As was expected, the recently initiated Consolidated Mining Standard Initiative (CMSI) has stimulated discussion across Africa’s mining fraternity, reports consulting engineering and scientific research firm SRK Consulting Congo chairperson Dominique Sambwa.

Currently under development, the CMSI aims to unify the strongest elements of four leading frameworks into a consolidated global standard, governed by an independent shared board drawn from a variety of stakeholders.

The frameworks include The Copper Mark, the Mining Association of Canada’s Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) initiative, the World Gold Council’s Responsible Gold Mining Principles and the ICMM’s Mining Principles.

The intention of the frameworks, explains Sambwa, is to arrive at one global standard that reduces complexity and clarifies responsible practices for mining companies of all sizes and across all locations and commodities.

In this vein, he says miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are responding to the fast-evolving environmental, social and governance (ESG) landscape by developing localised legislation, having moved quite quickly from a State-controlled mining industry to one that encourages private investment.

At the same time, larger global companies operating in the DRC have been driving global standards and the prospect of a consolidated mining standard in the future is raising considerable interest, says Sambwa.

“In preparation for the new consolidated standard, SRK has been actively engaging in the CMSI consultation process, including the workshops that are being regularly held,” he explains.

SRK will therefore be ready when its clients are, to help them make the transition.

In ensuring SRK understands the themes and linkages to the new unified standard, Sambwa says the firm has been involved in all the existing mining standards that are in effect globally.

Preparing the Way

The new standard will be applied at facility level rather than corporate level, enabling companies to start the enrolment process with just one of their facilities, says SRK China ESG and land contamination principal consultant Anne Gimonet.

The standard’s granular approach, with a three-tier performance structure, facilitates entry at a basic level, with gradual movement towards the higher levels.

“The compliance process is also streamlined by the use of an equivalency assessment for companies who are already certified with the TSM or Copper Mark, for example,” she explains, adding that this makes it possible to recognise the progress that companies have achieved to date, so they do not have to start from scratch.

Gimonet also highlights the steady movement towards greater transparency in ESG disclosure in many countries, including China. In 2024 alone, she says there were two “groundbreaking shifts” affecting Chinese listed companies.

The country’s three major stock exchanges announced new sustainability reporting guidelines on topics such as carbon emissions and pollution control; these will kick in as early as 2026.

More recently, Gimonet says China released a new set of reporting standards for general industry, including mining, for compliance by 2030.

“The major listed mining companies in China are therefore alive to the evolving ESG requirements and standards, and are preparing to comply with these,” says Gimonet, adding that these national standards are being aligned to international benchmarks in the mining sector.

While it may be early days for many mining companies’ engagement with the CMSI itself, she emphasises that Chinese clients operating in countries like the DRC are interested in the new Australasian Joint Ore Reserves Committee Code of 2025, especially pertaining to its ESG component.

This code regulates how exploration results, mineral resources and ore reserves are publicly reported in the mining industry. A revised version is expected to be finalised and implemented this year.

Constantly Evolving Standards

Standards in mining are constantly evolving, whether they relate to tailings management, ESG or resource and reserve reporting, says SRK South Africa chairperson and global Africa lead Vis Reddy.

“Mining companies therefore have to be regularly revisiting their policies and systems and growing their capabilities as the bar is raised further,” he says.

Meanwhile, the presence of many China-based mining companies in the DRC has resulted in concerted collaboration between SRK teams in China, the DRC and South Africa since 2022, thereby helping Chinese clients to comply with local legislation and global standards.

SRK Beijing principal geologist Frank Li travels extensively to the DRC as part of this collaboration, explaining that SRK’s role in the DRC has expanded well beyond the company’s technical services and into international standards compliance.

“Many of our clients find themselves in a situation where their financiers want them to comply with one standard, while their supply chain might prefer another,” he says.

The work of the CMSI, Li says, is therefore an “exciting development”, as many companies would favour a more streamlined focus on a single set of requirements.

He adds that SRK is fully supportive of this direction and is engaging closely with the process of developing the CMSI to ensure that the firm is fully up to date with this new standard.