| Full Name | International Cyanide Management Code For The Manufacture, Transport and Use of Cyanide In The Production of Gold |
|---|---|
| Established | 2002 |
| Number of Signatories | 106 (as of Dec. 20, 2011) |
| Number of Certified Operators | 130 |
| Number of Countries with Certified Operations | 46 |
| Headquarters | Washington, DC |
| Website | http://www.cyanidecode.org/ |
Contents |
The “International Cyanide Management Code For The Manufacture, Transport and Use of Cyanide In The Production of Gold,” commonly referred to as the “Cyanide Code” (or simply “Code”) is a voluntary program designed to assist the global gold mining industry and the producers and transporters of cyanide used in gold mining in improving cyanide management practices, and to publicly demonstrate their compliance with the Code through an independent and transparent process. The Code is intended to reduce the potential exposure of workers and communities to harmful concentrations of cyanide‚ to limit releases of cyanide to the environment‚ and to enhance response actions in the event of an exposure or release.
Cyanide, a highly toxic chemical, has been the most widely used reagent for extracting gold from ore for the past century.[1] The Cyanide Code grew out of the first-of-its-kind workshop of multi-stakeholders held in Paris in May, 2000 convened to consider developing a code of best practice for the use of cyanide in gold mining in response to a tailings spill from the Aural Mine at Baia Mare in Romania[2] in January 2000. The meeting was co-hosted by The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)[3] and the International Council on Metals and the Environment, (now the International Council on Mining and Metals). Workshop participants were almost 40 representatives of such diverse organizations as the Worldwide Fund for Nature, the Mineral Policy Center (now Earthworks), the Sierra Club, and the World Gold Council, along with representation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the governments of Australia, France, Hungary, Romania, and the world’s leading gold producers and cyanide producers.[4]
As a result of the workshop, a multi-stakeholder steering committee was established to oversee development of a code of best practice for the management of cyanide used for gold recovery. The committee met five times over a 13-month period month period starting in late 2000, and each successive draft of the best practice document it produced was made available to the public on the UNEP web site with an open invitation for comments. The committee also solicited comments directly from 140 groups and individuals, including governments, NGOs, academics, consultants, industry, and financial institutions, and received 68 written responses and 15 stakeholder presentations at its meetings. In early 2002, the committee completed the International Cyanide Management Code for The Manufacture, Transport and Use of Cyanide In The Production of Gold.
As conceived by the steering committee, the Code was more than a guide to best management practices for the use of cyanide in the production of gold. The Code also addressed the safe manufacture and transport of the cyanide used in the gold industry. Further, although the program is voluntary, the Code includes a process by which its implementation at gold mines and other facilities is verified by independent third-party professional auditors and audit results are made available to the public. The International Cyanide Management Institute (ICMI) was established in 2003 to oversee the Code’s implementation and verification, and by 2005, the administrative procedures, audit protocols and guidance documents necessary for full program implementation had been developed.
1. PRODUCTION Encourage responsible cyanide manufacturing by purchasing from manufacturers who operate in a safe and environmentally protective manner.
Standard of Practice
1.1 Purchase cyanide from manufacturers employing appropriate practices and procedures to limit exposure of their workforce to cyanide and to prevent releases of cyanide to the environment.
2. TRANSPORTATION Protect communities and the environment during cyanide transport.
Standards of Practice
2.1 Establish clear lines of responsibility for safety, security, release prevention, training and emergency response in written agreements with producers, distributors and transporters.
2.2 Require that cyanide transporters implement appropriate emergency response plans and capabilities, and employ adequate measures for cyanide management.
3. HANDLING AND STORAGE Protect workers and the environment during cyanide handling and storage.
Standards of Practice
3.1 Design and construct unloading, storage and mixing facilities consistent with sound, accepted engineering practices and quality control and quality assurance procedures, spill prevention and spill containment measures.
3.2 Operate unloading, storage and mixing facilities using inspections, preventive maintenance and contingency plans to prevent or contain releases and control and respond to worker exposures.
4. OPERATIONS Manage cyanide process solutions and waste streams to protect human health and the environment.
Standards of Practice
4.1 Implement management and operating systems designed to protect human health and the environment including contingency planning and inspection and preventive maintenance procedures.
4.2 Introduce management and operating systems to minimize cyanide use, thereby limiting concentrations of cyanide in mill tailings.
4.3 Implement a comprehensive water management program to protect against unintentional releases.
4.4 Implement measures to protect birds, other wildlife and livestock from adverse effects of cyanide process solutions.
4.5 Implement measures to protect fish and wildlife from direct and indirect discharges of cyanide process solutions to surface water.
4.6 Implement measures designed to manage seepage from cyanide facilities to protect the beneficial uses of ground water.
4.7 Provide spill prevention or containment measures for process tanks and pipelines.
4.8 Implement quality control/quality assurance procedures to confirm that cyanide facilities are constructed according to accepted engineering standards and specifications.
4.9 Implement monitoring programs to evaluate the effects of cyanide use on wildlife, surface and ground water quality.
5. DECOMMISSIONING Protect communities and the environment from cyanide through development and implementation of decommissioning plans for cyanide facilities.
Standards of Practice
5.1 Plan and implement procedures for effective decommissioning of cyanide facilities to protect human health, wildlife and livestock.
5.2 Establish an assurance mechanism capable of fully funding cyanide-related decommissioning activities.
6. WORKER SAFETY Protect workers’ health and safety from exposure to cyanide.
Standards of Practice
6.1 Identify potential cyanide exposure scenarios and take measures as necessary to eliminate, reduce and control them.
6.2 Operate and monitor cyanide facilities to protect worker health and safety and periodically evaluate the effectiveness of health and safety measures.
6.3 Develop and implement emergency response plans and procedures to respond to worker exposure to cyanide.
7. EMERGENCY RESPONSE Protect communities and the environment through the development of emergency response strategies and capabilities.
Standards of Practice
7.1 Prepare detailed emergency response plans for potential cyanide releases.
7.2 Involve site personnel and stakeholders in the planning process.
7.3 Designate appropriate personnel and commit necessary equipment and resources for emergency response.
7.4 Develop procedures for internal and external emergency notification and reporting.
7.5 Incorporate into response plans monitoring elements and remediation measures that account for the additional hazards of using cyanide treatment chemicals.
7.6 Periodically evaluate response procedures and capabilities and revise them as needed.
8. TRAINING Train workers and emergency response personnel to manage cyanide in a safe and environmentally protective manner.
Standards of Practice
8.1 Train workers to understand the hazards associated with cyanide use.
8.2 Train appropriate personnel to operate the facility according to systems and procedures that protect human health, the community and the environment.
8.3 Train appropriate workers and personnel to respond to worker exposures and environmental releases of cyanide.
9. DIALOGUE Engage in public consultation and disclosure.
Standards of Practice
9.1 Provide stakeholders the opportunity to communicate issues of concern.
9.2 Initiate dialogue describing cyanide management procedures and responsively address identified concerns.
9.3 Make appropriate operational and environmental information regarding cyanide available to stakeholders.
The Code’s Principles and Standards of Practice are supported by extensive additional documentation including Implementation Guidance, Verification Protocols and Auditor Guidance for Gold Mining Operations and Cyanide Transportation. These and other Code documents are available at www.cyanidecode.org.
The Code is a resource for any gold mine, cyanide producer or cyanide transporter regarding best practices for cyanide management. A company that becomes a signatory to the Code commits to implement its Principles and Standards of Practice at its operations and to demonstrate compliance by having their facilities audited against the Code’s Verification Protocols.
The first 14 Code signatory companies were announced in November 2005. As of December 20, 2011 the Code had 106 signatory companies, with operations in 46 countries. These include 32 gold mining companies with 130 operations in 36 countries, 14 cyanide producers operating 20 facilities in 13 countries, and 60 cyanide transporters representing 92 operations in 33 countries.[6]
Gold mines, cyanide production facilities, and cyanide transport operations owned by Code signatory companies are certified through a transparent process[7] using independent third-party professional auditors and technical experts meeting requirements established by ICMI for experience and expertise. The initial audit must be conducted within three years of the facility’s owner becoming a signatory, and audits to evaluate continuing compliance are conducted on a three-year interval. Operations are certified in compliance with the Code based on the auditors’ findings, and a summary of the audit results, as well as the credentials of the auditors, are made available to the public on the Code web site.
As of December 20, 2011, 162 operations had been certified in compliance with the Code, including 85 gold mines, 17 cyanide production facilities and 60 cyanide transporters. Forty-six of these had been audited a second time and been found to have maintained compliance over the first three-year audit cycle.[8]
The Code has been recognized by the Group of Eight (“G8”) as one of several certification systems that are suitable instruments for “increasing transparency and good governance in the extraction and processing of mineral raw materials.” The G8 is an international forum for the governments of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Article 85 of the G8’s Summit Declaration, issued during its 2007 annual meeting, states the following:
“Certification systems can be a suitable instrument in appropriate cases for increasing transparency and good governance in the extraction and processing of mineral raw materials and to reduce environmental impacts, support the compliance with minimum social standards and resolutely counter illegal resource extraction. Therefore, we reaffirm our support for existing initiatives such as … the International Cyanide Management Code, and encourage the adaptation of the respective principles of corporate social responsibility by those involved in the extraction and processing of mineral resources,”[9]
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a part of the World Bank that provides funding for mining projects, applies the Code in lieu of its own requirements in its Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Guidelines for Mining. As a condition of its loans, IFC EHS Guidelines call on mines to use cyanide in a manner “consistent with the principles and standards of practice of the International Cyanide Management Code.”[10] The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development requires Code compliance in their loan agreements to gold mines[11] or otherwise encourage projects they fund that use cyanide to comply with the Code.
Environment Canada’s “Environmental Code of Practice for Metal Mines” cites the Code as the guide for the environmentally responsible management of cyanide used in the production of both gold and base metals, and recommends that cyanide management planning and the transportation, storage, use and disposal of cyanide and cyanide-related materials be done “in a manner consistent with practices described in the International Cyanide Management Code.”[12]
The Australian National Industrial Chemicals’ Notification and Assessment Scheme’s 2010 evaluation of the risks posed by sodium cyanide characterizes the Code as “an excellent initiative to lift international standards and demonstrate the environmental commitment of an operator.”[13]
According to Benchmark Study of Environmental and Social Standards in Industrialised Precious Metals Mining[14] produced by Solidaridad,[15] an international network organization with more than 20 years of experience in creating fair and sustainable supply chains from producer to consumer the Code offers “a good level of transparency as all of the Code’s implementing documents are available to the public on the ICMI website.” The Study also noted the Code offers “rigorous and transparent verification of compliance, that there is “respect for the Code by operational staff and excellent emergency procedures.”
The Code also has been endorsed by the Chief Inspector of Mines in South Africa.[16]
ICMI Official Website
Earthworks
United Nations Environment Programme