PM's Transparency Commitment at G-8 aligned with MAC Efforts

OTTAWA, June 12, 2013 /CNW/ - The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) looks forward to working with the Government of Canada in the development of a mandatory system for the reporting of payments, as announced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper today on the eve of meetings of the G-8 Lough Erne Summit in London, United Kingdom.

Last year, MAC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada and two NGOs, Publish What You Pay-Canada and the Revenue Watch Institute, to develop a framework for the reporting of payments to governments by the mining sector.

The Resource Revenue Transparency Working Group, comprised of the four organizations, has developed a draft framework, which will be published in the coming days. The draft framework should assist the Government of Canada in its efforts to implement a reporting system in Canada.

"Canada's mining industry is fully committed to the principles of transparency, with several MAC members already reporting payments to governments on a voluntary basis, or will do so to meet new U.S. reporting requirements. We are committed to working with the Government of Canada to develop a similar framework for Canada," stated Pierre Gratton, MAC's President and CEO.

"Canada has a unique opportunity to help contribute to a consistent, effective and non-duplicative international reporting standard that will help resource-rich countries optimize benefits from mining and avoid government corruption and misuse of resource revenues.  Canada's mining industry is happy to contribute to these efforts," added Gratton.

About MAC
The Mining Association of Canada is the national organization for the Canadian mining industry.  Its members account for most of Canada's production of base and precious metals, uranium, diamonds, metallurgical coal, mined oil sands and industrial minerals and are actively engaged in mineral exploration, mining, smelting, refining and semi-fabrication. Please visit www.mining.ca.

SOURCE: Mining Association of Canada (MAC)

Jessica Draker
[phone] x225 or [email protected]

Johanne Senécal
[phone] x325 or [email protected]