Copper Mark transitions to Veramark Assurance
Assurance system The Copper Mark has announced a name change to ‘Veramark Assurance’ and introduced its new board structure.
This marks a major milestone in the organisation's journey to support responsible minerals and metals production and sourcing across commodities and the full value chain, it avers in a statement issued on October 16.
Together, the new name, brand identity and governance structure aim to reflect the next stage for the organisation.
Building on a track record of implementation at more than 140 sites globally, Veramark has transitioned from a copper-focused assurance framework into an organisation designed to support responsible production and sourcing at scale.
This endeavours to respond to growing expectations from companies, investors, customers, regulators, civil society, and affected stakeholders and rights-holders for credible standards, robust assurance, transparency and accountability throughout increasingly complex value chains.
“What began as an assurance framework focused on copper has grown into something far broader.
“As demand for minerals and metals grows, so does the need for confidence that those materials are produced responsibly. Veramark reflects our expanded mission to help make responsible production and sourcing the norm by connecting standards, assurance, independent governance and value-chain transparency into a coherent and practical system,” Veramark CEO Michèle Brülhart says.
The launch of Veramark reflects an organisational change designed to support future growth, wider commodity coverage and broader stakeholder participation.
While the organisation’s identity has changed, it highlights that the commitment to credible standards, independent assurance, transparency and responsible production remains unchanged.
Existing participants, awards, and assurance commitments continue under Veramark.
Future milestones include the launch of the Responsible Metals Value Chain Platform and the introduction of new standards, including the Veramark Global Mining Standard, which has been developed through a Consolidated Mining Standard Initiative (CMSI) partnership. The Veramark board is solely responsible for approving the Veramark Global Mining Standard.
BOARD CHANGES
Veramark is also introducing its new board of directors, designed to support the organisation’s expanding role across commodities and the minerals and metals value chain.
The governance structure broadens stakeholder participation and balances power between commercial and non-commercial interests across the minerals and metals value chain.
It also ensures decision-making requires broad support across the board.
The board is led by an independent chairperson and includes 16 nonexecutive directors divided equally across four director groups: mining companies, mining stakeholders, value chain companies and value chain stakeholders.
The structure provides for independent oversight with equal participation across the four director groups, with voting protections designed to ensure that no single group can carry a decision on its own.
The board is designed to prioritise consensus.
Decisions that require voting must be carried by a 70% majority and require a positive affirmation by the majority of members from within each of the four director groups.
Directors are appointed as individuals and owe their duties to Veramark as a whole and exercise independent judgment, rather than to the director, group or organisation with which they may be affiliated.
The board is independently chaired by Daniel Ortega-Pacheco, who was appointed chair-designate earlier this year and has served as a Copper Mark director in the interim.
“Accelerating responsible production and sourcing at scale requires governance that is independent, balanced, credible, and effective. This evolved structure reflects the published CMSI Governance Model and the robust appointment processes through which the inaugural board has been constituted,” he says.
“It brings diverse perspectives together within one board with collective responsibility for the organisation’s mission, while creating meaningful avenues for stakeholders and rights-holders to inform decisions and strengthen the legitimacy and impact of our work.”
The changed governance structure was developed as part of the CMSI process and designed to fit Veramark’s growing value-chain-wide mission.
