The Year So Far: Mining Shared Value in 2024
Mining Shared Value (MSV) is an Engineers without Borders Canada initiative and a sustainability and transparency framework to help the global mining sector, especially in developing countries. The MSV Team has been all over the world, revolutionizing the mining industry this year.
In February, MSV launched the new Global Reporting Initiative Mining Sector Standard. EWB’s very own Jeff Geipel was part of the multistakeholder working group that advised and supported the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Secretariat to create the standard. With the report, MSV was successful in strengthening how local procurement is included as a topic in the standard.
GRI sets the bar high for what topics mining companies should disclose information, driving better performance in sustainability.
This March, MSV partook in a diagnosis study with Cluster Minero Andino (SAMMI) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) that aimed to identify the current status of information sharing from mining companies to local suppliers. From procurement portals to stakeholder interviews, MSV collaborated to uncover insights to enhance information sharing and boost communication dynamics used by companies and other relevant information that suppliers might need to make competitive offers in the procurement process.
The document of the study has been featured in many news articles! Congratulations to Mining Shared Value for their success on policies on local procurement and their collaborative efforts to drive positive change in the industry!
Also in March, the Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan Local Procurement Checklist to Support Indigenous Procurement in Mining and accompanying Community Guidance became available!
Launched during Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada’s Convention on Mineral Exploration & Mining (PDAC2024), our own Mining Shared Value (MSV) team wrote the checklist with the support of Indigenous consultancy Mokwateh, and funding from Natural Resources Canada. The checklist provides guidance to mining companies to better engage with and support Indigenous-owned businesses to competitively supply goods and services to the sector.
The checklist aims to help mining and exploration companies implement strategies that support Indigenous-owned business and support economic opportunities for Indigenous entrepreneurs and communities to provide more goods and services. The Community Guidance is aimed at Indigenous communities, showing them the best practices that they should expect from mining companies, providing them with questions to use in their engagement.
MSV is also grateful for invaluable input from Tara Shea and the Mining Association of Canada Indigenous Affairs Committee. Find more information on this and additional resources on the CMMP website!
Then, the MSV Team launched their Local Procurement Community of Practice, a LinkedIn Group replacing the Extractives-led Local Economic Diversification Community of Practice (ELLED CoP) that they managed alongside The World Bank! The group was focused specifically on mining sector local procurement.
MSV’s aspirational work continues into April, as the MSV team’s Gabriel Vásquez presented on local procurement and their work promoting local procurement in the mining sector at MinExpo Colombia 2024, held in Medellín and organized by the Colombian Mining Association.
Mining Shared Value’s 2024 so far has been dedicated to enhancing mining’s positive impacts through local procurement advocacy, disseminating research and tools, working directly with mining companies and local suppliers/vendors while also collaborating with global entities. MSV will continue to fill knowledge gaps with resources and standard procurement disclosures to aim for a more inclusive world.
Congratulations to all of MSV’s work and keep up with MSV’s work on LinkedIn.
