Barbara Strozzilaan 336
1083 HN Amsterdam
The Netherlands
gssbsecretariat@globalreporting.org

1

Item 01 – GRI Sector Standards

2

Project for Mining – Project proposal

3For GSSB approval
Date

3 June 2021

Meeting

17 June 2021

Project

GRI Sector Standards Project for Mining

Description

This document sets out the project proposal to develop a Sector Standard for themining sector, for GSSB discussion and approval. In accordance with the Due
Process Protocol the draft proposal was discussed on the 25 February 2021.
Following that meeting, the project proposal was shared with the GRI Stakeholder
Council and the GRI Board. The reply received from a Stakeholder Council
member is provided in full in Item 02. This document incorporates this feedback,as well as input collected from other stakeholders.
The stakeholders engaged advised to exclude traders from the scope of thesector, since organizations that focus exclusively on trading have very different
activities from the rest of the sector. They also advised to maintain quarrying,warning, however, that quarrying organizations are substantially different in theirsize, attitudes, and strategies from those in mining. Stakeholders noted thatprimary processing of minerals is an integral part of mining, and should beincluded, while agreeing that further metal processing should be the subject of adifferent standard (though the comment from the Stakeholder Council suggested
the opposite).
Two stakeholders suggested that the time allocated for public comment seeminsufficient. Considering that stakeholder engagement takes place continuously,
and not only during the public comment, the Standards Division believes that theproposed timeline is appropriate.
The following changes have been made to this document since the first version:•Traders have been excluded from the scope of the sector.

•A sentence has been introduced to clarify the difference between primaryprocessing of minerals and further stages of processing.

Please note: the development and submission of this project proposal marks theintention for the GRI Sector Standards Project for Mining to be the next project tobe commenced under the GRI Sector Program. The commencement date of thisproject has not yet been confirmed and it is subject to the resource availability.

This document has been prepared by the GRI Standards Division and is made available to observers at meetings of the Global
Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB). It does not represent an official position of the GSSB. Board positions are set out in theGRI Sustainability Reporting Standards. The GSSB is the independent standard setting body of GRI. For more information visit
www.globalreporting.org.

© GRI 2021

4Contents
Project background ................................................................................................................................. 3
Sector overview ....................................................................................................................................... 3
Sustainability impacts .............................................................................................................................. 4
Project objectives .................................................................................................................................... 5
Division of responsibilities ....................................................................................................................... 5
Timeline ................................................................................................................................................... 5

Page 2 of 6

5

Project background67

In February 2019, the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) approved the GRI Sector
Program to improve clarity and consistency in sustainability reporting.

8910Since 2019 pilot projects to produce the first three GRI Sector Standards for oil and gas, coal, andagriculture and fishing have been underway. These Standards are expected to be completed andpublished in 2021 and 2022.

11121314In November 2020, the GSSB approved the list of sectors that will be prioritized to have a GRI Sector
Standard (Sector Standard) developed. Mining was nominated to be next following on from the pilot
projects, because of the high sustainability impact of its activities and because developing the Mining
Sector Standard has synergies with the Oil, Gas and Coal Project.

15

Sector overview

16
17

It is proposed that the Sector Standard for mining will apply to organizations whose primary focus lies
on:

1819

•

Exploration and extraction of all types of minerals, metallic and non-metallic, including
quarrying, with the exception of oil, gas and coal.

20•

Primary processing of minerals.

21•

Support activities to mining, such as transport and storage.

2223

•

Supplying specialized goods and services to mining organizations, such as engineering,procurement and construction (EPC) contractors.

24252627282930

The scope of the Sector Standard for mining is limited to extractive activities and the processing
stages that are closely associated with the extraction. Further processing, such as steel makers andmetal recyclers will be subject of another Sector Standard. While some organizations are integrated
along the value chain and perform both extraction and processing, and metals and mining are often
considered together, the sustainability impacts of the extraction and processing stages aresubstantially different and warrant separate Sector Standards. Dividing the value chain between
extraction and processing was also the approach taken for the oil and gas sector.

31
32
33

Quarrying will be included in the scope of this Sector Standard as it has similar sustainability impacts
to non-metallic mining, particularly in terms of environmental impacts in and around their extraction
sites.

34
35

Following learnings from the pilot projects, the proposed sector includes dedicated suppliers to themining sector and some ancillary activities like transport and storage of minerals.

36

It is proposed that the Sector Standard is titled ‘GRI 14: Mining Sector 20XX’.

37
38

The scope and name of this standard may deviate from this proposal following recommendations fromthe Mining Working Group.

3940
41
42

Table 1 lists the relevant classifications from external classification standards, specifically the GlobalIndustry Classification System (GICS ®), Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB), International
Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC), Industry Classification Benchmark(ICB), and SICS Sustainable Industry Classification System® (SICS®)1.

4344

Table 1: Proposed sector key for the mining sector project1 Sustainable Industry Classification System®or SICS®is the classification system of SASB.

Page 3 of 6

Classification
StandardGICS®

Classification No.

Classification Name

151040

Metals and Mining, with the exclusion of themanufacturers of aluminum and steel, and metal
recycling

ICB

551020000

General Mining

551020000

Copper55102050

Nonferrous Metals

55103020

Diamonds and Gemstones

55103025

Gold Mining

55103030

Platinum and Precious Metals

07

Mining of metal ores

08

Other mining and quarrying

099

Support activities for other mining and quarrying

EM-3

Metals and Mining, with the exclusion of themanufacturers of aluminum and steel, and metal
recycling

ISICSICS®

45

Sustainability impacts

46474849

The key criterion for prioritizing sectors is their sustainability impacts. This takes into account thesignificance of the sector’s impacts, considering their scale, scope, character and likelihood. It also
considers the size of the sector, the sector’s distribution around the world and the number oforganizations from that sector that are able to use the GRI Standards.

505152

A second criterion for prioritizing a sector is the potential to exploit learnings and synergies from otherSector Standards that have been recently developed. Based on these criteria, mining has been
selected to be the first Sector Standard developed after the pilot projects.

535455Mining organizations have a relatively high rate of reporting. It is the seventh sector by number ofreports registered in GRI Sustainability Disclosure Database, and, during the public consultation on
the GSSB Work Program, undertaken in 2020, it was the most-requested sector to prioritize.

5657
58
5960
61

Mining has a high environmental impact, often concentrated in and around extraction sites. Because
many mines are in remote locations, the economic impacts can be significant for local communities
but because mining can also require exclusive access to large areas and the influx of large
workforces, social impacts can also be severe. Some mines are in conflict areas where there is a highrisk of human rights abuses; in other cases, there is conflict with, or effects on, indigenous peoples’
rights.

62636465

Minerals produced by this sector are fundamental for large parts of the economy; other large sectors
can be linked to sustainability impacts that can be traced back to mining. In many low-income
economies mining is a key sector, responsible for a high share of production, exports, andgovernment revenues.

66676869
70

These impacts are provided to give a first indication of the scope of issues covered by the proposed
project. However, the issues recommended for inclusion within a Sector Standards for the mining
sector will be determined by a multi-stakeholder process in accordance with the Due Process Protocol
and may diverge from those contained within this project proposal.

Page 4 of 6

71

Project objectives

72
73

The primary objective of this project is to develop a Sector Standard that improves the sustainability
reporting of mining2 organizations, making reporting more complete and consistent across the sector.

74

This Sector Standard will:

75
76

•

Identify and describe the topics that are likely material for a reporting organization in themining sector based on the sector’s most significant impacts.

77
78

•

Provide evidence and authoritative references for these topics to assist organizations toidentify if they are material for them.

79•

Identify and list relevant disclosures for reporting on those topics.

80
81

Following the rollout of the revised GRI Universal Standards, organizations in the mining sector thatwant to report in accordance with GRI Standards will be required to use this Sector Standard.

82

Recommendations may also be made by the Mining Working Group regarding:

83•The scope, key and name of the Sector Standard.

84•Considerations that may be relevant to Sector Standards for related sectors.

85•Revisions or updates to other GRI Standards.

86
87

Impacts identified within this project for which no GRI Standard exists will be assessed and prioritizedby the GSSB for future GRI Standards development.

88

Division of responsibilities

89
90
91
929394
95
96
97

A multi-stakeholder working group will be formed to contribute to identifying the most significant
impacts for the mining sector and give recommendations on the development of the Sector Standard.
The Standards Division will draft the Sector Standard, and the GSSB will have oversight and final
approval over the Sector Standard before its release.
The Standards Division will ensure coherence between the Sector Standard for mining and any
Sector Standards approved or under development.
The project will be conducted in accordance with the GSSB Due Process Protocol.

98Timeline

99
100
101

The starting date of this project has not been determined and is subject to resource availability. Table
2, on the following page, outlines the anticipated project duration. The starting date, along with thepredicted dates of other key milestones will be confirmed once known.

2 For the purposes of this project proposal ‘mining’ or ‘mining sector’ refers to the organizations thatfall within the description of the sector included in the Sector overview section.
Page 5 of 6

Barbara Strozzilaan 336
1083 HN Amsterdam
The Netherlands
gssbsecretariat@globalreporting.org
Table 2: Estimated duration of Sector Standards Project for Mining3

102

Project scheduling changes may occur over the course of the project, including extensions to the duration of project due to approval processes or othercircumstances.
3