PRIZMA

While PDAC departed from developing a voluntary sustainability reporting framework for its members, adoption of GRI continuous to grow in the mining sector - albeit slowly. (more...)

In 1995, the Kyrgyz Republic established the Sary-Chat Ertash Reserve or Zapovednik (SCER/SCEZ) near Centerra Gold’s high altitude Kumtor gold mine. While inaccurate maps and politics seem to fuel misunderstandings about the SCER’s boundaries and Kumtor’s impacts, an important question deserves more attention: Is the SCER just another ‘paper park’ or is it generating biodiversity value? (more...)

Centerra Gold’s Kumtor Gold Company commissioned Prizma to provide an Independent Assessment of a Kyrgyz Commission's Evaluation of Compliance with Environmental and Industrial Safety Standards at the high altitude Kumtor Gold Mine. Topics covered in Prizma’s report (which is also being translated for distribution) include transparency, water quality, biodiversity, glaciers, water consumption, geotechnical and mine closure issues. (more...)

Prizma's Mehrdad Nazari was engaged by White & Case to serve as an Expert Witness for Claimant in the case of Gold Reserve Inc. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela which is before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). According to its press release, Gold Reserve claims damages of approximately $2.1 billion arising from violations of provisions of the Canada-Venezuela bilateral investment treaty resulting in the effective expropriation of Gold Reserve's sizable investments in the Brisas gold/copper project and the Choco 5 property. (more...)

Even the most diverse projects in different parts of the world tend to share some communalities in terms of context. And sometimes, recognizing these can be very sobering. Two recent assignments in the lawn and garden sector in North America (ScottsMiracle-Gro) and the mining sector in Central Asia (Centerra Gold's Kumtor mine) drove home the importance of climate change issues.

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Although 2011 GRI reporting in the US seems to be trailing by nearly 30% from 2010, Canada’s numbers remain largely on par. But has push by government and PDAC been effective? (more...)

GRI recorded 87 mining reporters for the 2010 period, up from 70 in 2009. 61 had adopted GRI’s Mining and Metals Sector Supplement. Nine were classified as integrated reports (4 from South Africa). (more...)

With over 450 new reports added to GRI’s database for 2010, it is time to present updated charts for Canada and the US. They show impressive growth rates, that these are different markets and that US reporters like to remain ‘Undeclared’.

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As discussions about the failed Bill C300 are subsiding, BHP Billiton's sustainability report is being mocked and NGOs lodged complaints about the company’s Mozal aluminum smelter with the JSE SRI Index and IFC’s independent recourse mechanism. (more...)

You can now access Prizma News Fall 2010.