As part of this, our Company took part in the independent assessment of the association’s “Responsible Mining” programme and scored 93.28 per cent.

The independent assessment was carried out by a three-person independent assessment team of the “Responsible Mining” programme, trained and certified by the MNMA with funding from the AMEP2 programme of the governments of Australia and Mongolia. Implementation was assessed against 84 criteria within the programme’s 5 areas and 29 requirements, and the independent assessment report was then handed over to us.

In preparing the assessment, the team met the Company’s relevant officers as well as the Governor of Tsogttsetsii soum, the management of the kindergarten and school, representatives of local non-governmental organisations and of residents and herders in the impact area, and also reviewed and checked 21 sets of policy documents in force across the Company. The audit assessment will next be discussed and confirmed by the Multi-Stakeholder Council to be established under the MNMA, which will determine the responsible mining rating.

This independent audit will be carried out for each of the 37 companies that have signed up to the “Responsible Mining Code”. This is a major step towards embedding responsible mining across the minerals sector.