Rio Tinto site in Utah the first to be awarded Copper Mark

During assessment, Kennecott met over 30 criteria for responsible environmental, governance and social practices.

The Copper Mark is the only such responsible production programme in the copper industry. It was devised by the International Copper Association, with input from a range of industry stakeholders, but is now an independent entity.

The Copper Mark’s Executive Director, Michèle Brülhart, commented on the award: “We congratulate Rio Tinto’s Kennecott site and the leadership they are taking to mine responsibly. We welcome them as our first awarded site.”

The President of the International Copper Association, Tony Lea, added: “The Copper Mark is an important milestone for the global copper industry and reflects stakeholders’ needs for greater transparency. We hope more producers will follow Rio Tinto’s lead and apply for the Copper Mark.”

Rio Tinto’s Chief Executive for Copper and Diamonds, Arnaud Soirat, commented: “We are proud to lead the copper industry in being awarded the Copper Mark, demonstrating our commitment to responsible production and transparency.

“The Copper Mark allows our customers to purchase copper from operations that have been independently assessed as meeting the highest environmental, social and governance standards, responding to the growing expectations of consumers around the world for sustainable supply chains.

“We look forward to continuing our work with the Copper Mark and seeing this new programme embraced widely along the value chain, to support the role copper continues to play as a key material in a sustainable future.”