Consulting engineering and scientist firm SRK Consulting has noticed that more attention is being paid to enforcing regulatory compliance in mining across the African countries in which it operates.
Consequently, it is expected that countries will heavily rely on independent and qualified third parties to verify data and reporting for compliance purposes, explains SRK Consulting MD Vis Reddy.
Mining companies in Africa must focus more closely on their compliance and due diligence matters, as governments take a stricter approach to enforcement.
“There is also an ongoing shift towards responsible mining as a guiding principle, which encompasses responsible sourcing. There is a focus on mines sourcing more services and products [in the country in which they are based], while customers want assurance that the mining supply chain is ethical and sustainable,” says SRK Consulting partner and principal environmental, social and corporate governance scientist Wouter Jordaan.
Meanwhile, governments need to trust the figures that mining companies publish about the extent and nature of their resources and reserves, production and extraction levels, and their costs and revenues, says director and principal consultant Andrew van Zyl.
Read the full article in Mining Weekly
