Saying it all

Comment

In mid-July the US government took its first official action to increase the levels of transparency in the minerals industry.

The government announced two news Acts that highlight its commitment to global transparency. First, the US now requires all energy and mining companies to reveal payments to foreign governments in their Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Second, the US has moved to restrict the trade in conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and neighbouring countries (a PDF of the legislation is available at www.mining-journal.com/read-more).

The movement to improve transparency and reduce the misuse of funds generated from mineral extraction is gaining pace, and the US administration is calling for other governments to follow its lead.

But these issues and the attempts to address them are nothing new. The mining industry and non-government organisations have been working together for some time to address both transparency and conflict minerals.

Groups such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Publish what you Pay, the Kimberley Process, and the Responsible Jewellery Council, are already holding the industry and governments to account.

While the recent legislation in the US is commendable, governments are a little behind the curve in taking action.

Both of these items of legislation also call for companies to bare all and to be fully transparent in their actions, yet the Acts themselves were stealthily slipped into a law on fiscal regulations.

More could have been made of these issues if the US had addressed the legislation in their own separate Acts.