International Council on Mining and Metals
Encyclopedia
The International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) is composed of 18 mining companies. The council was formed in October 2001 to comply with the mission set forth in the Global Mining Initiative. Criticism of lack of oversight in industrial mining operations from environmental and social groups created pressure on the companies to improve their practices. The ICMM now seeks to work with communities and governments to find ethical means to discover and extract metal ore from the earth.

Sustainable development

The ICMM has developed 10 principles to which member companies must adhere. These considerations resulted from a survey of concerned parties both within and outside the council. They seek to comply and reinforce guidelines established by organizations including the OECD and the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

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  • Implement and maintain ethical business practices and sound systems of corporate governance.
  • Integrate sustainable development considerations within the corporate decision-making process.
  • Uphold fundamental human rights and respect cultures, customs and values in dealings with employees and others who are affected by our activities.
  • Implement risk management strategies based on valid data and sound science.
  • Seek continual improvement of our health and safety performance.
  • Seek continual improvement of our environmental performance.
  • Contribute to conservation of biodiversity and integrated approaches to land use planning.
  • Facilitate and encourage responsible product design, use, re-use, recycling and disposal of our products.
  • Contribute to the social, economic and institutional development of the communities in which we operate.
  • Implement effective and transparent engagement, communication and independently verified reporting arrangements with our stakeholders.


In combination with the 10 principles, reporting to the public regarding the activities of ICMM as well as independent appraisal of those activities helps ensure compliance.

ICMM member companies

  • Alcoa
    Alcoa
    Alcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...

  • Anglo American
  • AngloGold Ashanti
    AngloGold Ashanti
    AngloGold Ashanti Limited is a global gold mining company. It was formed in 2004 by the merger of AngloGold and the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation.AngloGold Ashanti Limited is now a global gold producer with 21 operations on four continents...

  • Barrick Gold
    Barrick Gold
    Barrick Gold Corporation is the largest pure gold mining company in the world, with its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and four regional business units located in Australia, Africa, North America and South America...

  • BHP Billiton
    BHP Billiton
    BHP Billiton is a global mining, oil and gas company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and with a major management office in London, United Kingdom...

  • Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold
    Freeport-McMoRan
    Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., often called simply Freeport, is the world's lowest-cost copper producer and one of the world's largest producers of gold...

  • Goldfields
    Gold Fields
    Gold Fields Limited is a South African gold mining firm, one of the world’s largest, which is listed on both the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange ....

  • Goldcorp
    Goldcorp
    Goldcorp Inc. is a gold producer headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Goldcorp has 16 operations and development projects in 6 countries across the Americas....

  • Lihir Gold
    Lihir Gold
    Lihir Gold Limited was a gold mining company with operations in Papua New Guinea, Australia and West Africa.The company, incorporated in Papua New Guinea in June 1995, and named Lihir as its first project was to raise capital to build the Lihir Island gold mine was merged with Newcrest Mining at...

  • Lonmin
    Lonmin
    Lonmin plc , formerly Lonrho plc, is a producer of platinum group metals operating in the Bushveld Complex of South Africa. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.-History:...

  • Mitsubishi Materials
    Mitsubishi Materials
    , or MMC, is a Japanese company. It is one of the core companies of Mitsubishi Group. It is listed on the Nikkei 225.-Business Summary:Mitsubishi Materials Corporation has 7 business sections, which are:* Cement Business* Metals Business...

  • Newmont
  • Nippon Mining & Metals
  • OZ Minerals
    OZ Minerals
    OZ Minerals is an Australian mining company, formed from the merger of Oxiana Limited and Zinifex in 2008.In 2009, Chinese state owned China Minmetals proposed a purchase of the heavily indebted company. The Chinese proposal was one of three high profile moves by Chinese firms to acquire stakes in...

  • Rio Tinto Group
    Rio Tinto Group
    The Rio Tinto Group is a diversified, British-Australian, multinational mining and resources group with headquarters in London and Melbourne. The company was founded in 1873, when a multinational consortium of investors purchased a mine complex on the Rio Tinto river, in Huelva, Spain from the...

  • Sumitomo Metal Mining
  • Teck
    Teck
    Teck was a ducal castle in the kingdom of Württemberg, immediately to the north of the Swabian Jura and south of the town of Kirchheim unter Teck , taking its name from the ridge, 2544 feet high, which it crowned. It was destroyed in the German Peasants' War...

  • Xstrata
    Xstrata
    Xstrata plc is a global mining company headquartered in Zug, Switzerland and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is a major producer of coal , copper, nickel, primary vanadium and zinc and the world's largest producer of ferrochrome...

  • Vale

Self regulation

In 2003 ICMM in conjunction with the International Union for Conservation of Nature declared that none of its members would explore or mine deposits within World Heritage listed areas
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...

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Controversy

ICMM was established to provide guidelines for member companies so they could work toward sustainable development. Even so, many of the companies have been implicated in social and environmental scandals since the council's inception.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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