Guatemala's Mining Association Adopts Towards Sustainable Mining

GUATEMALA, Guatemala City, Oct. 28, 2022 /CNW/ - Gremial de Recursos Naturales, Minas y Canteras (GRENAT), the national mining association in Guatemala, today announced its adoption of Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM), a made-in-Canada corporate social responsibility performance system that improves environmental and social practices in the mining sector.

As a result, GRENAT and its affiliated companies will adopt a set of indicators that will allow them to measure and publicly report on the most integral aspects of its mining industry, including those focused on environmental stewardship and effective community engagement.

"Since its origins, mining has been constantly evolving. And this evolution would not be complete without including responsible actions to help our planet, take care of our natural resources, and of course, our communities," said Valery Zurita, Executive Director of GRENAT. "Joining TSM will allow us to create an even more responsible model of mining for Guatemala and keep evolving in the right direction, in line with our commitment to national development and the creation of prosperity for new generations."

GRENAT joins ten other mining associations around the world, the fourth in Latin America together with Brazil, Colombia and Argentina, in adopting the TSM standard. Guatemala's mining chamber will tailor TSM's performance areas to reflect the unique aspects of its mining industry and commits to implementation in the next five years.

TSM is a globally recognized sustainability program that supports mining companies in managing key environmental and social responsibilities. TSM was the first mining sustainability standard in the world to require site-level assessments and is mandatory for all companies that are members of implementing associations. Through TSM, eight critical aspects of social and environmental performance are evaluated, independently validated, and publicly reported against 30 distinct performance indicators.

"We feel privileged that Guatemala has chosen TSM to drive positive change in its mining sector and are very proud of TSM's increasingly international reach," said Pierre Gratton, President and CEO of the Mining Association of Canada, a TSM partner. "The past several years have witnessed TSM's adoption by other mining associations around the world and the program is now in the process of being implemented in Canada, Norway, Finland, Spain, Botswana, Brazil, Argentina, the Philippines, Australia and Colombia, allowing us to say that TSM is a truly global standard."

Performance in TSM is evaluated across a set of detailed environmental and social performance standards, including climate change, tailings management, water stewardship, Indigenous and community relationships, safety and health, biodiversity conservation, crisis management and preventing child and forced labour. TSM helps drive performance improvement where it counts ? at the site level ? and contributes to securing support for mining activities from the communities where it operates.

"Adherence to the TSM standard has been fundamental for the Colombian mining sector as it has allowed our member companies to enhance their awareness of sustainability indicators and develop a work strategy to improve their performance," said Juan Camilo Nariño, President of the Asociación Colombiana de Minería, a TSM partner. "TSM is essential to our social license to operate and we congratulate Guatemala's mining association on its adoption of the standard and for starting on its journey in sustainable mining."

To ensure TSM reflects the expectations of civil society and industry stakeholders, it was designed and continues to be shaped by an independent, multi-interest advisory panel. As part of its implementation, GRENAT will implement a similar advisory body to provide this valuable oversight function.

The Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) initiative is a globally recognized sustainability program that supports mining companies in managing key environmental and social responsibilities. Mining companies are expected to report regularly on the implementation of each protocol. In addition, their activities will be evaluated by an external auditor every three years. Please visit www.TSMinitiative.com.   

The Guild of Natural Resources, Mines and Quarries -GRENAT-, part of the Chamber of Industry of Guatemala, was created in 1985 with the purpose of overseeing the operation of Responsible Mining and its promotion as an engine of economic and social development for Guatemala. For Grenat, Responsible Mining is understood as operations that are carried out within the framework of the law, acting with transparency, ethics, and defense of human rights to bring economic and social development to the communities. www.grenat.gt

SOURCE Towards Sustainable Mining