For over 35 years, James Cooney has been a mining industry leader and consensus builder in Canada and overseas. He was at the forefront of the mining industry’s movement to sustainable development.

Initially based at Cominco (now Teck), Cooney spent most of his career at Placer Dome (now Barrick). His work has focused on the social and political challenges of mining in less developed regions of the world.

In the early 1990s, he was in the minority in the industry in advocating sustainable development as a comprehensive and integrated approach to managing environmental, community and governmental issues. In 1996, Placer Dome became the first mining company to adopt a corporate sustainable development policy and program of action.

During the next four years, as chair of the Public Policy Committee of the ICME (now ICMM), Cooney led member companies to adopt an Industry Sustainable Development Charter, which became the launch pad for the Global Mining Initiative and MMSD project. He continues to contribute his insights and ideas to the ongoing dialogue between the industry and its stakeholders.