The London Metal Exchange (LME) has announced the addition of artisanal mining to green register. This was done through the launch of LMEpassport which aims to clean up global supply chains and de-list illegal brands.
Georgina Hallett, LME chief sustainability officer announced that the register will allow small scale miners to store sustainability credentials, such as carbon footprints and social impacts, plus other characteristics like purity, for metals trading on its platform.
LME standards
“LMEpassport will now also include standards regarding artisanal mining, which is an important source of income for about 150 million people worldwide. Artisanal mining is happening and excluding it from the legitimate supply chain isn’t helpful for those people. If we can provide proper due diligence, robust processes, we can genuinely improve things,” said Georgina Hallett.
The LME standards will currently focus on the Democratic Republic of Congo, which accounts for the bulk of global cobalt output, of which up to 35% is mined by small-scale miners, according to industry group the Cobalt Institute. There are also plans to achieve net-zero emissions for its own operations by 2040. The exchange will develop a full reduction target and roadmap, which will be submitted to a third party for validation within 24 months.