Requirements for the third-party assessment of green mine selection

Requirements for the Third-party Assessment of Green Mine Selection

The third-party assessment of green mine selection refers to government administration departments' behavior in government purchase services to entrust relevant assessment agencies to assess the mining enterprises' compliance status of green mine construction and form the third-party assessment reports. To ensure the selection quality of green mines and standardize the third-party assessment, the requirements are formulated according to the Implementation opinions on accelerating the construction of green mines (regulations of Land and Resources (2017) No. 4) and the Notice on the selection of green mines in 2020 (Official Letter of General Office of the Ministry of Natural Resources (2020) No. 839).

1. Assessment agency

(1) The third-party assessment agency shall be an enterprise, public institution, social organization, or recognized professional assessment agency registered in the territory of the People's Republic of China with independent legal entity qualification. The ability to assess green mine construction is essential.

(2) The competent department of natural resources shall disclose the content and procedure requirements of the third-party assessments to the public, select the third-party assessment agencies based on the actual work of local government purchase services, and define the rights and obligations of the third-party assessment agencies through contracts, agreements, and other forms.

(3) The third-party assessment agencies and experts must remain independent of mining enterprises. They must not be associated with mining enterprises, participate in preparing the mine self-assessment reports, or have any business dealings with mining enterprises one year before and after the assessments. It is strictly forbidden to collect the assessment fees from mining enterprises in any form and use assessments for illegitimate interests.

(4) The third-party assessment agencies and experts must keep confidential all the privacy or trade secrets of mining enterprises involved in the assessment work. Data provided by mining enterprises shall be kept and used reasonably and strictly prohibited from being used for other purposes without permission. 

2. Assessment requirements

(1) Based on nine industry standards, including the Notice of the General Office of the Ministry of Natural Resources on the Selection of Green Mines in 2020 and the Construction Specifications of Green Mine in the Non-metallic Mine Industry, and relevant policies and technical standards such as the Evaluation Indicators of green mine construction, the assessment shall be carried out in a scientific, rigorous, fair and just way.

(2) The third-party assessment agency shall form an assessment team according to the regulations. The team leader shall be a full-time staff member of the unit, and the team shall have no less than five members. The assessment experts should be familiar with green mines' relevant policies and standards, covering geology, mining, mineral processing, ecological environment, and other related majors.

(3) The third-party assessment report should include the basis, process, summary, and conclusion of the assessment. It is necessary to describe the assessment procedures, consult the data, and check the site conditions to clarify the basis for determining whether the mining enterprises meet the standards' requirements. The sources of evidence documents for the key contents cited should be provided to ensure credible evidence and information, precise content, and accurate judgment. The assessment report and related records/materials (copies) shall be kept in the assessment agency for more than 12 months.

(4) The third-party assessment work should be standardized and rigorous, and the base number of person-days for the onsite verification should not be less than five person-days. Relevant work shall be subject to the supervision of the competent departments of natural resources, mining enterprises, and the public. The competent departments of natural resources shall circulate the notices of criticism to the third-party assessment agencies verified to have serious violations such as accepting property and divulging the mining enterprise's trade secrets, practicing fraud, and playing favoritism, and committing irregularities. Besides, the assessment reports from the agencies shall not be accepted.

3. Working procedures

(1) Determining the third-parties. After the start of the selection, the provincial competent departments of natural resources shall fill in the proposed list of third-party assessment agencies within their respective administrative areas in the National Green Mines List Management Information System (website: http://greenmine.mnr.gov.cn, hereinafter referred to as the List System), and establish a corresponding relationship with mining enterprises.

(2) Assessment of interior work. The assessment team shall log into the List System, review the electronic version of the self-assessment reports and other data submitted by mining enterprises, and verify the evaluation indicators' prerequisites. When relevant contents and materials are missing, the mining enterprises shall be informed to supplement or resubmit. After a preliminary assessment, the key points of onsite assessment shall be determined through discussion, and the time of onsite assessment shall be informed to mining enterprises.

(3) Onsite assessment. 1) Holding an assessment meeting. The assessment team shall hold an assessment meeting with the relevant management personnel of the mining enterprise, and the leader of the assessment team shall introduce the purpose and plan of the assessment and read out the evaluation work commitment letter. The person in charge of the green mine construction in the mining enterprise shall introduce the construction situation. The assessment team may inquire about the relevant situation. 2) Conducting onsite verification. The assessment team shall go to the production area, office area, living area, and the key sites to check the conditions and standardized degree of the site work item by item according to the evaluation index system. The key sites shall include the sites of key energy-consuming processes and equipment, main pollution control and its equipment, hazardous chemical storage, and tailings reservoir. The assessment team shall also consult the relevant production and operation management records, inquire about the relevant indexes, and take photos of key sites to check records.

(4) Preparation of reports. After the comprehensive consideration of the internal work assessment and the onsite assessment, the assessment team shall discuss and determine the assessment conclusion. The highlights of the mining enterprise's construction work shall be summarized, the losing point items and reasons shall be clarified, and the improvement suggestions shall be proposed. The assessment team shall fill in the Scoring Table of Green Mine Construction Evaluation Index System online and prepare the third-party assessment report. Simultaneously, the list of the assessment team's experts, the sign-in form of the assessment meeting, the meeting minutes, the onsite verification records, and the live meeting and onsite photos shall be attached to the report.

(5) Feedback results. The third-party assessment agency shall upload the assessment team commitment letter (seal), the third-party assessment report, and the scanned copy of the List System's expert list signature form. According to the actual needs, the provincial natural resources departments may determine whether to conduct the assessment report's expert argumentation.

Appendix:

Commitment Letter

This assessment team promises that in the third-party assessment of green mine selection, we will be objective, fair and realistic, and carry out the assessment in strict accordance with the green mine assessment policies and standards throughout the process. We will not charge any fees for any reason to ensure the authenticity and effectiveness of the assessment conclusion. If there is any violation or fraud, we are willing to bear the corresponding responsibility.

The third-party agency (Seal):

The leader of the assessment team:

Month/Day/Year