The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) is a global organisation focused on establishing comprehensive standards for responsible mining practices. IRMA’s key goal is to promote transparency, accountability, and respect for human rights and environmental sustainability across the mining sector. It achieves this through its Standard for Responsible Mining, which covers a wide range of social and environmental issues, including worker rights, pollution control, and community engagement.

IRMA operates as a multi-stakeholder initiative, bringing together diverse voices from mining companies, civil society organisations, affected communities, and investors. This collaborative approach ensures that its standards are balanced, fair, and applicable to real-world mining operations. IRMA’s independent third-party assessments are a central part of its work, offering verified and credible evaluations of mining sites worldwide. These assessments help guide mining companies towards responsible practices while providing stakeholders with valuable insights into performance.

In relation to sustainable finance, IRMA plays a vital role by offering investors and financial institutions a framework to evaluate the sustainability of mining companies. By aligning with responsible mining standards, companies demonstrate a commitment to mitigating social and environmental risks, making them more attractive to ESG-focused investors. IRMA’s Standard for Responsible Mining can serve as a practical tool for finance professionals looking to align portfolios with responsible mining practices.

The organisation provides a wealth of resources, including its detailed Standard and ongoing assessments, that finance professionals and other stakeholders can access to better understand the risks and opportunities in mining investments. This focus on transparency and accountability supports broader goals of sustainable finance by encouraging responsible business practices in a critical global industry.

Our mission is to protect people and the environment directly affected by mining. We do this by creating financial value for mines independently verified to achieve best practices, and share this value with the businesses that purchase material from these mines.

IRMA receive funding from the following sources:

1. Philanthropy and governments: Funding from foundations and governments constitute two-thirds of IRMA’s revenue, and their support is key for the participation of the affected communities, labor, and NGO sectors in IRMA.
2. Membership contributions: Our members support IRMA’s mission and activities by contributing according to a sliding scale of dues. Members from the affected communities, NGOs, and labor sectors are not assessed dues.
3. Corporate support: In addition to dues, IRMA receives contributions in support of IRMA’s mission and operations, and to drive dedicated initiatives such as ensuring community members have a meaningful voice in mine audits.
4. Program revenues: Revenues generated by our programs directly relate to IRMA’s mission and are intended to offset administrative costs. These include:
   • An annual administration fee for mining companies participating in independent assessments.
   • A fee ($2,500) for each self-assessment on the IRMA Mine Measure Tool, after a mining company’s first use. The first self-assessment is free of charge.
   • An annual participation fee and training fees for independent third-party auditors.

Find out more here.