MAC releases its 2013 Towards Sustainable Mining Progress Report

OTTAWA, Dec. 20, 2013 /CNW/ - The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) has released its ninth annual Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) Progress Report. The 2013 report takes a detailed look at MAC members' 2012 performance in the initiative's three focus areas - communities and people, environmental stewardship, and energy efficiency.

"This year's TSM results have reinforced our confidence that TSM is taking the Canadian mining industry in the right direction," said Pierre Gratton, MAC's President and CEO. "When we first embarked on TSM, the membership set out to improve the environmental and social performance of Canada's mining industry by implementing mandatory public reporting and third-party verification of performance against rigorous performance standards. Now, after nine years of applying TSM, MAC members can demonstrate significant, meaningful progress in key performance areas that Canadians can have confidence in."

The 2013 TSM Progress Report takes a detailed look at MAC members' efforts to contribute positively to the communities where they operate. The report includes facility-level results for 20 member companies of which five companies went through external verification. TSM is the only system in the world that includes public reporting of third-party assured site-level performance for the mining sector.

The ninth annual report shows steady improvement in company results, including such highlights as:

• An average increase of 10% year-over-year in the number of facilities reporting a Level A or higher across the indicators for Aboriginal and community outreach, crisis management planning, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions management, and tailings management.
  
• In the area of tailings management, 92% of facilities reported implementation of an operation, maintenance and surveillance manual that adheres to industry best practices. This is an increase of 18% from 2011.
  
• The number of facilities assessed at a Level A or higher for demonstrating best practices in communicating and engaging with communities of interest, including Aboriginal communities, increased by 19% to 88% from 2011 to 2012. 

For the first time, performance data for biodiversity conservation management, and safety and health―TSM's two new protocols―are presented in the report. Next year, these results will be published on a facility-by-facility basis.

Participation in the TSM initiative is mandatory for all MAC members. TSM is a performance-based program that was developed by MAC and its members to help mining companies evaluate and manage their environmental and social responsibilities. The program's main objective is to enable mining companies to meet society's needs for minerals, metals and energy products in the most socially, economically and environmentally responsible way. In essence, TSM ensures companies are operating in a way that aligns with evolving societal priorities and expectations as they relate to community engagement, safety and health, energy use and the environment.

To download the 2013 TSM Progress Report, or to learn more about the initiative, please visit www.mining.ca.

About MAC
The Mining Association of Canada is the national organization for the Canadian mining industry.  Its members account for most of Canada's production of base and precious metals, uranium, diamonds, metallurgical coal, mined oil sands and industrial minerals and are actively engaged in mineral exploration, mining, smelting, refining and semi-fabrication. Please visit www.mining.ca.

SOURCE: Mining Association of Canada (MAC)