Hazard Assessment of Ores and Concentrates for Marine Transport: Guidance and Quick Reference Guide 2024
26 September 2024
Hazard assessment is the critical first step to ensure that goods are safely produced, transported, and used, allowing for the proper management of physical, environmental, and health risks throughout the supply chain. Safe production and use of minerals and metals are essential for the mining industry’s commitment to sustainable development and maintaining society's trust.
- Mining activities produce a wide range of ores and concentrates that are shipped across the globe for further processing into metals. Ores and concentrates vary in their chemical and physical properties - or their mineralogy - and therefore in the potential hazards the present for shipping. Understanding the techniques required for accurate hazard assessment of ores and concentrates is critical for the protection of human health and the environment.
- To ensure rigorous hazard assessment, the United Nations (UN) designed the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). GHS classifies hazards into 3 categories that also apply to shipping of ores and concentrates: physicochemical (e.g., explosive potential), human health, and environmental (e.g., toxicity potential).
- The safe production and transport of mined materials, including shipping of ores and concentrates is central to ICMM’s commitment to a safe, fair, and sustainable mining and metals industry. Through ICMM’s Mining Principles, members commit to implement effective risk management strategies and systems based on sound science to ensure products can be used and transported safely.
- ICMM’s Hazard Assessment of Ores and Concentrates for Marine Transport Guidance aims to:
- Support the industry’s efforts to protect people and planet through responsible hazard assessment of ores and concentrates.
- Comply with recent updates to regulation on relevant sea transport safety codes issued by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
- Reflect the latest advances in knowledge in assessing hazards.
- The Guidance was first published in 2014 and has been updated to reflect the continuously evolving nature of maritime regulation and hazard classification. It is freely available on ICMM’s website.
- It has been developed by ICMM’s Material Stewardship Facility, which convenes experts from 44 commodity and national associations and 24 mining and metals companies to make progress on strategic multi-metal topics such as chemicals management, life cycle management, minerals transport and responsible sourcing to enable sustained market access.
