BlackEarth Minerals NL (ASX:BEM) has received a maiden independent Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) rating from Digbee ESG (UK), achieving a corporate and project rating of ‘BB’, the fifth-highest rating of 10 possible scores ranging from D to AAA.
BEM says this inaugural assessment demonstrated the company’s commitment to creating a baseline for future transparent ESG reporting and reflects the stage of the company, and the development phase of its Maniry Graphite Project in Madagascar.
The tailored questionnaires provided by Digbee during the process have also provided several priority target areas to improve as part of BlackEarth’s corporate and project development plans over the next 12-24 months.
“Genuine focus” on ESG
“Over the last six months that we have been working with BlackEarth, we have found them to have a genuine focus and approach to ESG matters,” Digbee ESG CEO Jamie Strauss said.
“The BEM team has developed clear actions which when implemented will contribute to an improved score.”
From here BlackEarth plans to draft an ESG policy to be tied into other key company policies.
The company says the Equator Principles – a financial industry baseline for assessing and managing environmental and social risk in projects – are already integrated into all aspects of the Maniry Graphite Project’s definitive feasibility study (DFS) and will be formally set within the company’s ESG framework and standards.
BlackEarth is planning to create greater representation in its company with targeted recruitment of vulnerable and/or underrepresented stakeholder groups with a particular focus on those with ESG-related experience.
An Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) is underway as part of the Maniry DFS by an independent specialist consultant experienced in southern Madagascar.
The scope of this work includes many of the aspects identified by Digbee, including the need for developing a mutually agreeable relocation plan.
About BlackEarth Minerals
BlackEarth Minerals is a vertically integrated graphite developer with advanced mining projects in Madagascar and base metal prospects in Western Australia.
The flagship Maniry Graphite Project is in southern Madagascar and the company’s secondary project is the Donnelly River Nickel-Copper-Platinum Group Metals Project, around 240 kilometres south of Perth in Western Australia.
It is also reviewing downstream value-added graphite processing opportunities.