Mining is essential. So is doing it responsibly.

Wherever we are in the world, metals and minerals are a part of our everyday life. Metals and minerals power our homes, cities, and technologies. As the world decarbonises, demand for these resources will only increase.

But this doesn’t give the industry a licence to mine at any cost. On the contrary—it deepens our duty to mine with care, transparency, and respect.

Why responsible mining matters

Mining provides the metals in our technology and the materials that build our cities. But as we face accelerating environmental and social challenges, the industry must change. We must meet rising demand while protecting nature, supporting communities, and upholding fairness.

Progress has been made—but much more is needed. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals calls for bold, sustained action. ICMM’s 2025+ Strategy aims to lead this transformation—making responsible mining the global standard and driving progress toward a safer, fairer, and more sustainable future.

A new era of responsible mining: ICMM strategy and action plan 2025+

Our goal is to make responsible mining the global standard—creating safer workplaces, reducing environmental impact, and strengthening social outcomes. By driving higher industry standards, we aim to deliver high-impact improvements while fostering transparency, accountability, and trust in mining’s role in society.

Our three pillars of action

At ICMM, we believe responsible mining should be the global standard. To achieve this, we have developed a focused approach that drives meaningful change. Our 2025+ Strategy is built around three interconnected pillars—performance, standards, and dialogue and engagement. Together, these pillars raise industry standards and foster accountability, collaboration, and trust.

1. Performance:

To make responsible mining the norm, we must continually improve—learning from each other, innovating together, and strengthening our expertise. Our commitment to performance means taking real action, including:

Eliminating fatalities and building a strong safety culture.
Reducing Scope 1 emissions through vehicle solutions and accelerating Scope 3 reductions.
Safe and responsible tailings management, including reducing the volume of tailings produced.
Nature-positive outcomes across operations and supply chains.
Stronger social outcomes through better human rights, skills development, and community engagement.

2. Standards:

A shared commitment to responsible mining requires a common standard that provides a clear blueprint for best practices while enabling transparency and accountability. Our focus is on delivering:

Achieve a Consolidated Mining Standard.
Support for members in transitioning to the new Standard.
An independent entity to oversee and assess implementation.

3. Dialogue and engagement:

Engaging openly with stakeholders, sharing both progress and challenges, and working collaboratively to shape solutions are essential to our approach. Our strategy includes:

Creating space for critical conversations across all parts of society in a way that allows everyone to meaningfully participate.
Demonstrating mining’s contribution to sustainable development through original data and insights.
Shaping policy for responsible mining through active collaboration.

Realising our goals for 2025+

ICMM’s 2025+ Strategy brings our vision to life by setting a higher bar for mining through strong performance, clear standards, and transparent advocacy.

By integrating these priorities, we aim to transform mining, ensuring that:

The industry is safer, with a lighter environmental footprint and stronger social outcomes.
Responsible practices become the norm, guided by a global standard that enables accountability.
The industry and stakeholders are aligned around a common vision, fostering deeper collaboration and trust.

This is mining with principles—mining that supports communities, protects the planet, and contributes to long-term sustainability.

Our values

We have five values that guide our work and interactions:

Care for the safety, health, and wellbeing of each other.
Respect for each other, the environment, and everyone we interact with.
Collaboration as our preferred means of working—as a team and with others—in an open, transparent, and inclusive manner.
Integrity in dealing with each other, members, suppliers, and all stakeholders.
Accountability to do what we say we will do and to uphold our values.

How we work

We believe actions speak louder than words. ICMM’s Mining Principles, endorsed by our Council of company-member CEOs, set a clear benchmark for performance in the mining and metals industry.

But these principles are not static, nor do they define the limits of our ambition. We constantly push ourselves to improve—driving better sustainability performance and challenging ourselves and our peers to go further. That’s why we are working with The Copper Mark, Mining Association of Canada, and World Gold Council to develop a global standard that simplifies complexity and establishes clear, responsible mining practices for companies of all sizes, in all locations, and across all commodities.

By working together, we aim to positively influence the wider industry and strengthen mining’s contribution to sustainable development. This reflects our core purpose: providing leadership through collaboration.

To maximise our impact, we are expanding partnerships beyond the mining sector—engaging with civil society, international development organisations, the financial sector, and linked industries.

As we move forward with our new strategy, we are doubling down on collaboration. Our work is designed for scale and impact, and we are committed to working alongside others to drive meaningful change.

If you share our vision of a safe, just, and sustainable world, and believe in the power of voluntary corporate leadership, let’s talk. Now, more than ever, we should be working together.

Mining With Principles: Our Approach