Quick answer
IRMA certification is a third-party audited standard for responsible mining, with achievement levels based on how fully a mine site meets its requirements. This page explains the requirements, the levels and how the audit runs.
Who this is for: Mine site teams pursuing IRMA, and buyers asking their suppliers about it.
See certification readiness →A buyer asks whether your site has been IRMA audited, or leadership asks what reaching IRMA 75 would take, and the answer turns out to depend on 26 chapters of requirements nobody has read end to start. That is where most IRMA work begins.
IRMA has become the reference point for responsible mining where EV and electronics supply chains reach the mine site. It is also the most demanding standard in the sector, and the results are published whether or not you like them. This guide covers what the Standard requires, what the four achievement levels mean, how the audit runs, and where the revision to v2.0 currently sits.
TL;DR
IRMA assesses individual mine sites rather than companies, against the Standard for Responsible Mining. A company with ten operations cannot audit head office and be done.
There is no pass or fail. Sites land on one of four achievement levels: IRMA Transparency, IRMA 50, IRMA 75, or IRMA 100.
IRMA 50 and IRMA 75 require that score in each of the four principles, not on average across them. The weakest principle sets the level.
IRMA 100 requires 90% in each principle plus full conformance with every critical requirement. It is not a perfect score.
40 requirements are designated critical. Sites at IRMA 50 and above must at least substantially meet all of them.
The audit is independent and public. Scores and the auditor's reasoning per requirement are published on the IRMA mine map.
Standard v1.0 from 2018 is still the audit standard in 2026. Version 2.0 has been through two public consultations and has not been approved.
Most of the cost is internal evidence gathering rather than the audit fee.
Before scoping an audit, it is worth knowing where the site already stands. See where your site scores against the Standard, chapter by chapter.
What is IRMA certification
IRMA certification is an independent, site-level audit of a mine against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining, run by the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance. The Standard was built over a decade by a board weighted equally between mining companies, purchasers, NGOs, labour unions, and mining-affected communities. No single group holds a majority, which is the reason buyers read an IRMA audit differently from a self-published sustainability report.
Two things make IRMA unusual. It assesses sites individually, and it publishes the results. Anyone can open the IRMA mine map and read a site's audit summary, its score per requirement, and the auditor's written reasoning for each score.
A note on the word certification. IRMA is careful with it. In the v1.0 documentation, IRMA 100 is labelled certification and the 50 and 75 levels are called verified achievement levels. IRMA has also published its reasoning for avoiding the word certified even at IRMA 100, on the grounds that it prefers to hand readers the audit detail and let them draw conclusions rather than issue a badge. In practice buyers and search engines both call it IRMA certification, which is the term used through this guide, but it is worth knowing the distinction before writing it into a customer commitment.
The current benchmark is Standard v1.0, launched in June 2018, with the audit programme starting in mid-2019. Version 1.0 does not apply to mineral exploration or to stand-alone mineral processing, which matters when scoping.
Who needs IRMA certification
Nobody, formally. IRMA is voluntary. Demand arrives down the value chain from purchasers instead, and automakers moved first, with BMW Group, Ford, Mercedes-Benz and General Motors all joining on the purchaser side, followed by battery and electronics buyers.
IRMA membership itself carries a requirement with teeth. A mining company applying for membership after January 2022 must already have at least one site independently audited against the Standard at IRMA 50 or better. A company operating more than one site must also submit a plan and timeline for auditing a diversity of its operations, not just its best performer. Companies do not need to wait for membership to audit a site, and IRMA encourages auditing first.
The sequence we see in mining and metals is consistent. A commercial team receives a buyer questionnaire referencing IRMA. It reaches the sustainability team, who find that answering it honestly means knowing where the site stands across 26 chapters. That gap analysis is the actual starting point, and doing it before a buyer sets the timeline is the difference between a plan and a scramble.
Before a buyer sets the timeline
Start with the gap analysis
See how your site scores against the IRMA Standard chapter by chapter, before the next buyer questionnaire lands.
IRMA requirements: four principles, 26 chapters, 40 critical requirements
The Standard is organised into four principles, each containing its own chapters and scoring.
1. Business Integrity
Legal compliance, community and worker grievance mechanisms, transparency of payments to governments, and anti-corruption controls.
2. Planning for Positive Legacies
Environmental and social impact assessment, free prior and informed consent for Indigenous Peoples, resettlement, and mine closure planning with financial assurance.
3. Social Responsibility
Fair labour and terms of work, occupational health and safety, community health, and security arrangements consistent with human rights.
4. Environmental Responsibility
Water management, mine waste and tailings, air quality, noise, biodiversity, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Across those four principles sit 26 chapters. Within them, 40 requirements are designated critical by the IRMA Board, on the basis that any site claiming good practice should be meeting them. Not every critical requirement is relevant at every site.
Two mechanics are worth understanding before scoping an audit.
Requirements are scored, not ticked. Each relevant requirement is scored, and the total possible score for a principle is the number of relevant requirements across its chapters multiplied by two points. That is what produces a percentage per principle rather than a pass or fail.
Declining to have a requirement assessed scores zero. If a site chooses not to have a relevant requirement assessed, it receives zero for it, and the public audit report shows the rating as Not Assessed. Leaving an awkward chapter out does not remove it from the arithmetic, it just makes the omission visible.
Evidence is expected at the level of policies, procedures, monitoring data, and records of engagement with workers and communities, rather than statements of intent.
Tip. Do not start by reading every requirement. Start from the chapter list, mark which chapters apply to the site, and assign a chapter owner in the relevant department. IRMA is a cross-functional exercise wearing a sustainability badge.
What do IRMA levels mean: Transparency, 50, 75 and 100
There is no binary certificate. After the audit, a site is assigned one of four achievement levels.
IRMA Transparency
The site was audited by an IRMA-approved firm and agreed to publish the results. No minimum score. Often read as weak, and for a first audit it is a legitimate entry point.
IRMA 50
The site scores at least 50% in each of the four principles and at least substantially meets all relevant critical requirements, with a corrective action plan for any that are not fully met.
IRMA 75
The same structure at 75% in each principle. This is the level most buyers treat as a meaningful benchmark.
IRMA 100
Full conformance with every critical requirement, at least substantial conformance with non-critical requirements, and a score of 90% in each of the four principles. Worth stating plainly because the name misleads. IRMA 100 is not a perfect score, it is 90% per principle with no critical requirement left unmet.
The per-principle floor matters more than teams expect. A site scoring 90% on environment and 40% on social lands at Transparency rather than IRMA 50. Balanced readiness beats excellence in one department.
At IRMA 50 and IRMA 75, minor non-conformity on critical requirements is allowed as long as a corrective action plan brings them to full conformance by the next full verification audit in the three year cycle. At IRMA 100 there is no such room.
IRMA readiness, self-assessment and the MSAT
Before any of the audit machinery starts, there is a step every site goes through and most underestimate: readiness. An IRMA readiness assessment is a gap analysis against the Standard, run on yourself, before you commission an independent audit. You map the evidence the site already holds to each requirement, score yourself, and see which achievement level, IRMA Transparency, 50, 75 or 100, you would land on today.
IRMA runs its own self-assessment through the Mine Site Assessment Tool (MSAT). The MSAT gives you the questions and records your answers. It does not find your evidence, judge whether a document actually satisfies a requirement, or tell you which answers an auditor would push back on. That is the work, and it is why the preparation phase, not the audit, is where sites lose a year.
Three reasons sites run readiness first rather than going straight to an auditor.
The number stays private
A readiness score tells you which level you would land on while nobody outside the site can see it, so a weak result is a planning input rather than a published one.
Nothing is hidden after the fact
IRMA publishes audit results in full. Anything weak in your evidence becomes public, so it is worth finding it while you can still fix it.
Buyers write IRMA into contracts
Automotive and battery buyers increasingly name IRMA in supply agreements. A readiness score is what you can show them while certification is still in progress.
How the readiness step actually runs. Three phases, all of them working from documents that already exist.
1. Bring the site's existing file
Permits, environmental and social impact assessments, tailings documentation, HR and human rights policies, grievance records, community agreements. No new forms.
2. Map it to the Standard
Each document is read and mapped to the IRMA requirements it can serve as evidence for, across all four principles.
3. Get your level and your gap list
An indicative IRMA level, requirement by requirement, with every gap turned into a tracked item with an owner and a due date.
None of that work is IRMA-only. The same mapped evidence answers the neighbouring standards too, which is covered in the comparison further down.
Readiness is most useful for operating sites deciding whether to commission an audit this year or next, pre-production projects that need to show responsible practice before the first ore leaves site, group sustainability leads rolling IRMA across a portfolio and needing a comparable score per asset, and downstream buyers who wrote IRMA into a contract and now need to see where a supplier actually stands. You do not need an auditor to begin, and by the time you invite one in, every document is in one place. See how certification readiness works in beSirius.
How the IRMA audit process works, step by step
1. Self-assessment
The site works through the Standard internally, chapter by chapter, using IRMA's Mine Measure tool, and identifies gaps. Done manually across departments this is the longest phase, and estimates run from a few months to a year depending on how scattered the evidence is.
2. Select an IRMA-approved audit firm
Only firms approved by IRMA can audit against the Standard. The site contracts the firm directly and agrees the scope.
3. Stage 1, the desk audit
Auditors review documentation, policies, and monitoring data remotely, produce initial draft scores, and flag what needs to be ready for the site visit.
4. Stage 2, the on-site audit
Auditors walk the operation and interview workers one to one without management present, plus community members, public officials and NGOs off site. The visit is announced publicly in advance and anyone affected is invited to submit input.
5. The corrective action window
Before results are published, a site seeking IRMA 50 or 75 drafts a corrective action plan for critical requirements not fully met, and can take up to 12 months to complete some corrective actions before the achievement level is decided and the report goes public. For a site sitting just below a level, this window is the difference between two outcomes on the public record.
6. Report, scores and publication
IRMA publishes the audit report with the score and the auditor's reasoning per requirement, plus the achievement level, on the public mine map.
7. Surveillance and reassessment
Results run on a three year cycle with a surveillance audit in between, then a full reassessment. Corrective action plans from the first audit are reviewed at that point.
How much does IRMA certification cost
Audit fees depend on site size, location and scope, and IRMA-approved firms quote them directly. The number that surprises leadership is the internal one. Evidence for 26 chapters means pulling records from HR, procurement, environment, security, legal and community relations, then keeping all of it current for the next cycle. For a mid-size operation the internal preparation effort routinely exceeds the audit fee.
That is also where the saving sits. Teams holding site data in one structured place, rather than rebuilding spreadsheets for each standard, cut preparation cost sharply. Customers preparing for IRMA, Copper Mark or the GBA battery passport typically save more than €100,000 per certification in avoided consulting and internal hours.
Where the Standard is going: v2.0, IRMA-Ready and mineral processing
Anyone scoping an audit in 2026 should know where the revision stands, because it changes what gets assessed.
Version 2.0 has been through two public consultations. The first draft went out in October 2023 for 90 days and drew more than 2,500 comments from 82 organisations. The second draft was released on 22 July 2025 for a further 90 days, closing 22 October 2025. Cross-group work on the responses continued into 2026, and the Board has not approved the new version. Version 1.0 remains the audit standard.
Two related pieces are moving alongside it. A draft IRMA-Ready Standard covers exploration and development stage projects, which v1.0 does not, and sites at that stage can join pilot testing. A separate draft standard for mineral processing is also in consultation, aimed at the stand-alone processing operations currently outside scope. IRMA has also stated it is working toward a Chain of Custody Standard.
One credibility marker worth noting for anyone assessing how much weight to give IRMA. As of 2026, IRMA is ISEAL Code Compliant, meaning its adherence to the ISEAL Code of Good Practice has been independently verified.
IRMA compared with Copper Mark, ResponsibleSteel, ASI and CMSI
IRMA is site-level, audit-based and public, which puts it at the demanding end. Copper Mark covers copper and, more recently, broader metals with a lighter assurance model. ResponsibleSteel and ASI serve the steel and aluminium value chains. The Consolidated Mining Standard Initiative is working to merge several existing standards into one, which would change this comparison if it lands.
The practical point is overlap. The Copper Mark recognises an IRMA audit at IRMA 50 or above against most of its own requirements, one human rights policy is evidence for IRMA, ResponsibleSteel and ASI at once, and ICMM Performance Expectations and Towards Sustainable Mining protocols cover much of the same ground. Treating each standard as its own project means paying for that overlap every time. Holding the site data once and mapping it to each framework means paying once. That is the argument for framework equivalency, and it is the largest cost lever in certification strategy.
How beSirius helps with IRMA readiness
beSirius is AI-native sustainability and due-diligence data infrastructure for mining, metals and critical minerals. Every site gets a Twin, a structured profile of its operations, policies and performance data. Around half of a new customer's Twin is built from public data before anyone uploads a document.
For IRMA, the Insight module runs the Twin against the Standard and returns a chapter-by-chapter gap analysis. You see where the site already meets requirements, where evidence exists but sits in five different departments, and where the gaps are operational rather than documentary.
See where your site stands
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Best practices for IRMA preparation
Run the gap analysis before promising anything to a buyer
Commercial teams commit to IRMA 75 within two years before anyone has read chapter one.
Assign chapter owners outside the sustainability team
HR owns the labour chapters, operations owns tailings. Sustainability coordinates rather than authoring everything.
Fix the per-principle balance early
The weakest principle sets the level, so the last 10% in environment is worth less than the first 20% in social.
Decide early which requirements you will have assessed
Declining an assessment scores zero and shows publicly as Not Assessed, so scope choices belong in the plan rather than in the audit week.
Treat FPIC and community engagement as long-lead items
These chapters rest on relationships and records that cannot be produced in an audit-prep sprint.
Keep evidence current rather than archival
The three year cycle arrives quickly and buyers increasingly ask for data between audits.
Frequently asked questions
What is IRMA certification?
An independent third-party audit of a mine site against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining, covering business integrity, planning for positive legacies, social responsibility and environmental responsibility. Results are published with an achievement level. IRMA itself reserves the word certification for the IRMA 100 level.
What are the IRMA achievement levels?
Four. IRMA Transparency means audited with results published and no minimum score. IRMA 50 and IRMA 75 require at least that percentage in each of the four principles. IRMA 100 requires 90% in each principle plus full conformance with all critical requirements.
What is the difference between IRMA 50 and IRMA 75?
The score floor per principle, 50% against 75%. Both require at least substantial conformance with the 40 critical requirements, with a corrective action plan for anything not fully met. Most buyers treat IRMA 75 as the meaningful benchmark.
How many requirements does the IRMA Standard have?
The Standard runs to 26 chapters across four principles, and 40 of its requirements are designated critical by the IRMA Board. Sites at IRMA 50 and above must at least substantially meet all relevant critical requirements.
How long does IRMA certification take?
Plan 12 to 24 months from first gap analysis to published audit for a typical operation. Self-assessment and evidence gathering take the longest, and structured site data shortens that phase most.
How much does IRMA certification cost?
Audit fees are quoted by IRMA-approved firms and vary by site size and scope. Internal preparation is usually the larger cost, since evidence spans 26 chapters and many departments.
Is IRMA certification mandatory?
No. IRMA is voluntary, and demand comes from purchasers, particularly automakers and battery supply chains that reference IRMA in their sourcing requirements.
Does IRMA certify companies or mines?
Mine sites. Each site is audited and scored separately and appears separately on the public mine map. A company cannot certify at group level.
Is IRMA Standard v2.0 in force yet?
No. As of July 2026, v2.0 has been through two public consultations and has not been approved by the IRMA Board. Version 1.0 from 2018 remains the audit standard.
Does IRMA cover exploration or mineral processing?
Not under v1.0. A draft IRMA-Ready Standard covers exploration and development stage projects and is open for pilot testing, and a separate draft standard for mineral processing is in consultation.
What is an IRMA readiness assessment?
It is a gap analysis against the IRMA Standard, run before you commission an independent audit. You map the evidence the site already holds to each requirement, score yourself, and see which achievement level you would reach today. It is not the certification itself, it is how you find out whether starting the certification is worth it.
What is the MSAT, and how is readiness different?
The Mine Site Assessment Tool is IRMA's own self-assessment tool. It gives you the questions and records your answers. It does not find your evidence, judge whether a document actually satisfies a requirement, or tell you which answers an auditor would push back on. beSirius reads the documents you already hold, maps them to the requirements, and shows you which answers would survive scrutiny.
Do we need an auditor to start readiness?
No. Readiness is something you run on yourself. You bring in an IRMA-approved independent auditor only when you already know the answer, and by then every document is in one place.
Does IRMA work count towards other standards?
Yes. The Copper Mark recognises an IRMA audit at IRMA 50 or above as meeting most of its own requirements, and much of the underlying evidence also serves ResponsibleSteel, Aluminium Stewardship, ICMM Performance Expectations and the Consolidated Mining Standard. In beSirius you upload it once and reuse it across every standard.
