The Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Minerals Workers Union (ZDAMWU) has urged Unki Mine to ensure genuine stakeholder engagement in its pursuit of the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) certification. This comes after Unki Mine, owned by Anglo-American Platinum (Amplats), became the first operation worldwide to achieve the IRMA 75 Rating, a significant milestone in responsible mining.
ZDAMWU Secretary General, Justice Chinhema, expressed concern over the lack of consultation with the union, which represents over 100 workers at Unki Mine. “We really expect Unki Mine to walk the talk when submitting themselves for the IRMA standard rating. This is currently not happening,” Chinhema stated, emphasizing that the IRMA standards should be implemented in practice and not just in theory.
Chinhema criticized the mine for not engaging with ZDAMWU during the certification process, raising doubts about the validity of the IRMA certification. “Which workers’ representative is Unki engaging to certify the IRMA standards rating if ZDAMWU, as one of the unions with members, is not consulted?” he questioned.
ZDAMWU has called for greater inclusiveness in the certification process, urging Unki Mine to involve all relevant stakeholders to truly uphold responsible mining practices. “There is still a lot of work that needs to be done in the area of inclusiveness of all stakeholders for responsible mining to be confirmed,” Chinhema added.
