Tag Archives: Hudson Bates

The Copper Mark welcomes moly, nickel and zinc producers to assurance framework

The Copper Mark, the assurance framework to promote responsible practices and demonstrate the contribution of the copper, molybdenum, nickel and zinc industries to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, has welcomed its first six non-copper participants seeking assurance against its framework.

The addition of these new sites follows the launch of the Copper Mark’s pilot implementation scheme for molybdenum, nickel and zinc producers last October. This expansion reflects the deepening collaboration between the Copper Mark, the International Molybdenum Association (IMOA), the Nickel Institute (NI) and the International Zinc Association (IZA) to promote sustainable and responsible production and sourcing practices within and across these critical transition mineral supply chains, it said.

These sites include:

  • Boliden Mineral AB – Kokkola (copper and zinc);
  • Boliden Mineral AB – Harjavalta (nickel);
  • Freeport-McMoRan Inc – Climax (molybdenum);
  • Freeport-McMoRan Inc – Henderson (molybdenum);
  • Molymet – Molymet Belgium NV (molybdenum); and
  • Molymet – Complejo IndustrialMolynor S.A. (molybdenum).

The pilot scheme will run to July 2023 and includes the independent third-party site assessment of the participating sites against the Copper Mark Responsible Production Criteria, the Risk Readiness Assessment. The site may receive the Molybdenum Mark, Nickel Mark and/or Zinc Mark if the independent assessment confirms that all criteria are fully or partially met. A full launch for producers of molybdenum, nickel, and zinc is planned for later in 2023.

The six new sites join the Copper Mark in addition to 16 existing copper-producing participants that also produce at least one of the additional metals. This shows the strong overlap between the producers of copper, molybdenum, nickel and zinc and the efficiencies gained through the multi-metal partnership, according to The Copper Mark.

Michèle Brülhart, Executive Director of the Copper Mark, said: “We are excited to be welcoming the first six molybdenum, nickel and zinc sites to participate in our assurance framework. It is vital that these resources, critical for supporting the low-carbon global transition, are produced and sourced in ways that meet increasing government and end-user demands for responsible business. Our collaboration with IMOA, NI, and IZA will help to further increase the percentage of responsibly produced copper, nickel, molybdenum, and zinc available to society.”

Eva Model, Secretary-General of IMOA, said: “We are delighted to see such a positive response to the Molybdenum Mark pilot from our IMOA members. We are proud that our collaboration with Copper Mark on the Molybdenum Mark will help our members increase the percentage of responsibly sourced molybdenum available in society, as well as enable them to meet market demands and increasing regulatory requirements relating to responsible sourcing.”

Andrew Green, Executive Director of IZA, said: “We celebrate these first six participants for representing the industry’s commitment to providing independent, transparent, and credible assurance for all stakeholders. This collaborative milestone recognizes that we all share accountability for enabling responsible business and sustainable development.”

Hudson Bates, President of NI, said: “We are pleased with the steady progress of the pilot scheme and that the Copper Mark framework is being adopted by molybdenum, nickel and zinc producers. The Nickel Institute is delighted to have been part of the development of the Nickel Mark. It is a valuable tool for the nickel value chain and other stakeholders to ensure that nickel produced sustainably can play its vital role in the energy transition and value chain initiatives promoting responsibility.”

The Copper Mark launches pilot assurance frameworks for molybdenum, nickel and zinc

The Copper Mark says it is launching the pilot implementation of the Molybdenum, Nickel and Zinc Marks, in an effort to bring the assurance framework to more markets.

Producers of these metals are able to use the Copper Mark assurance framework to achieve their respective “Mark”, thereby signaling their leadership in sustainability and responsible production practices, the Copper Mark explained.

The main objective of the pilot is to test the implementation of the Copper Mark assurance framework for nickel, zinc and molybdenum producers. In particular, it aims to better understand the application of the multi-metal approach for single and multi-metal producers and the extent to which the multi-metal approach supports participants’ ability to meet upcoming regulatory requirements and market expectations.

The pilot is the result of a deepening collaboration between the Copper Mark, the International Molybdenum Association (IMOA), the Nickel Institute (NI), and the International Zinc Association (IZA) to promote sustainable and responsible production and sourcing practices within the copper, molybdenum, nickel and zinc value chains.

The pilot will run from November 2022 to July 2023 and will include the independent third-party site assessment of the participating sites against the Copper Mark Responsible Production Criteria, the Risk Readiness Assessment. The site may receive the Molybdenum Mark, Nickel Mark and/or Zinc Mark if the independent assessment confirms all criteria are fully or partially met. A full launch for producers of molybdenum, nickel, and zinc is planned for 2023, the Copper Mark says.

The collaboration makes use of existing standards and systems. The four organisations are not establishing any new standards. Participation in the pilot is voluntary and is open to any site involved in the extraction, processing, treatment, mixing, recycling, handling, or otherwise manipulating of products containing molybdenum, nickel, or zinc mined ore, metals, chemicals, alloys or other materials.

Michèle Brülhart, Executive Director of the Copper Mark, said: “I am excited to welcome molybdenum, nickel and zinc producers to the Copper Mark assurance framework. It is widely acknowledged that the world will require more metals and minerals in the coming decades to drive the energy transition and other sustainable applications, but it is critical that those metals and minerals be produced and sourced responsibly. This collaboration further increases the percentage of responsibly produced copper, nickel, molybdenum, and zinc available to society.”

Eva Model, Secretary-General of IMOA said: “Demonstrating responsible sourcing across the supply chain is now a necessity in our modern world. IMOA is delighted to be participating in this important pilot. It offers our molybdenum-producing members the opportunity to access a credible assurance framework with an already globally established set of criteria that can be readily adapted to the molybdenum supply chain. We look forward to working with Copper Mark, and our members to ensure the smooth delivery of the pilot.”

Hudson Bates, President of NI said: “The pilot is an important step towards our goal of providing multi-metal producers with a common framework to efficiently assess and report their sustainable production and sourcing performance across their various value chains.”

Andrew Green, Executive Director of IZA said: “The pilot implementation of this assurance framework represents our commitment to enable transparent reporting and best practices for responsible sourcing across the zinc value chain. The close collaboration between partners ensures that our members can expect harmonised.”