Mining Responsibilities

Mining facilities must demonstrate commitment and support to the implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). This includes establishing a publicly available policy or management system and a senior manager responsible for implementation, disclosure and validation with EITI. Mining facilities must implement systems in all countries, even if EITI is not implemented to promote transparency, including public disclosure of taxes, payments and owners, and the use of rigorous procurement processes.

An environmental and social impact assessment aligned to the International Finance Corporation Performance Standard 1 must be undertaken with the full engagement of affected communities, stakeholders and vulnerable groups for exploration and new mining facilities or significant changes to operations at existing facilities. It must take into account and include:

• An overarching policy defining the environmental and social objectives and principles that guide the project
• A process for identifying environmental and social risks and impacts
• Methodologies for recording baseline conditions, cumulative and indirect impacts relating to environmental, social and human rights and the findings of environmental and social studies relevant to the conclusions of the impact assessment.
• Implementation of environmental and social management plans and options available to avoid, minimise and mitigate negative impacts, which include defined roles and responsibilities, processes for stakeholder engagement, monitoring and review, and for addressing grievances
• Design options that avoid and minimise negative impacts where applicable
• Stakeholder participation should include collection of data, development of options to mitigate potential impacts and implementation of the environmental and social monitoring programme where relevant.

Entities will prepare and update plans for managing environment, social and human rights risk and potential emergencies and ensure that the burden of negative environmental consequences will not fall on vulnerable racial, ethnic and socio-economic groups.

Impact assessments should be disseminated in an easily accessible format and made publicly available. This should give consideration to local languages, cultures and practices to ensure all relevant stakeholders’ needs are considered and include:

• details of the consultation process and feedback from affected groups in a manner that provides anonymity where required
• relevant information on the inputs and analysis of potential impacts
• names and affiliation of the individuals or organisations involved in conducting any technical studies.

Processes must be in place to monitor the implementation of management plans throughout the mine life cycle to ensure impacts are being appropriately managed. This must include on-going stakeholder dialogue.

Entities must make environmental and social performance part of bidding packages for new construction contracts.

Entities with mining facilities will have appropriate policies, skills, resources and systems to manage early and on-going engagement with affected communities and in particular:

• Identification of affected communities and other related stakeholders in relation to project risks, impacts and phase of development, including significant changes to existing facilities.
• Undertake early and ongoing engagement with affected communities and stakeholders throughout the project’s lifecycle, including post-closure monitoring.
• Establish effective communication measures to disseminate relevant project information and receive feedback in an inclusive, culturally-appropriate and rights-compatible manner.
• Ensure the interests and development aspirations of affected communities are considered in major mining decisions in the project’s lifecycle through informed consultation, and seek broad community support for these decisions.
• Carry out engagement in an inclusive, equitable, culturally appropriate and rights-compatible manner.

The entity shall establish strategic social objectives which are:

• Aligned with the project’s lifecycle strategy from exploration through to closure, considering long term social impacts and risks.
• Aligned with stakeholder expectations, sought from on-going stakeholder feedback.
• Developed in consideration of short and long-term socio-economic development objectives and aspirations of stakeholders, including community members and local, regional and national governments.

The entity will ensure that the strategic social objectives include:

• Clearly defined priorities that manage impacts, risks and seek to enhance development opportunities.
• The appropriate skills and capabilities to deliver on the objectives and plans.
• Clearly defined accountabilities, timescales and budget.
• Monitoring and measurement indicators to track progress.

The entity shall establish a stakeholder engagement plan that:

• Identifies all relevant stakeholders, including those that may be vulnerable, marginalised or disadvantaged.
• Is respectful of all relevant community conventions, equitable, inclusive and rights-compatible.
• Ensures communication of planned projects, proposals, changes, and other information is disseminated in a timely and clear manner to ensure all interested stakeholders understand the potential and actual impacts of these planned projects.
• Ensures that the views of relevant stakeholders are sought and incorporated into the decision- making process as appropriate.

The entity shall undertake socio-economic impact assessments at timely intervals to gauge stakeholder sentiments and aspirations, identify risks and impacts and opportunities for socio-economic development.

The entity will seek to avoid involuntary resettlement.

Forced evictions must not be carried out except in accordance with applicable law and prevailing United Nations guidance and where involuntary resettlement is unavoidable, it shall be minimised and the group/entity/facility:

• Shall ensure that the requirements of the International Finance Corporation’s Performance Standard 5 on Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement and supporting Guidance Note requirements are met.
• Shall prepare a Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) taking into account the views of relevant stakeholders.
• Where economic displacement occurs, a Livelihood Restoration Plan (LRP) shall be prepared.
• Shall ensure that suitably qualified and experienced persons are employed to support the resettlement and that the plan and its outcomes are reviewed independently and communicated to affected groups.
• At the end of the process, commission an independent audit to verify that the resettlement process has met its stated objectives and report the outcomes to any affected groups.

Socio-economic impacts assessments shall include an assessment of human rights, vulnerable and marginalized groups and conflict. These assessments can be done in conjunction with environmental impact assessments as required.

The entity shall ensure that there are systems to identify, assess, manage and report on social risks and impacts, by the business and its contractors, on an on-going basis.

Where the entity enters into formal benefit sharing agreements, these shall be negotiated and agreed in an inclusive, equitable, culturally-appropriate and rights-compatible manner.

The entity shall implement measures and processes to identify, document, monitor and report on the implementation of any social commitments, both formal (such as impact benefit agreements) and informal (ad hoc commitments made by entity personnel to external stakeholders). In the event that gaps are identified, these shall be resolved in a timely manner.

The entity shall implement a site-based social incident, complaints and grievance management system and procedure that is legitimate, accessible, predictable, equitable and transparent. The procedure should:

• Be transparent and structured, allowing stakeholders to submit their grievances free of charge, without fear of reprisal and if necessary, anonymously via third parties.
• Include a system for reporting, classifying, investigating, processing and managing a complaint or incident, including relevant notification protocols for internal escalation and awareness.
• Be established with clear accountabilities and responsibilities, including a senior manager with sufficient knowledge to provide assurance the issue has been addressed.
• Communicate outcomes and resolutions back to the relevant stakeholders.
• Ensure an effective mechanism is established to enable stakeholders to appeal findings where they are not satisfied with the outcome of the investigation and/or proposed resolution.
• Establish monitoring and evaluation measures to monitor these mechanisms and processes and assess their effectiveness.

Entities will seek to support the development of the communities in which they operate and across the project life cycle through

• Consulting with local communities and key stakeholders, to identify, assess and support initiatives to enhance their economic development.
• Supporting the design of programmes for training and capacity building to contribute to the employment of local community members.
• Offering local supplier development programmes, both through capacity building and access to finance and business.
• Enable procurement and employment opportunities for local enterprises and community members.
• Where possible and feasible, design and/or leverage projects so that asset infrastructure (e.g. water, power, roads) provides development benefits in host communities and improves access to social infrastructure.
• Broader social investment initiatives with long term strategic goals that help address risks and maximise opportunities within the community.

The group/entity/facility shall carry out a scoping exercise to identify significant potential risks and impacts to community health and safety from mining-related activities. At minimum, the following sources of potential risks and impacts to community health and/or safety shall be considered:

General mining operations;

Operation of mine-related equipment or vehicles on public roads;

• Operational accidents;
• Failure of structural elements such as tailings dams, impoundments, waste rock dumps;
• Mining-related impacts on priority ecosystem services;
• Mining-related effects on community demographics, including in-migration of mine workers and others;
• Mining-related impacts on availability of services;
• Hazardous materials and substances that may be released as a result of mining-related activities; and
• Increased prevalence of water-borne, water-based, water-related, and vector-borne diseases, and communicable and sexually transmitted diseases (e.g., HIV/AIDs, tuberculosis, malaria, Ebola virus disease or others) that could occur as a result of the mining project.

Where significant risks have been identified, the group/entity/facility shall engage with workers or their representatives, and relevant stakeholders including health agencies and government agencies and develop initiatives to prevent or mitigate the risks and provide information to relevant workers. Regular health and safety monitoring programmes must be established to assess the effectiveness of these measures, ensuring appropriate confidentiality is maintained.

Scoping shall include an examination of risks and impacts that may occur throughout the mine life cycle (e.g., construction, operation, reclamation, mine closure and post-closure). Depending on the nature of the risks, the group/entity/facility should seek to mitigate these and where unacceptable risks remain that would be classified as a material breach, cease the operations.

Scoping shall include consideration of the differential impacts of mining activities on vulnerable groups or susceptible members of affected communities.

Mining facilities will develop and maintain emergency response plans, in collaboration with potentially affected communities, workers and their representatives, and relevant agencies, pursuant to guidance provided by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on Awareness and Preparedness for Emergencies at the Local Level (APELL) for Mining. Such emergency response plans must include consideration of emergencies arising within the facility that have potential to impact off-site areas.

Establish an emergency response co-ordinating group which should include management team representatives and key stakeholder representatives such as local authorities and emergency response organisations, community leaders and worker representatives, to manage interaction between those involved in preventing or responding to emergencies and ensure a coordinated and inclusive approach to emergency response planning.

Periodically test the emergency preparedness and response plans.

The group/entity/facility shall make information on community health and safety risks and impacts and monitoring results publicly available.

The group/entity/facility shall allow workers access to their personal information regarding accidents, dangerous occurrences, inspections, investigations, remedial actions, health surveillance and medical examinations.

The group/entity/facility shall provide compensation for work-related injuries or disease, in line with legal requirements, or prevailing industry standards in the absence of local legal requirements.

Where a worker dies as a result of a work-related injury or disease, the operating company shall, at minimum, provide to spouses and dependent children benefits to cover funeral expenses and transportation of the worker’s body, if appropriate, as well as compensation that is equal to or greater than three months’ salary of the deceased worker.

The group/entity/facility with mining facilities will not explore or mine in World Heritage Sites and ensure that their activities do not impact directly on adjacent World Heritage Sites or other protected areas.

The group/entity/facility will have a process to identify legally designated protected areas, comply with all requirements relating to these and ensure that all decisions concerning exploration, development, operation and closure take account of the impact on these areas.

The group/entity/facility should use appropriately competent personnel to map protected areas in and around the project site as early as possible in the mining lifecycle and repeat periodically.

The group/entity/facility will not undertake any activity that will, or is likely to, lead to significant decline or the extinction of a species listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as threatened with extinction, or create adverse impacts on habitat critical to supporting their survival.

The group/entity/facility with mining facilities will assess potential environmental impacts on land, water, air and biodiversity when planning any developments or expansions, exploration programmes and mining projects and develop and implement action plans in collaboration with Affected Peoples or Groups, where relevant, to deliver measurable diversity benefits proportionately to the level of any impacts and which will include:

Biodiversity, ecosystem services and protected areas screening, assessment, management planning, implementation of mitigation measures, and monitoring shall be carried out and documented by competent professionals using appropriate methodologies and shall include consultations with stakeholders, including, where relevant, affected communities and external experts.

Biodiversity, ecosystem services and protected areas impact assessments, management plans and monitoring data shall be publicly available, or made available to stakeholders upon request.

Development and implementation of a program to monitor the implementation of its protected areas and/or biodiversity and ecosystem services management plan(s) throughout the mine life cycle and have its findings subject to independent review

The group/entity/facility shall identify Key Biodiversity Areas affected by their operations and:

Use the mitigation hierarchy to avoid, minimise, rehabilitate or, where required after these steps have been implemented, offset impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Implement action plans to deliver measurable biodiversity benefits that are at least commensurate with the level of adverse impacts, and ideally provide net positive impact.

In areas of Critical Habitat, ensure that there are no measurable adverse impacts on the criteria for which the habitat was designated or on the ecological processes supporting those criteria and provide overall net gain in biodiversity benefits for the area.

The group/entity/facility carrying out exploration or mining activities in deep-sea areas shall ensure there is sufficient scientific knowledge of potential impacts of these activities, and implement controls to mitigate adverse impacts.

Entities with mining operations will implement a comprehensive system for managing tailings and waste rock, including:

• A commitment towards meeting the requirements of the Global Industry Standards for Tailings Management.
• A governance system to oversee the identification and management of Tailings, Tailings Storage Facilities and waste risks, including the identification and appointment of adequately experienced roles, clarity on roles, responsibilities and organisational structures, adequate ongoing training for relevant personnel and a process for internal and external review and assurance throughout the entity’s life cycle.
• Allocating the necessary operational resources, including capital, human, financial, in the relevant business planning processes to implement and maintain the activities of the governance framework.
• A risk-based approach, including regular, rigorous risk assessment and transparent decision-making to choose the most appropriate site-specific approach to disposal, using the best available technology. Where risk assessment finds that conditions are inappropriate for marine or lake disposal of tailings and waste rock or where there is insufficient data then this approach must not be utilised.
• Critical controls to identify, implement, communicate, and monitor actions for managing high risks, including assessing risks when internal or external factors change.
• Performance criteria established for the critical controls and their associated monitoring, reporting and verification activities.
• An engineer-of-record to provide technical direction for waste management and tailings management.
• Independent review and evaluation of the controls to manage tailings and waste by a competent, objective third party. This review should cover all aspects of the planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance of waste facilities and the outcomes and actions raised should be recorded, reviewed, addressed and communicated to executive management.
• Adopt a waste management policy, approved and endorsed by senior management, regarding management of waste materials and mine waste facilities in a manner that eliminates, if practicable, and otherwise minimises risks to human health, safety, the environment and communities.
• Design, construct, maintain and monitor tailing facilities and waste rock facilities to ensure structural stability, control discharge, and protect the surrounding environment and local communities and prevent catastrophic failures.
• Not use riverine tailings disposal.
• Not use marine or lake tailings or waste rock disposal for land-based mining facilities, unless:
  • A thorough environmental and social analysis of alternatives, using scientifically valid data, was conducted that showed that marine or lake tailings disposal creates fewer environmental and social impacts and risks than a land-based tailing facility.
  • Scientific studies were conducted demonstrating that there are no significant adverse effects on coastal resources.
  • There is long-term impact monitoring, including for cumulative impacts, and a provision made for a mitigation plan.

Carry out physical and geochemical characterisations and in-depth risk assessment of mining wastes so as to identify and manage potential impacts arising from acid rock drainage and metal leaching.

Protect the surrounding environment and local communities from potential impacts of acidification, metal leaching, loss of containment or contamination during the mine’s operation and post-closure.

For new mines or when significant changes are made to existing mines carry out screening to determine whether there are significant impacts on offsite human noise receptors.

For all mining facilities implement appropriate measures to establish baseline noise level and mitigating actions necessary to ensure noise does not exceed prescribed legal levels. Processes used must include engagement of relevant affected stakeholders in the mitigation strategies.

Mining facilities must establish strong and transparent governance mechanisms towards the use, disposal and management of natural resources (water, soil, and air) in its activities, including the establishment of clear accountabilities at site and board level and regular reporting of approach to natural resource stewardship, performance objectives (targets) against plans and risk mitigation strategies, and the identification and management of relevant risks.

Mining facilities must undertake measures to identify and record impacts on water, air quality and soil from mining facility operations on resource availability and quality and on surrounding communities.

All mining facilities must reduce significant impacts, including Greenhouse Gas emissions, water use and usage and increase resource efficiency on an annual basis. These measures shall include the following management system elements in relation to greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, waste water discharges and water use and air quality as a minimum:

• Publicly available policy.
• Assessment and management of emissions and resource use.
• Implementation of management and improvement plans and mitigation measures for significant emissions and resource use.
• Engagement with relevant stakeholders, including governments, local authorities and affected communities.
• Reporting progress publicly towards targets for improvement, material risks and opportunities, and at a minimum, report on the relevant GRI indicators for these material topics.

Entities should have a public net zero commitment to be achieved by 2050 or sooner; targets covering scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions as well as public reporting of progresses on scopes 1, 2 and 3 that aligns with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and has been externally verified.

Entities should monitor energy, water, and other identified significant natural resources used and establish associated efficiency initiatives, including working towards use of renewable energy in alignment with national targets or legislation, or water stewardship initiatives that promote responsible and sustainable water use and contribute to improved water security and sanitation.

Where entities are part of the mining sector policies, procedures and clear allocation of responsibilities in relation to water governance is required. Water use at facilities must be managed effectively using a water balance and taking cumulative impacts into account. Water performance must be publicly communicated and stakeholder collaboration utilised to achieve responsible and sustainable water use at a water catchment level.

Where Mercury is contained in saleable products, by-products or emissions, the company/entity/ facility shall adopt management practices that are at minimum in accordance with legal requirements to control and, where feasible, reduce mercury emissions using best available techniques or best environmental practices that take into account technical and economic considerations.

For entities that use mercury in their mining and processing activities, the entity shall eliminate whole ore-amalgamation, open burning of amalgam or processed amalgam, and burning of amalgam in residential areas, and cyanide leaching in sediment, ore or tailings to which mercury has been added without first removing the mercury.

Where mercury is being used in ASM activities, controls should be in place to prevent exposure to anyone under the age of 18 years and pregnant women, and the Entity sourcing from ASM producers shall take steps to control, reduce, and where feasible eliminate, the use of mercury and mercury compounds from such mining and processing activities.

Where mercury emissions are occurring implementation of the mercury management plan, including data, must be report publicly, at least annually.

Mining Facilities will respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples as articulated and defined in applicable provincial, national and international laws and their social, cultural, environmental and economic interests, including their connection with lands and waters.

Mining Facilities will seek to obtain broad-based support of affected Indigenous Peoples and to have this support formally documented, including partnerships and/or programs to provide benefits and mitigate impacts.

New Mining Facilities, or significant changes to existing Mining Facilities, shall, as described in International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standard 7, work to obtain the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of affected Indigenous Peoples during the planning and approval stages, through a process that strives to be consistent their traditional decision-making processes, while respecting internationally recognised human rights and based on good faith negotiations.

The Mining Facility shall implement policies or procedures to ensure respect for the rights of Indigenous Peoples, conduct an impact assessment on the potential impact of the business on Indigenous Peoples and establish programs to mitigate negative impacts and provide benefits to Indigenous Peoples.

The Mining Facility shall undertake an assessment to assure themselves that the host government conducted adequate consultation with the affected Indigenous Peoples before granting access rights. This provision applies for new mining facilities or significant developments that extend into new areas from 2026.

The facility shall document the mutually accepted process between the Facility and the affected Indigenous Peoples, and any relevant government authorities, and shall evidence the agreement between the parties as the outcome of the negotiations.

The process and outcome shall be made publicly available whether or not the negotiations have resulted in a positive agreement or the Indigenous Peoples have indicated that they do not wish to continue with negotiations, has been obtained and these have resulted in agreement, unless the affected Indigenous Peoples or their representatives request confidentiality.

Obtaining Free Prior and Informed Consent could be associated with any of the following circumstances:

• New mining facilities, or for changes to existing facilities, that are likely to have significant adverse impacts on indigenous peoples including, but not limited to, those associated with:
  • Impacts on lands and natural resources subject to traditional ownership or under customary use.
  • Relocation of indigenous peoples from lands and natural resources subject to traditional ownership or under customary use.
  • Significant impacts on critical cultural heritage that is essential to indigenous peoples’ identity and/ or their cultures, ceremonies or spiritualities.
  • Use of cultural heritage (including indigenous peoples’ knowledge, innovations or practices) for commercial purposes

Entities shall apply the principles of FPIC to groups that exhibit the commonly accepted characteristics of Indigenous Peoples, including:

• Self-identification as members of a distinct indigenous cultural group and recognition of this identity by others.
• Collective attachment to geographically distinct habituate or ancestral territories in the project area and to the natural resources in these habitats and territories.
• Customary cultural, economic, social or political institutions that are separate from those of the dominant society or culture.
• A distinct language or dialect, often different from the official language/s of the country or region in which they reside.

Impact Benefit Agreements are considered a suitable FPIC process where they are carried out in good- faith and with the informed consultation and participation of Indigenous People.

In collaboration with the community, entities periodically monitor the effectiveness of any mechanisms or agreements developed to deliver community benefits, based on agreed upon indicators, and evaluate if changes need to be made to those mechanisms or agreements.

The group/entity/facility must implement an effective process to identify and protect tangible and intangible forms of cultural heritage including:

• engaging with Affected Peoples or Groups and competent professionals to identify unique natural features or tangible objects that embody cultural values and/or intangible forms of cultural heritage, whether or not these are legally protected or previously disturbed by forces of nature/external actors.
• avoiding any impacts on, damage to or removal or significant alteration of critical cultural heritage sites, artefacts or values, such as knowledge/skills
• assessing the overall benefits of the mining operations and any technically or financially viable alternatives before removing any cultural heritage items and, where removal is warranted, ensuring this is carried out by competent professionals and the items are registered and information about the cultural heritage items is shared with Affected People or Groups
• where relevant, consulting with agencies responsible for protected area governance and management and Affected People or Groups on any proposed new or major expansion project or new mining and mineral processing operations, and major changes to existing ones
• developing and implementing management plans for the protection of cultural heritage and to avoid or remedy impacts with input from competent professional/s and in consultation with Affected Peoples and Groups
• implementing controls to avoid or mitigate adverse impacts
• providing rights of access to such sites or values subject to consultations with affected communities and subject to any overriding health, safety, and security risks
• communicating with and training relevant workers, contractors and visitors with respect to cultural awareness, cultural heritage site recognition and adherence to the management plans controls and monitoring systems

Where impacts on sacred or cultural heritage sites and values have been caused by mining operations the group/entity/facility shall implement mitigation and remedial action documented by competent professionals, using internationally recognised standards for the protection of cultural heritage in consultation with relevant agencies and stakeholders including Affected People or Groups. The actions should follow the hierarchy of restorative measures being undertaken in-situ, through relocation or, if this is not possible, complying with laws, covenants and internationally recognised standards for the removal and cataloguing of historical and archaeological artefacts and structures and making records available to local heritage agencies and Affected People or Groups.

Mining Facilities will, as appropriate, participate in initiatives, including multi-stakeholder initiatives, which enable the professionalisation and formalisation of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), where it occurs within their areas of operation.

Where artisanal and small-scale mining operates on or around a Mining Facility, the entity will engage directly with them as part of their Social and Environmental Impact Assessment and community engagement processes, incorporating ASM into ongoing risk management activities.

As part of their ongoing engagement, communicate with local communities that may be affected by the ASM operations and ensure that they have implemented methods to access the grievance system to resolve concerns.

Mining facilities will establish an ASM policy and management plan to ensure ASM considerations are included in all aspects throughout the mine life cycle.

Entities with Mining Facilities will ensure that security risk assessments are conducted and that security personnel receive training and operate in accordance with the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights and promote protection of human rights.

The human rights of any Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASM) producers should be explicitly addressed in the training of private security personnel and any other relevant staff.

In some countries, the term Indigenous may be controversial, and local terms may be used which are broadly equivalent, such as tribal peoples, aboriginal people, first peoples, native people. In other situations, Indigenous Peoples may not be recognised by the State.

Entities’ whose business is provision of private security services to the jewellery supply chain shall be certified members of the International Code of Conduct Association (ICoCA).

The group/entity/facility with mining facilities will prepare and regularly review a mine closure plan in relation to each mining facility and ensure that adequate capacity and resources, including financial provisions, are available to meet closure and rehabilitation requirements. For new operations this must be done from start-up. Closure funding estimates shall be reviewed periodically during the mining lifecycle.

The closure plan shall prioritise protection of human health and the environment and include details of the location and background, relevant operations, the consultation process, agreed on post-mining land-use and methods and timeline for land and ecosystem rehabilitation, maintenance and monitoring.

There must be regular engagement with local stakeholders in relation to each mining facility including Indigenous peoples, communities, ASM, employees and regulators, regarding mine closure and rehabilitation plans.

Land disturbed or occupied by mining facilities shall be rehabilitated in a timely manner with the objective of establishing an appropriate self-sustaining ecosystem or other post-mining land use developed through engagement with key stakeholders in the mine closure planning process.

If post-closure water treatment is required, the mining facility shall commission an independent engineering and risk assessment by suitably qualified technical experts to establish the environmental, social and financial impacts and taking account of the views of Affected People or Groups.

The group/entity/facility with mining facilities will report publicly on their sustainability performance using the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Standards, or comparable recognised reporting guidelines, on an annual basis.

The report’s dataset must be externally assured.