transparency is to be welcomed, it is a poor indication of the
substance of companies’ ESG-related policies and practices. Indeed, there is very little correlation
between increases in public reporting and increases in company results, suggesting the need for more
substantive reporting on ESG issues. More meaningful reporting does not require greater volumes
of documentation. For example, one spreadsheet of detailed, mine-site-disaggregated ESG data
(as published by a few companies) can provide much more useful information than lengthy reports
focused on individual case studies and company-wide statistics.
Some issues, which have been a core part of RMI Report assessments over the last six years,
have consistently shown extremely weak results. These issues include for example:
• Disclosing financial surety arrangements for closure-related socio-economic liabilities;
• Disclosing financial assurance for disaster management and recovery;
• Tracking, and acting to improve, the quality of community-company relations;
• Assessing and addressing gender impacts in affected communities;
• Assessing and addressing mining-related impacts on health in affected communities; and
• Ensuring that workers’ salaries meet or exceed living wage levels.
These issues are clearly not registering with companies as priority elements of their ESG strategies.
While these issues are highly salient to the wellbeing of local mining-affected people, they are still
rarely addressed by external requirements or reporting frameworks, and seemingly not noted as
significant by ESG investors.
Economic Development
0Bscore
C D E F G H Full
I Jscore
K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z AA AB AC AD AE AF AG AH AI AJ AK AL AM AN AO
TRENDS
Economic Development results Consideration of wider economic development issues still not the norm
Overall, company performance in this thematic area has not changed much over the last three assessments
100% Society Expectations (covering companies’ public reporting in 2016-2021). The average score for Economic Development, 20% in
the RMI Report 2018, stands at 23% in this current report. A focus on national-level economic development
90% issues (as opposed to local-level economic benefits) is still the exception to the norm and there is practically
no evidence of companies considering supra-national issues in their socio-economic development planning
80% Collective Best Score or their procurement practices. The results are somewhat stronger on efforts to build the national skills base
and undertake collaborative R&D on mining-related ESG issues in producing countries.
70%
0%
an
As ale
An ewm nti
OC faga t
P G sta
p
Gle BHP
ce MM e
lor G
Ex tal
B ro
w k
Tin t
RU to
Ve SAL
nta
Ev G
raz
ye O ijin
ep Co llwat o
t-M al In er
Go MoR ia
ld an
D s
mi rte O
ina ou e
en s
NM ua
Pe DC
les
Gr oly Teck
Na Méx al
vo ico
Ba C
KG u
Bu Bo HM
Fir nave iden
a a
No ntum
old
to on
Rio cres
CO Field
Sh rce
Ne arric
or
Qu ntur
Ch Res scu
-St ran
rou
np
M
ER
Bu Fo ELC
c d
o et
xa
ric
h
t
N ha
ño
V
Z
nc
da
rdg
Mi
iM
up m
l
e
Am
i
old
P
glo
st
e
Ar
loG
or
an
An
Sib
An
Fre
Business Conduct
B.03.1
0Bscore
C D E F G H I
Full Jscore
K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z AA AB AC AD AE AF AG AH AI AJ AK AL AM AN AO
40%
Average EXAMPLE OF LEADING PRACTICE
30% Improving whistleblowing mechanism
Whistleblowing mechanism. In 2020, following its review of the effectiveness of its whistleblowing mechanism,
20%
AngloGold Ashanti rolled out refresher training for investigators of allegations received through this
mechanism. The training aimed to strengthen the whistleblowing investigations process and underline the
10% need for investigators to conduct their work with the highest level of integrity.
0%
Rio rican
to
wm P
Or nt
Ar Glen no
lor re
l
Ve Teck
An E ta
ag z
a
Go Ba le
k
DE ti
R CO
lym L
Go Exxa al
ld ro
KG ds
or New HM
Fir McM crest
a n
Fo ntum
P G ue
Pe oup
ye Ba les
u
rdg r
M d
Gr Bo MG
mi M n
so o
es
Bu oa ERG
av dia
a
ina NM in
Na henh C
vo ua
MC
tta
No wate
tof vra
ld rric
Po USA
ast
tur
Ne BH
Re éxic
-St np
Q u oR a
CO shan
Bu upo lide
ol
D
et
Va
Zij
n
ce co
Tin
urc
l
OC tesc
a
ño
Fie
L
en l In
da
Mi
iM
r
en
e
ill
Am
S
C
glo
t-
st
an
Ch
glo
An
ep
Sib
An
Fre
the impacts of the mining activity can persist long after closure, it is critical for B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z AA AB AC AD AE AF AG AH AI AJ AK AL AM AN AO
companies to adopt a lifecycle approach from the earliest stage possible to ensure Preparedness for pandemics
good post-closure outcomes for local communities, workers and environments. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought a sharp focus on the capability of companies to help mitigate the worst
impacts on workers and mining-affected communities. WHO has indicated for some time that the incidence
of epidemics is increasing, and companies can be expected to have protocols in place to ensure a rapid
The assessment results indicate that this is still an emerging issue for many companies. The overall
response if and when needed. Nonetheless company performances on pandemic preparedness are very
average result of 19% is one of the weakest among all thematic areas. Performance levels are very weak. Beyond evidence of specific measures taken to reduce the impact of Covid-19 in their workforce and
uneven, with one company, Anglo American, showing considerably stronger results than its peers. within mining-affected communities, barely any companies could show they have established pre-existing
Collectively the companies have shown that significant improvement is within their reach, if they adopt systems to respond to pandemics or outbreaks of high-burden diseases relevant to their operations (see
the good practices demonstrated by their peers (as shown by the Collective Best Score of 73% – scoring spectrum below). One company, Rio Tinto, shows evidence of a management standard for addressing
health impacts associated with outbreaks of vector-borne and infectious diseases, such as malaria, HIV/AIDS
the sum of all best scores seen across all Lifecycle Management indicators).
and tuberculosis.
C.03.2
B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z AA AB AC AD AE AF AG AH AI AJ AK AL AM AN AO
0 score Full score
TRENDS
Small pockets of progress on lifecycle management
Lifecycle Management results
Public recognition of the need for a lifecycle approach has been gradually growing among mining companies.
100% Society Expectations Average scores on formal commitments to adopt such an approach have increased by 33% since the RMI
Report 2018. Beyond this commitment, there has been little sign of progress on most issues, such as tracking
90% progressive rehabilitation or integrating ESG issues in decision-making related to mergers, acquisitions and
disposals. Nonetheless slight improvements have been seen in post-closure planning that considers the
80%
impacts on affected communities. While performances are generally low, seven companies now score 75%
or more on this issue (no companies achieved this score in the RMI Report 2018).
Collective Best Score
70%
10%
LINK TO MINE-SITE ACTION
Qu urce
le
CO Tec
nt
SA
scu
Po anp
Co Oran
Ne han
av a
an No lide
LC
Bu Gol met
Fo l Ind
ld Va
-St go
Tin
N mo
ric
h
en oR
ro
ño
B
E
da
t-M nc
Mi
affected communities informed of the closure timeframe and of involving affected communities in post-closure
en
é
e
ly
a
Am
planning. Only two of the 250 mine sites could fully demonstrate action on these issues, despite the fact that
ce
up
Go
glo
st
eight of the 40 companies have formal management systems that require collaborative post-closure planning
Gr
Ch
glo
An
ep
Sib
Fre
local economic benefits, and risk assessment. The social performance of Community health
companies is of critical importance to the prevention of harmful impacts and to Mining activities can impact community health in various ways, such as through exposure to noise from
blasting or contaminants in air, water or soil. While corporate reporting on community health tends to focus
the maintenance of a stable context for mining activities. on the positive support provided to the health sector in producing countries, the assessment results show a
generalised lack of attention to potential impacts on local communities’ health. Only a small minority of the
Community wellbeing shows the lowest overall average of all thematic areas, at only 18%. assessed companies can demonstrate they are assessing their impacts on community health and developing
This may seem surprising given the level of community development activities that companies plans to address these impacts (see scoring spectrum below). And no company provides evidence of tracking
typically undertake. However, many of these activities can be best categorised as philanthropic-type the implementation of plans to address these impacts.
initiatives, whereas the assessment here focuses on the extent to which companies are systematically
addressing socio-economic impacts, both positive and negative. Nonetheless, collectively the D.01.1
companies have demonstrated that significant improvement in this thematic area is well within their B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z AA AB AC AD AE AF AG AH AI AJ AK AL AM AN AO
0 score Full score
reach. The best scores seen across all indicators show that the companies could already achieve a
score of 66% by adopting the good practices demonstrated by their peers (as shown by the Collective
Best Score on the chart – the sum of all best scores seen across all Community Wellbeing indicators). TRENDS
Some improvements, but community wellbeing still weakest area
This year again, community wellbeing is the thematic area with the weakest performances overall.
Nonetheless, progress has been noted on several issues. Human rights due diligence, for example, is
becoming a more widespread practice – company performances have improved from a 22% average in the
RMI Report 2018 to a 28% average in this current report. And companies are increasingly showing evidence
Community Wellbeing results of having protocols in place to assess and address the potential impacts of any resettlement – average results
have increased from 27% in the RMI Report 2018 to 38% in this current report.
100% Society Expectations
90%
EXAMPLE OF LEADING PRACTICE
40%
LINK TO MINE-SITE ACTION
Na KG a
vo HM
MC
Gle hant
tta
tof ole
c
Ne ant
SA
hu
Po escu
BH
Fo éxic
No xar
Re anp
-St ran
ER
Ind
Va
Co lwat
Tin
rri
lid
up ro
t-M Fie
Q EL
Z
Mi
iM
old m
en
u
en
d
e
rt
Am
il
P
l
ce
lo
st
Bu
g
an
Ch
Bu
An
Sib
An
Fre
international labour standards, as set out in ILO Conventions, and have been long E.02.1
recognised as essential elements of responsible mining.
B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z AA AB AC AD AE AF AG AH AI AJ AK AL AM AN AO
Living wage
The assessment results show that while the overall average performance is only 30%, the companies
could already achieve a score of 74% by adopting the good practices demonstrated by their peers While mining salaries may often be assumed to be relatively high compared to local wages in many producing
countries, it is important for companies to verify that all their workers are being paid a decent wage.
(as shown by the Collective Best Score on the chart – the sum of all best scores seen across all The assessment shows that this is rarely done. No company can fully demonstrate that it is tracking,
Working Conditions indicators). The strongest performance relates to the formal commitments, made disclosing and reviewing worker wages against living wage standards, although slight movement has been
by the vast majority of companies, to provide safe and healthy working conditions. Safety is obviously seen over the last few years. A couple of companies are now showing some evidence of having conducted
a major challenge for mining companies, as underscored by the 507 worker deaths reported by living wage assessments.
these 40 companies in the two most recent reporting years, 2019 and 2021 (this figure includes the
242 workers who died in the Brumadinho tailings dam failure in Brazil in January 2019). On other E.05.1
issues, such as the prevention of discriminatory practices or the use of child labour and forced labour, 0Bscore
C D E F G H Full
I Jscore
K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z AA AB AC AD AE AF AG AH AI AJ AK AL AM AN AO
company performances are very mixed with one or two companies providing good practice models
for their peers.
TRENDS
Improvements on some aspects of working conditions
Beyond continued progress on the number of companies with formal and operational commitments to provide
Working Conditions results safe and healthy working conditions, there has been little movement on most of the issues covered in this
thematic area. The two main exceptions are: (1) public reporting of fatalities, serious injuries and incidents,
100% Society Expectations
an issue on which company performances have improved by 25% over the last two years; and (2) measures
to ensure non-discriminatory recruitment and employment practices – company performances on this issue
90% have improved by nearly 90% over the last two years, although the average result across all companies is still
under 30%.
80%
30% Average
LINK TO MINE-SITE ACTION
20%
Reporting of worker fatalities
10% The public reporting of fatalities and serious injuries and incidents is becoming the norm, with companies
scoring on average 65% on this issue. However, in most cases safety data is limited to aggregated, company-
0% wide statistics with little or no information on the locations of these harmful impacts. This is underlined by the
mine-site assessment results which show that information on employee fatalities is not available for over 60%
eri O
n
lym o
An lenc tal
ag e
Go Ved sta
As ta
Pe anti
wm s
Te t
ck
P
G a e
Fre Gru old rrick
t-M Méx ds
cM ico
OC Exx n
Bu P G aro
av up
Rio tura
to
mi illw u
so er
Ar RU ces
lor SAL
Ev l
raz
rte G
w e
al st
rdg ia
old
B o RG
st KG en
Qu HM
tum
N in
ina i M C
Sh MC
a
tta
on
Ne ñole
tof or
hu
l
Ne scu
BH
Po ran
ca
Bu e-St Banp
Ch Navo MD
Fo MM
Am ELC
of the 250 mine sites. Mine-site data on contract worker fatalities is even less common, although statistics
No Ind
Va
Co cre
Zij
ld an
Re at
Tin
ep po Fiel
G e
oR
lid
en ro
E
a
ur
Mi
h
en
en
an
O
glo D
show that contract workers are generally exposed to greater safety risks than employees. Tellingly, one
An CO
ce
company noted that nearly 90% of the injuries and fatalities within its workforce concerned contract workers.
y
or
Fir
an
glo
Sib
An
materials, and the management of water quality and quantity, are compliance Water management
issues for mining companies, covered by regulations as well as industry standards While mining can adversely affect both water quality and quantity, companies show marked differences in
and reporting frameworks, so companies can be expected to be able how they address these two issues (see scoring spectra below). Companies score on average 28% on
tracking, reporting and acting to reduce their water consumption, but an average of only 8% on tracking,
to demonstrate responsible and transparent practices in this thematic area. reporting and acting to reduce their impacts on water quality downstream of their operations.
Water quantity
The assessment results show that while the overall average performance is only 29%, the companies
could already achieve a score of 69% by adopting the good practices demonstrated by their peers F.03.2
(as shown by the Collective Best Score on the chart – the sum of all best scores seen across all
B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z AA AB AC AD AE AF AG AH AI AJ AK AL AM AN AO
Environmental Responsibility indicators). Some environmental issues are evidently getting much Water quality
more attention than others. Action and disclosure on tailings safety is of course a material topic for
companies, given the recent disasters and the industry- and investor-led initiatives on tailings, and F.03.3
there is widespread evidence of companies disclosing information about the location and safety of B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z AA AB AC AD AE AF AG AH AI AJ AK AL AM AN AO
their tailings storage facilities. In contrast, action is much less evident on issues such as water quality 0 score Full score
or noise and vibration in and around mining operations.
TRENDS
Environmental Responsibility results
Scarcely any movement on environmentally responsible practices
100% Society Expectations There have been barely any significant shifts in average performances in this thematic area. Very small
improvements are seen on a few issues, such as commitments to manage environmental impacts based on
90% a mitigation hierarchy approach, or performance monitoring on the management of biodiversity impacts.
The strongest performances are seen on the disclosure of tailings-related information – disclosures driven by
80% the investor-led initiative on tailings safety. There has been a very small improvement on this issue over the
last two years.
70% Collective Best Score
Ind z
ia
Ex ijin
rdg o
mi N old
so C
Bo rces
KG en
RU M
L
Na henh G
vo ua
MC
mining operations – information that is of key importance to populations living near mine sites. The mine site
on
Co Evra
ld Tec
tof nt
Fo gast
SA
Ne scu
BH
Ne erica
Po anp
No xar
CO oRa
-St ran
n
Re MD
S ER
LC
et
H
Tin
lid
ha
up ro
ño
r
Z
t-M nc
en nt
iM
st M
u
en
F
assessment shows that 39 of the 250 mine sites provide this detailed data and two companies, Coal India and
al
Am
V
G
Polymetal, stand out as they make this data available for all their assessed mine sites. More commonly, those
ina
c
Go
g lo
an
Ch
companies that report mine-site data on water quality do so for only some of their mine sites, presumably
glo
Bu
An
ep
Sib
An
Fre
for example, labour rights, Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and the rights of affected Human rights defenders
communities and groups to access natural resources such as water and land. Mining is one of the deadliest sectors for human and land rights defenders and companies can be expected
The responsibility of companies, to respect human rights and provide for remedy to promote respect for defenders. A few companies – Anglo American, Glencore, Newmont and Teck – have
taken the step of establishing formal commitments to respect the rights of human and land defenders. (Anglo
where rights are violated, is well established with ten years since the adoption of American has also reported plans to develop a protocol for the protection of human rights defenders, following
the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. engagement with relevant NGOs.) These commitments have been put in place over the last couple of years,
providing models for other companies to follow. While a few other companies have publicly stated that they
would not tolerate threats against defenders, so far none of the other assessed companies have made formal
commitments to respect defenders’ rights.
The assessment results show that overall performance on human rights issues is low, with an average
score of only 22%. Encouragingly, about one-quarter of the companies score 75% or more on their
D.01.4
measures to assess and address specific risks related to issues such as water rights, Indigenous
Peoples’ rights, land rights, workers’ rights, or child labour. However, no company shows systematic 0Bscore
C D E
F G H I
Full J K
score L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z AA AB AC AD AE AF AG AH AI AJ AK AL AM AN AO
action on all these issues and there is virtually no evidence of measures on a number of other
issues such as efforts to ensure the right of workers to a living wage or efforts to track and improve
the performance of grievance mechanisms. If companies were to adopt the good practices already TRENDS
demonstrated by their peers, they would achieve a score of 70% (noted on the chart as the Collective Gradual improvements on several fronts, overall performance still low
Best Score). Evidence of policies and practices on human rights has increased steadily over the last three assessments
(covering companies’ public reporting in 2016-2021). All but one of the 40 companies now refers to human
rights somewhere in their public reporting and 70% of the companies have made formal commitments to
Human Rights results respect human rights, in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights. The use of
human rights due diligence is increasing, but from a low base – companies now score on average 28% on this
100% Society Expectations
issue. Significant improvements are also seen on some specific issues, including for example the existence of
corporate systems to respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
90%
80%
EXAMPLE OF LEADING PRACTICE
30%
LINK TO MINE-SITE ACTION
20%
Average Community grievance mechanisms
Companies can build trust in their community grievance mechanisms by disclosing information on how these
10% mechanisms are being used: the issues raised, any actions taken and any remedy provided. Companies
score an average of 30% on tracking and publicly reporting company-wide information on these aspects of
0% their community grievance mechanisms, and 12 of the 40 companies disclose no such information. Mine-site-
level information on community grievance mechanisms is considerably rarer. Only 12% of the 250 assessed
loG New rican
As ont
nc i
ore
ck
t-M ar P
cM rick
an
Rio Vale
ld to
M s
Ve MG
mi B nta
so u
s
wc l
rte st
Gr COD scue
An Mé O
ag o
OC Ora a
Ar P G no
Fir elor roup
an l
Pe tum
RU les
L
Ev G
Ex raz
ro
rdg n
an Coa old
illw ia
Bu Bo ater
av en
NM ra
K C
Ch Navo GHM
Sh MC
a
Gle hant
Ne meta
Qu itta
ld
Po urce
SA
ast
hu
BH
tof xic
Re anp
No Ziji
D
ER
C
mine sites disclose data on the number and types of grievances registered through these mechanisms.
-St nd
Fo re
tu
Go Tin
xa
Te
oR
en lid
ño
Fie
up EL
da
ina i M
old m
en
st M
en
ye l I
e
ly
Am
c
lo
or
g
Bu
An
ep
g
Sib
An
Fre
TRENDS
Progress on risks from business decisions, not from operations’ impacts
Significant progress has been made on integrating the consideration of ESG risks into business decisions.
For example, the average performance levels have more than doubled, to 43%, on the issue of assessing
Harm Prevention results human rights, labour and environmental risks associated with companies’ supply chains. However, there
is much less evidence of progress on efforts to assess and address ESG risks within companies’ own
100% Society Expectations operations. While the use of human rights due diligence is starting to become more widespread, there is still
barely any evidence of corporate measures to ensure that operations assess specific risks they may pose to
90% community health, to women, or to land access for local communities.
80%
EXAMPLE OF LEADING PRACTICE
70% Managing land-use impacts
Collective Best Score
AngloGold Ashanti has developed management standards to assess and address its impacts on land use
60% and land access. The standards require operations to regularly identify areas that are no longer required for
operational activities, which can be made available for progressive (concurrent) rehabilitation. Operations
50% are also required to develop post-mining land-use objectives in consultation with affected communities and
government authorities.
40%
BH i
P
nc k
Go Barr e
ld ick
Rio ields
to
DE le
Ve LCO
MM a
a G
or New npu
cM rest
Gr ly Ran
An Mé tal
OC aga o
P G sta
Or p
mi Ex ano
so ro
Bu Fort rces
Ar aven ue
lor tura
ye Peñ tal
Fir Stil oles
r
al m
Bo ia
en
in
rdg z
old
RU G
KG AL
ina NM M
Sh DC
vo ua
MC
nt
Qu ate
No Evra
Gle Tec
nt
or
tof xic
rou
ER
Ind
CO Va
Zij
H
Co ntu
Tin
R e xa
Na enh
o e
t
en esc
lid
S
ha
da
Mi
iM
of emergency response plans and only five mine sites can demonstrate that they have informed local
old m
t-M c
up m
o
st lw
u
F
e
a
Am
ce
P
-
glo
an
Ch
Bu
An
ep
g
Sib
An
Fre
90%
40%
Te l
ck
Go io T ck
Ar Ash nto
Mi i
Go Exxa al
ld ro
wc s
ye Peñ est
illw es
r
Gr tofa Vale
Bu o M sta
av ico
a
mi B ijin
ina ou u
s
a
rte ia
KG ue
HM
rdg G
RU ld
Fir B SAL
an n
NM m
DC
Na Ev G
vo raz
MC
programmes to protect women workers from sexual harassment and gender-based violence. No more than a
eta
lor ant
ate
Ne ield
Sh rce
nt
tur
Co enhu
CO erica
Ch Res np
Qu de
No MM
LC
ER
tt
Fo Ind
o
Po nco
tu
-St ol
glo R Barri
sc
ep N ro
up ga
r
en éx
Z
da
iM
ld i
t-M m
st oli
a
en
handful of mine sites demonstrate any level of action on these basic issues.
F
al
Am
ce
An
glo
an
Bu
An
Sib
An
Fre
TRENDS
Still a narrow focus for climate action
While more companies are now tracking and reporting on their greenhouse gas emissions, including most
recently Scope 3 emissions, evidence is still very weak on other measures to address climate-related issues.
For example while many companies are assessing climate change risks to their operations, there has been no
improvement in the extent of companies’ efforts to assess and address how climate change may exacerbate
Climate Change results their operations’ impacts on communities, workers or the environment. Indeed, there is virtually no evidence
of such risk assessment taking place; companies score an average of only 5% on this issue.
100% Society Expectations
90%
EXAMPLE OF LEADING PRACTICE
40%
LINK TO MINE-SITE ACTION
ep OC an e
or P G pu
cM up
wc n
t
lym G
rte al
Ex ue
up Or ro
o M ano
a o
ye ed a
illw ta
Fir Pe ater
mi an es
so m
Ind s
Ev a
Ar Bo raz
Bu elor iden
en l
N ra
rdg C
old
RU in
L
Sh ERG
Na KG a
vo HM
MC
Gle hant
av tta
on
res
Co urce
Ne Tec
SA
CO ncor
an V gast
hu
l
ld BH
tof xic
Ne oRa
No MD
Po MM
Fo et
Va
Zij
tu
-St an
Re tu
Tin
xa
Bu t Qu ñol
rri
ric
sc
t-M ro
en Mi
iM
en
An é
l
F
e
al
Am
ina
c
Go
lo
s
Gr
g
Ch
glo
An
Sib
An
Fre
These charts show the results for each mine-site indicator, Full score 4
across the 251 mine sites (each dot representing one mine site). 3,5
The majority of mine sites score zero for most of the indicators, 3
as shown by the grey dots. This reflects the fact that most mining
2,5
operations cannot demonstrate that they are publicly reporting or
engaging with communities and workers on these important issues.
2
1,5
1
0,5
0 score 0
Exception Exeption
Tailings Safety of Communities Community Complaints &
Grievances
Local Employment
MS.01 Local Procurement
MS.02 AirMS.03
Quality Safety & Health of Workers Women Workers Workplace Deaths & Injuries
Water Quality
MS.04 Water Quantity
MS.05 Rehabilitation & Training of Workers Decent Living Wage Worker Complaints &
Post-Closure Grievances
The full results of the RMI Report 2022 are available online at: https://2022.responsibleminingindex.org/.
The website contains much more information than this summary report, including individual result
pages for the 40 companies and for the 250 mine sites assessed. Many additional resources are also
available on the website, including the learning tools introduced here. Companies are encouraged to
make use of these tools to help inform and guide their ESG strategies and actions.
The findings, conclusions and interpretations within this In this respect, the results of the low-scoring companies
Responsible Mining Index (RMI) Report 2022 do not do not necessarily reflect a lack of relevant policies
necessarily represent the views of funders, trustees, and and practices, as they may be due to a lack of public
employees of the Responsible Mining Foundation (RMF), reporting by the companies and/or limitations in accessing
and others who participated in consultations and as information.
advisors to the report.
Country borders or names on maps do not reflect an
This report is intended to be for information purposes only official position of the RMF or anyone involved in its
and is not intended as promotional material in any respect. governance, employees or in service providers. Maps
The report is not intended to provide accounting, legal, used are for illustrative purposes and do not imply
tax or investment advice or recommendations, neither is it the expression of any opinion on the part of the RMF,
intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale concerning the legal status of any country or territory or
of any financial instrument. In order to fully understand concerning the delimitation of frontiers or boundaries.
the methodology of the RMI Report 2022, the respective Where needed, approaches used by the UN to present
sections on the website should be consulted. borders were followed.
The RMI assessment seeks evidence of companies’ Although every effort has been made to verify the
policies and practices on economic, environmental, social accuracy of translations, the English language version
and governance (EESG) issues, but does not seek to should be taken as the definitive version. RMF reserves
measure the actual outcomes achieved on EESG issues. the right to publish corrigenda on the RMI Report 2022
Results are based only on evidence sourced from the web page, and readers of the RMI Report 2022 should
public domain or provided by companies as open data. consult the web page for corrections or clarifications.
Whilst this information is believed to be reliable, no www.responsibleminingindex.org
guarantee can be given that it is accurate or complete, nor
does it preclude the possibility that policies and practices
may exist, but which have not been able to be considered
for purposes of assessment.
Copyright notice
Users are free to share and adapt the material but must
give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license and
indicate if changes were made. The licensed material
may not be used for commercial purposes, or in a
discriminating, degrading or distorting way. When cited,
attribute to: “Responsible Mining Foundation (RMF), RMI
Report 2022.” Images, photographs, and video content
depicted on RMF websites are excluded from this license,
except where noted.