Hand in hand with our local communities and organisations, we forge a path of reciprocity, empowering people and harnessing the expertise on the ground.
Our sense of responsibility.
At Iridis we recognise that the road towards truly responsible gemstone mining is long and challenging. There is much to be done. We see the challenge as an opportunity for us to set a positive example that others will choose to follow.
Our goal is to establish the Iridis tourmaline mine as an industry leader in this respect, to show what can be achieved by working in partnership with local stakeholders, providing rewarding careers, supporting communities, safeguarding resources and nurturing the environment. In the long term we intend to add more value to the area than we extract in tourmaline.
With these ambitions in mind, we have identified the Standard for Responsible Mining, a comprehensive set of guidelines developed by the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA), as the global benchmark for best practice.
We are using IRMA’s Standard to guide our approach to environmental, social and governance policies, and intend to have an IRMA-approved auditor independently assess our operation against the Standard. We will apply the same approach at any other mines we acquire in the years ahead, wherever they may be.
Right images from top to bottom: Natan Nyowgai, Dorothy Kabunda.
Education and Community.
We are currently exploring a partnership with Shine Zambia with a view to implementing a literacy programme to benefit the local communities near the mine.
Our proposed collaboration will aim to raise literacy levels in the local area, whilst working hand-in-hand with schools to build capacity in local teachers.
Shine Zambia is a local NGO whose vision is a Zambia where every child can read and write. The charity has over 16 years' experience of delivering literacy programmes to orphans and vulnerable children living in poverty and with limited access to education. Shine has taught over 1,000 children how to read since inception.
Culture and Environment.
We aim to implement a social protection scheme in form of a Luano Corporative through village banking.
Being a rural area, there is very little recreation for the community, though there is currently a football league that consists of 9 teams. We will fund and promote local sport through soccer tournaments for youths.
Owing to the nature of our work, implementing responsible mining practices to minimise the environmental impact of extracting from the earth is one of the key drivers towards an environmentally friendly operating community. With the involvement and usage of advanced technologies and processes in our work, our aim is to ensure that there is a reduced waste and pollution, conservation of water and energy, and protection natural habitats and wildlife.
Our focus is reducing harmful practices, such as decreasing pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, the use of single-use plastics, water consumption, and general waste.
We are regulating energy consumption by increasing reliance on renewables or alternative energy solutions, sustainable resources, and recycled or partially recycled materials.
We are offsetting negative environmental impact by planting trees and working with local environmental organisations.