External verification of industry's environmental and social performance is an increasingly popular strategy for improving accountability. However, do these processes of verification ultimately add up to a more accountable company or industry? This article describes a case study of external verification in the Australian mining industry. It introduces the Australian Minerals Industry Code for Environmental Management and explores how concepts of accountability and verification have been embedded within it. The case study, a verification process commissioned by Placer Dome Asia Pacific and the research process that accompanied it, is then discussed in brief. The difference between verifying systems and verifying outcomes from those systems is explored. Finally, the article concludes with some recommendations for external verification, both of the Code and of environmental, social or sustainability performance in general.