Lessons Learnt from Mongolia’s First Adoption of the Toward Sustainable Mining (TSM) Framework

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-928-5_18How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Sustainable mining; ESG; Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM); Mongolia

Abstract

The transition to globally recognized sustainability standards in mining presents both an opportunity and a challenge for resource economies. This paper explores the implementation of the “Towards Sustainable Mining” (TSM) standard in Mongolia through a case study of Mongolian Mining Corporation (MMC or Energy Resources LLC) — Mongolia’s first company to complete a full TSM cycle, including external verification.

Using a mixed-methods approach, the study draws on survey data from 69 operational staff and interviews with 11 departmental managers to evaluate institutional readiness, operational challenges, and organizational learning. Key findings reveal internal barriers, including insufficient training, documentation systems deficiencies, translation inconsistencies, and constrained resources – which are shown, via a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) – to be interlinked and rooted in capacity and communication gaps.

The analysis shows that departments with pre-existing ISO certifications faced significantly fewer difficulties, suggesting that integrated management systems are essential precursors for successful TSM adoption. Moreover, the cost and time involved demonstrate the importance of strategic planning and institutional readiness.

We argue that MMC’s experience offers transferable lessons not only for other Mongolian mining companies, but also for other resource-rich but institutionally developing nations. Practical recommendations include national-level training frameworks, dedicated implementation teams, and standardized document management systems. As global efforts move toward harmonized sustainability standards, Mongolia’s early adoption of TSM positions it to influence the regional sustainability discourse in mining.

This paper contributes to the literature on standards diffusion, institutional readiness, and ESG governance, with policy and practical implications for companies, governments, and international actors.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Enkhzaya Chuluunbaatar
AU  - Oyungerel Ganbaatar
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/25
TI  - Lessons Learnt from Mongolia’s First Adoption of the Toward Sustainable Mining (TSM) Framework
BT  - Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference Resources and Technology (RESAT 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 243
EP  - 259
SN  - 2352-5401
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-928-5_18
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-928-5_18
ID  - Chuluunbaatar2025
ER  -