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Our Members

We bring together a third of the global metals and mining industry, along with key partners to drive leadership, action and innovation for a safe, just and sustainable world.

We promise to work collaboratively with associations and other stakeholders to enhance the contribution of mining and metals to sustainable development. Our commitment to working with others does not stop at our industry’s boundaries. We were founded on a spirit of open engagement, and we continue to champion diversity of opinions today to deliver bold leadership for our wider industry and non-resources sectors alike.

Company Members

ICMM members recognise that they have an active role to play in creating a safer and more sustainable mining and metals industry. Through their commitments, company members work together, alongside governments and local communities, to improve quality of life beyond the provision of the minerals and metals that sustain modern living. All company members are represented on ICMM’s Council by their CEOs and on various committees by nominated representatives.

Association Members

With the support of national, regional and commodity associations, we are able to share our ICMM Mining Principles and our good practice guidance beyond company members, to the wider industry.

Member Admission Process

Since the inception of ICMM in 2001, the expectations of company members have evolved from an informal set of expectations to a more prescriptive set of commitments.

Over the same period, an increasingly broad set of stakeholders now recognise membership in ICMM as a practical demonstration of leadership commitment, linked to expectations of progressive improvements in sustainable development performance.

The due diligence process relating to the acceptance of new members underscores the leadership commitment and integrity of the organisation and its members. ICMM’s company member admission process[1] is designed to:

  • Protect the interests of ICMM members, any prospective member company, and ICMM as an organisation, against reputational or any other risk, or liability for adhoc decisions taken.
  • Be based on criteria that are consistent with the obligations of existing members.
  • Place the onus for demonstration of ability and willingness to meet ICMM’s membership requirements on the prospective member company.
  • Establish a consistent, rigorous and independently verified assessment of the prospective member company’s self-assessed performance against the obligations of existing members.
  • Be independent, fair and unbiased, and ensure that any prospective member company can fully respond to any questions that might arise during the conduct of due diligence.

Member Performance Commitments

ICMM has long recognised that economic growth should never be at the expense of people or planet. In 2003, ICMM published its 10 Principles for sustainable development to set a standard of ethical performance for our members. Over time, we have worked to expand on these with eight position statements on key issues, such as water stewardship and transparency of mineral revenues.

In early April 2018, ICMM launched a global public consultation on the introduction of a comprehensive set of performance expectations on how members should be expected to manage a broad range of sustainability issues at the corporate and operational levels, to enhance these original 10 principles.

These enhanced Mining Principles strengthen social and environmental requirements, on issues such as labour rights, resettlement, gender, access to grievance mechanisms, mine closure, pollution and waste. Implementation is supported by robust site-level validation, credible assurance and transparent disclosure. Aligned with the objectives of other responsible sourcing initiatives, our Assurance and Validation Procedure reinforces commitments to transparency, and ensures the credibility of reported progress.

Overview of the Process

The admissions process for ICMM comprises the following five stages.

  1. Submission of information in support of an application by a prospective new member company.
  2. Independent third party review of the efficacy of the information provided (initiated and paid for by the prospective member).
  3. An independent determination by an expert review panel of whether the prospective member ought to be invited to submit a formal application at that stage (initiated by ICMM, with costs shared equally between the prospective member and ICMM).
  4. A decision by ICMM and notification of the prospective member, followed by a decision by the prospective member on whether to submit an application
  5. Ongoing monitoring of full implementation of ICMM’s membership requirements through the adoption of ICMM’s Assurance and Validation Procedure by prospective members.

Download ICMM's Member Admission Process for more information.

Expectations of the Expert Review Panel

The panel will follow a standard procedure and terms of reference which ICMM establishes in advance. This will be based upon the need for the expert panel to carefully consider the information provided in the application information and assurance reports from a prospective member. Each member of the expert panel will be expected to sign a confidentiality agreement with a prospective member company in order to bind himself/herself to keep confidential all information received that is not in the public domain.

The terms of reference for the panel will be limited to considering whether:

  • The prospective member currently meets ICMM’s membership requirements and the extent and significance of any gaps.
  • The prospective member has the requisite commitment and capacity in place to fully implement the membership requirements within a reasonable timeframe.
  • There are any reputational risks for ICMM or its members from the prospective member not fulfilling the requirements of membership within an agreed timeframe and on an ongoing basis.