Mining Industry Makin' Promises at the UN, But Is It Fr Fr? 🤔⛏️

Spilling the Tea

Okay, so boom! The International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) rolled up to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, flexin' their new guidelines. They're saying their member companies gotta start talkin' to Indigenous people early in the game and respect their rights, especially gettin' that "free, prior, and informed consent" (FPIC). Sounds kinda woke, right?

But here's the kicker: a lot of peeps are callin' cap. They're saying these guidelines ain't matching up with what's actually goin' down on the ground, especially in the US. Like, the Trump administration was straight-up speedrunning a copper mine project in Arizona (Oak Flat), even though the San Carlos Apache Tribe and other tribes are hard against it. And that's just the tip of the iceberg – there were, like, nine other mining projects gettin' the fast-track treatment, mostly in the West. 👀

We're talkin' about the Resolution Copper mine (a collab between BHP and Rio Tinto), the Stibnite Mine in Idaho, and even a lithium mine on Thacker Pass in Nevada – all facing major beef from tribal nations. It's a whole mess, fam.

The Legal Lowdown

The real tea? The laws and policies in the US are kinda weak when it comes to protectin' Indigenous lands and sacred sites. Like, Canada's courts are actually tellin' the government they gotta consult Indigenous communities on projects. Meanwhile, a case challengin' the legality of the Resolution Copper mine is hangin' out in the U.S. Supreme Court, waitin' to see if it violates Apache religious rights. ⚖️

And peep this: the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues did a whole study sayin' that legal frameworks protectin' Indigenous rights are either straight-up absent or super weak when it comes to the whole global energy transition thing. Major yikes.

Voluntary Vibes vs. Reality

So, these organizations like ICMM are pushin' for "voluntary guidelines," but let's be real – they're not legally binding, which means companies can just ignore them if they're feelin' shady. The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) has voluntary mining standards, but at least they get audited by a third party, and the reports are public. That's kinda fire. 🔥

Bottom line? Voluntary mining standards gotta require mines to prove they got FPIC from the Indigenous peoples who are gonna be affected. Otherwise, it's just performative activism.