Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM)

The ASM sector is largely unmechanised and informal, presenting significant health, safety, and human rights risks, including the participation of children and the use of forced labour. However, ASM can be an important source of employment, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where millions of people depend on it for their livelihoods. 

Due to the link between child labour and ASM, we do not use ASM material in our industrial operations. We support efforts to establish greater transparency in the value chain and undertake third-party assurance of our responsible sourcing approach under the Responsible Minerals Initiative’ Responsible Minerals Assurance Process. 

In countries where ASM is formalised and legitimate, we verify whether the minerals or metals come from ASM, and where this is the case, we may undertake enhanced due diligence or cross-check suppliers against third-party assurance programmes , as part of our effort to identify and mitigate  risks present. We seek to develop a risk mitigation approach with the producers and monitor implementation.

We believe that addressing the issues associated with informal ASM requires a multi-stakeholder approach, and we participate in programmes to develop frameworks and standards that support responsible ASM. 

Historically, ASM in the DRC has been associated with significant challenges, such as child labour and illegal intrusions onto active industrial mining sites – including our own – and continues to present risks to both our people and communities. Despite these challenges, ASM is a source of significant employment within the DRC.

Cobalt ASM is particularly prevalent near our industrial, large-scale, mining operations in the DRC and noting the informal nature of ASM in the DRC and likelihood of significant human rights risks, we do not source cobalt from artisanal and small-scale mines in the DRC due to the prevalence of these risks. 

We engage on the issue of ASM with the communities living around our businesses, as well as with the DRC government, the OECD, civil society and other key stakeholders, including our customers. As part of this engagement, we are exploring how ASM and large-scale mining can sustainably co-exist as distinct yet complementary sectors of a successful mining industry. We believe that legitimate ASM can play an important and sustainable role in the DRC economy when carried out responsibly and transparently.

As part of our coexistence with ASM in the region, there is a need to manage the possible challenges that arise. One such challenge is the intrusion of artisanal miners onto our active operations, which causes safety risks for the artisanal miners, as well as for our workers and operations. We address this challenge through our security approach, which seeks to safeguard human rights.

We support international initiatives and forums aimed at developing a responsible ASM cobalt sector in the DRC. We are a founding member and an active participant in the Fair Cobalt Alliance, which brings together supply chain actors, civil society and other relevant stakeholders to drive the development of fair cobalt in a range of ways: by supporting the professionalisation of ASM site management to make mines safer, by minimising environmental impact, and by creating dignified working conditions for men and women working at the mines. For more information, see the Fair Cobalt Alliance website.

We are committed to working with our local communities and other stakeholders in the DRC to address the endemic poverty in this region that is an underlying cause of ASM. We support various community projects to address local factors that underpin issues in the ASM sector such as child labour. These include supporting children’s education and providing equipment and finance to encourage alternative livelihoods. 

Our Kamoto Copper Company S.A. (KCC) implements projects that employ ex-ASM miners, such as drain-clearing and woodworking.