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Towards Sustainable
Mining 101:
A Primer
(MARCH 2015)
Table of Contents
3
Introduction
3
What Is Towards Sustainable Mining and What Are Its Goals?
3
Context
4
History
4
Business Case for TSM
5
Guiding Principles
6
Performance Protocols and Indicators
9
Governance of TSM
11
Verification and Reporting
12
TSM Awards
14
Appendix – Towards Sustainable Mining Guiding Principles
2
Introduction
This document describes the Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) initiative: where it came from, what it is and
how it works. It is intended to help MAC members and their staff implement TSM within their companies and
work with other MAC members as the initiative evolves.
What Is Towards Sustainable Mining and What Are Its Goals?
Towards Sustainable Mining is an initiative developed by the Mining Association of Canada to improve the
industry’s performance by aligning its actions with the priorities and values of Canadians. TSM provides a way
of finding common ground with communities of interest in order to build a better mining industry, today and in
the future.
TSM is based on a set of guiding principles that are in turn supported by performance protocols and indicators
(see sections on pages 5 and 6). The initiative is stewarded by the TSM Governance Team, which is led by
MAC’s Board of Directors, and by a group of initiative leaders, the points of contact for TSM within each
member company. Input and guidance come from the external Community of Interest Advisory Panel.
Context
Before the 1990s most industries had little public consultation and limited dialogue with communities and the
public. In the mining sector, most individual mines operating near communities had community engagement
strategies, but these did not necessarily extend beyond the community boundaries. As the 1990s approached,
this all began to change.
In 1987 the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development, commonly known as the
Brundtland Commission, presented its vision for sustainable development. The commission’s report, Our
Common Future, outlined the UN approach to improving the environmental and social impacts of industrial
development. By discussing the environment and development as a single issue, the UN sought to develop a
common (and global) approach to sustainable development.
3
Five years later, in 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de
Janeiro brought worldwide attention to environmental issues and the acceleration of environmental damage.
The Rio conference sparked global interest and resulted in increased public awareness and governmental
responses. As the public learned more about how certain activities affected the health of their communities,
more citizen groups and NGOs (such as MiningWatch, one of the first mining-focused NGOs in Canada) were
established. These began to exert pressure not only on governments but on industry.
In Canada the mining sector, with government support, launched the Whitehorse Mining Initiative (WMI) in the
early 1990s. This series of multi-stakeholder discussions on issues related to mining and society helped
company executives, civil society and government officials gain trust and better understand each other’s
perspectives. The process led to the development of a vision for mining in Canada and several important and
still significant policy papers. But unfortunately, while the WMI was a milestone in moving the industry towards
sustainability, it had no mechanism to deliver next steps.
Around this time a series of high-profile tailings dam failures brought media attention to the Canadian mining
sector. The failures, which occurred at international mine sites owned and operated by Canadian companies,
led to a CBC news story (“Ugly Canadians”) that documented the environmental damage from overseas mining
activities by Canadian companies. These developments were matched by several proposed mine projects that
did not proceed because of public controversy.
As a result of these events, MAC member companies began discussing the idea of developing an industrybased voluntary initiative. It was within this climate that TSM was born.
History
In the late 1990s the MAC Board of Directors set up a task force to consider a sustainability program.
Sustainable development issues were researched, stakeholders were consulted and a set of guiding principles
was designed.
Several key conclusions arose from this initial research. If the mining industry was to improve its credibility and
reputation, it must do so on a platform of improved performance and through closer alignment with public
values. Trust would be built on a record of performance.
From 1998 to 2002 MAC focused on gathering stakeholder input, finalizing the guiding principles and
developing the key performance elements to respond to priority areas identified during the initial dialogue. From
2001 to 2004 the protocols were tested, and in 2004 the TSM initiative was launched at the AGM of the
Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum in Edmonton.
Business Case for TSM
TSM was born out of a need to improve performance and manage risk and, in so doing, to improve the mining
industry’s reputation. There are many reasons why addressing social, environmental and community issues is
good for mining companies.
4
Performance improvement: The purpose of TSM is to drive performance improvement in each indicator area.
Risk management: TSM gives MAC members a way to understand and manage risk, reduce avoidable
losses, identify newly emerging issues and use leadership positions to gain competitive advantage by
influencing new regulation.
Access to capital: Institutional investors believe that social and environmental risk management can greatly
improve a company’s long-term market value. The investment community increasingly regards corporate social
responsibility programs, such as TSM, as a sign of a company’s “quality of management.”
Social licence: Through TSM, MAC members can influence the attitudes and perceptions of their communities
of interest, thereby building trust and using the benefits of positive relationships to deliver a business
advantage.
Recruitment and retention: Most people want to work for a company whose values are consistent with their
own, and there is growing evidence that more people want to work for responsible organizations. TSM helps
companies attract and retain a talented and diverse workforce.
Innovation and learning: TSM stimulates innovation and learning within companies by helping to identify new
market opportunities, establish more efficient business processes and maintain competitiveness.
Guiding Principles
At the core of TSM is a set of guiding principles. These principles provide strategic vision for the initiative,
influence the thinking behind it and steer its development.
The principles (provided in full in the Appendix) begin with this statement:
As members of the Mining Association of Canada, our role is to responsibly meet society’s needs for
minerals, metals and energy products. To achieve this, we engage in the exploration, discovery,
development, production, distribution and recycling of these products. We believe that our opportunities to
contribute to and thrive in the economies in which we operate must be earned through a demonstrated
commitment to sustainable development.
Accordingly, our actions must demonstrate a responsible approach to social, economic and environmental
performance that is aligned with the evolving priorities of our communities of interest. Our actions must
reflect a broad spectrum of values that we share with our employees and communities of interest, including
honesty, transparency and integrity. And they must underscore our ongoing efforts to protect our employees,
communities, customers and the natural environment.
The guiding principles are the foundation on which concrete performance protocols and indicators are
developed for TSM. The performance protocols deal with separate aspects of mining activity, but are linked to
one another through the guiding principles.
5
Performance Protocols and Indicators
The performance protocols and management system–based indicators that back up the TSM guiding principles
show Canadians what the industry’s current performance is and how it can be improved. Companies report
against the indicators each year in MAC’s Towards Sustainable Mining Progress Report.
EXISTING PERFORMANCE PROTOCOLS AND INDICATORS
Mining companies in Canada use a variety of systems to manage and govern their business activities.
Examples include systems to manage companies’ interactions with the environment (EMS), the quality of their
products and services (QMS) and their management information (MIS). Many of the systems used by
Canadian mining companies adhere to international standards. The International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) offers several standards for good management practice, including ISO 9001 for quality
management systems and ISO 14001 for environmental management systems.
TSM was developed to help mining companies evaluate the quality, comprehensiveness and robustness of
their management systems under six performance protocols:

Tailings management

Energy use and greenhouse gas emissions management

Aboriginal and community outreach

Crisis management planning

Safety and health

Biodiversity conservation management
Developing specific indicators for each performance protocol is a multi-stage process. The first stage is to
develop a framework, which is also a policy statement that sets the parameters for the indicators. Next, a series
of indicators is drafted that is reviewed by the Community of Interest Advisory Panel and approved by the TSM
Governance Team and the MAC Board of Directors.
6
TABLE OF TSM PROTOCOLS AND INDICATORS
Each indicator is designed to focus on a different management component of the performance protocols. The
indicators for the six performance protocols are shown below.
TAILINGS
MANAGEMENT
ENERGY USE
ABORIGINAL
CRISIS
BIODIVERSITY
SAFETY AND
HEALTH
AND
AND
MANAGEMENT
CONSERVATION
GREENHOUSE
COMMUNITY
PLANNING
MANAGEMENT
GAS (GHG)
OUTREACH
EMISSIONS
MANAGEMENT
Tailings
Energy use &
Community of
Crisis
Corporate
Policy,
management
GHG Emissions
interest (COI)
management
biodiversity
commitment
policy and
management
identification
preparedness
conservation
and
commitment
systems
policy
accountability
accountability and
communications
Tailings
Energy use &
Effective COI
Facility-level
Planning,
management
GHG emissions
engagement
Review
biodiversity
implementation
system
reporting
and dialogue
conservation
and operation
systems
planning and
implementation
Assigned
Energy and
COI response
accountability
GHG emissions
mechanism
and
performance
responsibility for
targets
Training
Biodiversity
Training
conservation
behavior and
reporting
culture
tailings
management
Annual tailings
management
Reporting
Monitoring and
reporting
review
Operation,
Performance
maintenance
and surveillance
(OMS) manual
7
The next stage is to develop criteria for each indicator to help MAC members assess their TSM performance.
The criteria follow a five-level performance rating scale. The levels generally represent the degrees of activity
shown below.
PERFORMANCE RATING
LEVEL
C
CRITERIA
No systems in place; activities tend to be reactive; procedures may exist but
they are not integrated into policies and management systems.
B
Procedures exist but are not fully consistent or documented; systems/processes
planned and being developed.
A
AA
AAA
Systems/processes are developed and implemented.
Integration into management decisions and business functions.
Excellence and leadership.
It is MAC’s goal to help all members achieve a minimum of Level A in all indicators. This is a long-term goal
that is still a work in progress.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
Detailed assessment protocols for each of the six areas provide guidance to assist companies in their selfassessments and to facilitate consistent application of TSM across companies and their facilities. The protocol
documents are available in the TSM section of the MAC website (www.mining.ca). MAC has also produced
several guidance documents to help companies develop their management systems to meet the TSM
protocols requirements. These too are available on the MAC website:

A Guide to the Management of Tailings Facilities (2011)

Developing an Operation, Maintenance and Surveillance Manual for Tailings and Water Management
Facilities (2011)

A Guide to Audit and Assessment of Tailings Facility Management (2011)

Energy Use and GHG Emissions Management Reference Guide – ( 2014)

Crisis Management Planning Reference Guide (2013)
8
There is also a list of useful references at the end of the Biodiversity Conservation Management Protocol
document.
Governance of TSM
Various parties, both inside and outside MAC, have large roles to play in TSM. This section describes the
roles and responsibilities of the main groups and individuals involved in the governance of Towards
Sustainable Mining.
MAC BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Responsibilities

Set overall objectives for TSM

Approve all MAC positions and TSM guiding principles

Approve all TSM strategy documents

Approve all TSM frameworks, protocols, indicators and criteria

Approve TSM annual budget and work plans
GOVERNANCE TEAM
The Governance Team is a subcommittee of the MAC Board of Directors that can initiate policy work on all
aspects of TSM. The Governance Team meets three times a year in association with the Board of Directors
meetings. The June Governance Team meeting is the annual TSM strategy meeting.
Responsibilities

Develop TSM strategy

Endorse, for recommendation to the Board of Directors, all frameworks, protocols, indicators and criteria

Provide direction to initiative leaders on TSM issues, policy, frameworks and criteria
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
Act as an arbitrator when there is a difference of opinion between a verification service provider and a MAC
member company
INITIATIVE LEADERS
Each full MAC member company must assign a senior employee as an initiative leader. This person must have
a direct reporting relationship (or a direct line of communication) to a MAC Board of Directors member. The
initiative leader is responsible for TSM within the company. Initiative Leaders meet 2-3 times per year and
occasionally by teleconference.
Responsibilities

Identify or develop appropriate resources to implement TSM throughout the company

Be aware of TSM and its subcomponents and how they will affect, and be implemented in, the company

Develop and maintain communication links with MAC and other industry initiative leaders to ensure the

Develop TSM frameworks, protocols, indicators and criteria, or coordinate company experts’ input into
application of best practices and the success of TSM throughout the membership
these documents

Communicate information about TSM within the company

Gather the company’s facility data for reporting on TSM
CHAIR OF INITIATIVE LEADERS
The initiative leaders select a chair to sit for two years.
Responsibilities

Set agenda for initiative leader meetings

Chair initiative leader meetings

Communicate on behalf of the initiative leaders with the MAC Vice President, Sustainable Development on
issues related to TSM

Sit on the Governance Team as a full participating member
COMMUNITY OF INTEREST ADVISORY PANEL
The Community of Interest (COI) Advisory Panel was established by MAC in 2004. It brings together about
20 individuals and representatives from Aboriginal and labour organizations, communities where the industry is
active, environmental and social NGOs and the financial community, along with members of the MAC Board of
Directors and other mining industry representatives.
The COI Advisory Panel monitors TSM’s progress and serves as an external source of knowledge and
experience. As a direct link with civil society, communities of interest and Aboriginal groups, the panel enables
open dialogue and engagement with external stakeholders. By bringing together individuals from different
backgrounds, the panel functions as an independent mechanism for analyzing the development and
implementation of TSM. The COI Advisory Panel meets twice a year.
10
Responsibilities

Help MAC members and communities of interest improve the industry’s performance

Foster dialogue between the industry and its communities of interest

Help achieve the goals of TSM
MAC VICE PRESIDENT, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The Vice President, Sustainable Development is the main MAC staff person responsible for the implementation
of TSM.
Responsibilities

Ensure that all TSM committees e.g. Governance Team and Initiative leaders are effectively supported

Coordinate other MAC employees’ input into TSM

Produce all public TSM documents

Ensure that all TSM documents are on the website and controlled

Promote TSM to other mining companies, other industry associations, federal politicians and opinion
leaders
Verification and Reporting
FOR NEW MAC MEMBERS
Year 1: MAC provides training on the TSM principles, protocols and reporting requirements during the first
year of membership. New members complete self-assessments and report to MAC, but results are not
publicized.
Year 2: New members are expected to complete self-assessments using the TSM protocols at all facilities
and at the corporate office. This provides the new member with a gap analysis and identifies areas for action
prior to the facility-level public reporting on the TSM protocols required in year 3. TSM ratings for new
members, based on self-assessment, are only publicized in aggregate form with all the other MAC
members’ scores.
Year 3: TSM results, based on self-assessment, are publicly reported at the facility-level.
Year 4: The company is expected to have its TSM scores externally verified by a MAC trained verifier. The
verified scores are publicized individually along with a 600-word member profile discussing the TSM
performance.
It is important to note, that the goal set by the MAC Board is for each facility to reach a level A (or good
performance) for all indicators within TSM and to demonstrate continuous improvement.
11
TSM VERIFICATION SYSTEM
MAC is the first mining association in the world to have external verification of its members’ performance. The
verification system serves an important purpose: it builds company, COI and public confidence in the validity of
companies’ TSM performance.
The TSM verification system consists of three components:

Verification of company self-assessments by an external verifier

Letter of assurance from a CEO or authorized officer confirming the verified results

Annual post-verification review of two or three member companies’ performance by the COI Advisory Panel
Every three years each MAC member has its TSM results externally verified. External verification takes
place on a rotating basis, the goal being to have one-third of members undergo the process each year.
The external verifier (known as a verification service provider or VSP) uses standard verification methods to
assess a company’s TSM performance. The process includes reviewing relevant documentation, interviewing
company personnel and, when appropriate, interviewing local communities of interest.
TSM REPORTING SYSTEM
At the end of the process, the VSP issues a verification statement and report. As well, the CEO or authorized
officer of the member company provides a letter of assurance confirming that the verification was conducted in
accordance with MAC requirements. The CEO letters are posted on MAC’s website (http://www.mining.ca).
MAC issues a report on TSM every year. The Towards Sustainable Mining Progress Report and all results are
available on the MAC website.
TSM Awards
TSM Performance Awards
Each year MAC honours those member companies that achieve the highest levels of TSM performance. To
receive a TSM award, a company’s TSM results must have been externally verified in the year that the award
is being given. The awards are based on the TSM assessment system, which works as follows.
For five of the performance elements—tailings management, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions
management, and aboriginal and community outreach, safety and health, and biodiversity conservation
management—facilities are assessed according to the five-level criteria system described above (page 8).
Facilities receive awards for a performance element only if they achieve Level A or better on all indicators.
For crisis management, head offices and facilities both assess their performance against criteria by answering
yes/no (met all requirements/did not meet all requirements). Head offices or facilities receive awards only if
they answer “yes” to all indicators.
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TSM Excellence Awards
In 2014, MAC introduced two new awards: the TSM Community Engagement Awards and the TSM
Environmental Awards. These new awards are intended to acknowledge companies, facilities and individuals
that have implemented projects and initiatives that expand and promote sustainable development within the
mining sector.
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Appendix: Towards
Sustainable Mining
Guiding Principles
(DECEMBER 2004)
As members of the Mining Association of Canada, our role is to responsibly meet society’s needs for minerals,
metals and energy products. To achieve this we engage in the exploration, discovery, development,
production, distribution and recycling of these products. We believe that our opportunities to contribute to and
thrive in the economies in which we operate must be earned through a demonstrated commitment to
sustainable development.1
Accordingly, our actions must demonstrate a responsible approach to social, economic and environmental
performance that is aligned with the evolving priorities of our communities of interest. 2 Our actions must reflect
a broad spectrum of values that we share with our employees and communities of interest, including honesty,
transparency and integrity. And they must underscore our ongoing efforts to protect our employees,
communities, customers and the natural environment.
We will demonstrate leadership worldwide by:

Involving communities of interest in the design and implementation of our Towards Sustainable Mining
initiative;

Proactively seeking, engaging and supporting dialogue regarding our operations;

Fostering leadership throughout our companies to achieve sustainable resource stewardship wherever
we operate;

Conducting all facets of our business with excellence, transparency and accountability;

Protecting the health and safety of our employees, contractors and communities;

Contributing to global initiatives to promote the production, use and recycling of metals and minerals in a
safe and environmentally responsible manner;

Seeking to minimize the impact of our operations on the environment and biodiversity, through all stages of
development, from exploration to closure;

Working with our communities of interest to address legacy issues, such as orphaned and abandoned
mines;

Practicing continuous improvement through the application of new technology, innovation and best
practices in all facets of our operations.
1
MAC draws on the 1987 Brundtland Commission definition of sustainable development: “Development that meets the needs
of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
2
MAC uses the term “communities of interest” to include all individuals and groups who have, or believe they have, an interest
in the management of decisions about MAC operations that may affect them. They include employees, contractors, Aboriginal
or indigenous peoples, mining community members, suppliers, customers, environmental organizations, governments, the
financial community and shareholders.
14
In all aspects of our business and operations, we will:

Respect human rights and treat those with whom we deal fairly and with dignity.

Respect the cultures, customs and values of people with whom our operations interact.

Recognize and respect the unique role, contribution and concerns of Aboriginal peoples (First Nations, Inuit
and Métis) and indigenous peoples worldwide.

Obtain and maintain business through ethical conduct.

Comply with all laws and regulations in each country where we operate and apply the standards reflecting
our adherence to these Guiding Principles and our adherence to best international practices.

Support the capability of communities to participate in opportunities provided by new mining projects and

Be responsive to community priorities, needs and interests through all stages of mining exploration,
existing operations.
development, operations and closure.

Provide lasting benefits to local communities through self-sustaining programs to enhance the economic,
environmental, social, educational and health care standards they enjoy.
15