The Minerals That Power the World Should Also Power the Communities That Produce Them.
Berium Minerals and Resources Ltd. operates in mining regions where the gap between the global value of minerals and the local benefit to communities has historically been stark. The International Labour Organization estimates that artisanal miners earn an average of USD 5 per day despite the minerals they extract commanding hundreds to thousands of dollars per kilogram at the refinery gate. We exist, in part, to change this equation.
Our sustainability programme operates across all sourcing areas in Zambia and the DRC and addresses community wellbeing, miner safety, environmental health and economic inclusion simultaneously.
Community Investment
- Direct fair-price payments to registered artisanal mining cooperatives, eliminating exploitative intermediary chains that historically capture 40–60% of miner value before it reaches the digger.
- A community development fund, funded by a percentage of every export contract, supports school construction, clean water borehole installation, health clinic equipment and agricultural training in our sourcing districts.
- Support for the formalisation and registration of artisanal mining cooperatives, helping miners gain legal status, enforceable rights, and access to banking and formal markets.
- Partnership with women-led mining cooperatives and youth vocational training programmes in sourcing regions, where women and young people form a significant share of the artisanal mining workforce.
Miner Health & Safety
- Provision of personal protective equipment (helmets, gloves, safety boots, dust masks, eye protection) to artisanal miners as a non-negotiable condition of our supply agreements.
- Health, safety and mine-risk training programmes delivered in partnership with local NGOs and government agencies across our sourcing districts.
- First aid training and emergency response capability building at artisanal mining sites.
- Radiation monitoring and respiratory protection protocols at all sites processing minerals with naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) potential.
Environmental Stewardship
- Mandatory environmental permitting (ZEMA in Zambia; equivalent DRC authorities) required of all sourcing sites as a condition of procurement.
- Hard exclusion zones: we prohibit sourcing from sites operating within or adjacent to national parks, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Ramsar-listed wetlands and protected wildlife corridors.
- Funding of land rehabilitation, reforestation and soil erosion control in degraded mining areas across our sourcing network.
- Water source protection monitoring and enforcement at all supplier sites, prohibiting procurement from sites with documented waterway contamination.
- Annual Environmental and Social Performance Reports available to buyers and published on our website.