Transparency gap in mining persists as demand for critical materials accelerates

Transparency gap in mining persists as demand for critical materials accelerates

The mining sector continues to fall short on transparency.

The 2025 edition of the Responsible Mining Index (RMI+) report reveals that, despite mounting global demand for minerals and metals essential to the energy transition, the mining sector continues to lag behind in transparency and disclosure of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices.

The report assesses 25 of the world’s largest mining companies, analysing the extent to which they publicly disclose their ESG policies, practices and performance. It shows that while reporting on commitments has increased, actual disclosure of the efforts to operationalise those commitments and the efficacy of such measures lags behind, leading to a commitment-effectiveness gap in the transparency in reporting of practices.

This raises questions about the sector’s readiness to manage the social and environmental impact of rapidly expanding extraction activities.

Marginal Sector-Wide Progress, with Room for Improvement

Among the 22 companies assessed both in 2022 and 2025, the average performance has improved by only 3.7%. This limited progress suggests a tapering off in the sector’s efforts to strengthen ESG transparency. Nevertheless, some companies have demonstrated notable improvements, including third-party certification, enhanced human rights due diligence systems, and progress on gender balance in leadership roles.

The average overall score across all 25 companies stands at 30% of the total possible points in the scoring framework across the six thematic areas. However, the sector collectively demonstrates significantly higher potential: if all companies adopted the strongest practices demonstrated by their peers, a company could achieve a score of 75%. This persistent gap between individual company performance and the collective best score points to a continued underutilization of peer learning and good practice adoption.

Transparency Deficit Raises Questions Amid Critical Mineral Demand

As the global push for clean energy technologies accelerates, the mining sector is under pressure to meet demand for critical raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper. However, due to insufficient transparency, the report raises concerns about the sector’s readiness to prevent environmental harm and social conflict.

While many companies make overarching sustainability commitments, few provide sufficient evidence of how these are translated into action. Without robust and publicly accessible ESG information, efforts to prevent and mitigate the negative impacts of mining on communities and ecosystems remain difficult to verify.

One area of concern is biodiversity. The results show a decrease in average disclosure scores for biodiversity-related indicators—from 22% in the previous assessment to 15% in 2025—indicating a regression in transparency. This decline is linked to limited reporting on mine rehabilitation, insufficient information on actions to reduce impacts of water quality, and lack of systematic approaches to ecosystem protection.

Peer Networks Linked to Higher ESG Performance

The 2025 RMI+ report also explores the relationship between industry group membership and ESG outcomes. Thirteen of the twenty-five assessed companies are members of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM). On average, ICMM members scored 36.5% versus 23.6% for non-members. Eight of the top ten scoring companies are ICMM members, indicating that peer networks and shared standards may help drive stronger performance.

Still, variability within the ICMM group remains high: scores range from 22% to 58%, suggesting that while membership is associated with better results, transparency on company commitment and implementation remains a common challenge amongst the companies assessed.

Mine-Site Level Engagement Reveals Discrepancies Between Corporate Disclosure and Community Perceptions.

A complementary RMI+ Report ‘Stakeholder Engagement Dialogue – Mine Sites in Zimbabwe and Peru’, presents findings from stakeholder engagement activities carried out at two mine sites, in Peru and Zimbabwe. Conducted by trusted local facilitators, the initiative gathered community perspectives on ESG issues related to the mining operations in their vicinity.

The results point to discrepancies between the transparency and scope of ESG commitments made by companies at the corporate level and how these are perceived or experienced by local stakeholders on the ground. While some companies have internal sustainability teams that engage with local communities, the outcomes of these dialogues are rarely made public, limiting opportunities for independent assessment and peer learning.

The report underscores the importance of incorporating mine site-level perspectives into broader ESG evaluations and calls for greater transparency in how companies manage local engagement processes. Strengthening these practices is essential to improving trust and enhancing the social license to operate.

About the 2025 RMI+ Report

The RMI+ is an evidence-based assessment that evaluates the extent to which large-scale mining companies publicly disclose policies and practices related to ESG issues. It is designed to support greater accountability, enable constructive dialogue among stakeholders, and highlight areas for improvement across the sector. The current report, produced by the World Resources Forum Association, builds on previous RMI assessments by the Responsible Mining Foundation and expands the depth and granularity of the indicators used.

Based on public data, the report assesses 25 companies across 6 thematic areas, covering economic development, business conduct, project lifecycle management, community wellbeing, working conditions and environmental responsibility.

The RMI+ Report 2025 is funded by the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ) and the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN).

Transparency gap in mining persists as demand for critical materials accelerates