Mining companies need to work in tandem with governments and NGOs to produce a viable sustainable development model for the industry, David Kerr, president of Canadian miner Noranda, said this week. In a speech prepared for the London Metal Exchange (LME) annual dinner, Kerr said the industry was taking steps to address its unfavourable image. "The fact is, we are perceived negatively, and our freedom to operate is increasingly coming under threat"...The economic requirement for sustainability is that a business should remain profitable, while on the environmental front the mining industry has made significant progress, he said. "When it comes to the social measures, however, our record is more checkered.... It is only recently that issues such as poverty and human rights have begun to bite," Kerr said. He cited the company's Antamina copper-zinc joint venture in Peru as an example of potential social issues facing mining development.