The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and sister organisations like the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) have published – and are developing more – international consensus standards on responsible business and environmental management, including specific standards relevant to mining, metals and critical materials. These ISO standards are often foundational.
Management systems standards – auditable and certifiable
ISO 14001:2015 Environmental management systems — Requirements with guidance for use. https://www.iso.org/standard/60857.html
- Global reference for environmental management systems
- Widely employed and referenced
ISO 45000:2018 Occupational health and safety management systems — Requirements with guidance for use. https://www.iso.org/standard/63787.html
- Global reference for OHS management systems
- Displaces OHSAS 18001, published in 1999
ISO 50001:2018 Energy management systems — Requirements with guidance for use. https://www.iso.org/standard/69426.html
- Global reference for energy management systems
- Widely employed and referenced
General guidance, frameworks, principles, definitions
ISO 22095:2020 Chain of custody — General terminology and models. https://www.iso.org/standard/72532.html
- Defines chain of custody models and language their language
ISO 26000:2010 Guidance on social responsibility. https://www.iso.org/standard/42546.html
- Cumbersome aspiration and well-intentioned guidance
- Not well used or referenced
IWA 48:2024 Framework for implementing environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles. https://www.iso.org/standard/89240.html
- Appears to replace ISO 26000
ISO/IWA 45 Sustainable critical mineral supply chains. Workshop committee completed in 2024 with a workshop report. The annex worksheet provides a comparative list of standards, guides, frameworks relevant to mining, minerals and metals – and includes 34 initiatives in a sortable Excel matrix. https://standards.iso.org/iso/iwa/45/ed-1/en/
Active committees
ISO/PC 348 Sustainable raw materials. Project committee started in 2023, “to be used for mineral-, raw iron- and non-iron-metals. It is applicable to the full value chain of all raw materials, from extraction (mining) to processing, to refining, to final product manufacturing.”
ISO/TC 345 Specialty metals and minerals. Since 2023, this technical committee (TC) is working on standardization in the field of specialty metals and minerals. Includes: terminology, classification, sampling, testing and chemical analysis methods, and delivery conditions. This TC is adding consideration of traceability to its purview.
CEN/TC 477 Sustainable production of raw materials from mining related activities.
ISO/TC 298 Rare earth. Standardization in the field of rare earth elements including safety and environment.
ISO/TC 333 Lithium. Standardization in the field of lithium.
And there are many more ISO standards on mining, metals and business processes.