Through the InterRidge web page, I have read with great concern the report of the Shangai meeting. It is my recollection (steering committee in St Peterburg) that this panel was put in place to work on a code of conduct and procedures to evaluate environmental aspects and set requirements for industry. I find extremely worrysome that there is a push to expand the role of the group to 'provide expertise' for mining industries (prospecting) and provide 'expert assistance to industry'. We cannot prevent individual scientists from doing so, but InterRidge should not be involved in this effort, nor appear to be doing so in any way. If as a community we go this way, InterRidge will not be able to be in a position to both establish 'environmental rules' and benefit industry partners at the same time. This aspect should be clarified as soon as possible, as there is little or no consultation with the broader scientific community. I CC Catherine Mevel, as she is part of the panel. I reiterate that I am extremely interested in contributing towards a discussion on the aspects of data standarization, data types to collect, and more importantly, how to establish a reporting ane evaluation that is independent from industry (even if financed by it).
Javier Escartin
