2012 PDAC Environmental & Social Responsibility Award – Mining Association of Canada’s Towards Sustainable Mining Program

(L to R) Pierre Gratton, President and CEO Mining Association of Canada; Ross Gallinger, Executive Director of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada

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Environmental & Social Responsibility Award

This award honours an individual or organization demonstrating outstanding initiative, leadership and accomplishment in protecting and preserving the natural environment and/or in establishing good community relations during an exploration program or operation of a mine.

This award recognizes Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM), a stewardship program developed by the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) that aims to improve the mining industry’s overall performance by aligning its actions with the priorities and values of Canadians.

The program was created in 2004 to help mining companies evaluate the quality, comprehensiveness, and robustness of their management systems under several performance elements (tailings management; energy use and greenhouse gas emissions management; aboriginal and community outreach; crisis management planning; biodiversity conservation management; and safety and health). Participation in TSM is a condition of membership in MAC.

It requires members to subscribe to a set of guiding principles that are backed by specific performance indicators against which member companies must report annually. These reported results are externally verified every three years. A community of interest advisory panel provides feedback to MAC on the implementation, reception, and use of TSM performance indicators.

TSM has been recognized as one of the best industry association sustainability initiatives in the world, receiving the Globe Award for Environmental Excellence in 2005. Since that time, independent studies by Five Winds (2008) and the Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (2009) have both ranked TSM as ‘best in class.’