The International Cyanide Management Institute (ICMI) announced today that it had accepted the application of Harmony Gold Mining Company Ltd. to become a signatory to the International Cyanide Management Code for the Manufacture, Transport and Use of Cyanide in the Production of Gold (Code). The Code is a voluntary industry program for companies involved in the production of gold using cyanide. Harmony Gold Mining Company Ltd. is the fifth-largest gold producer in the world. In 2006, its operations in South Africa and Western Australia produced 2.4 million troy ounces of gold.
Harmony Gold Mining Company Ltd. joins 27 other companies as a signatory to the Code. By becoming a signatory, the company commits to follow the Code’s Principles and implement its Standards of Practice, and to have verification audits of its individual operations conducted by independent third-party auditors within three years of their initial application, and every three years thereafter. The purpose of the verification audit is to evaluate an operation to determine if its management of cyanide achieves the Code’s Principles and Standards of Practice. Operations will be certified if found in compliance with the Code, and will be de-certified if ICMI determines that they no longer comply with the Code.
The Code was developed under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme by a multi-stakeholder Steering Committee. The Code is intended to complement an operation’s existing obligation to comply with the applicable laws and regulations of the political jurisdiction in which the operation is located.
ICMI has been established to administer the Code, promote its adoption, evaluate its implementation, and manage the certification process. A detailed list of the operations covered by signatory companies’ applications, along with the full text of the Code and its implementing and administrative documents, are available at www.cyanidecode.org.
Date:
Friday, June 8, 2007