Environment

Eastern Mining is committed to protecting the natural environment and using resources in a sustainable manner.

We abide by our duty of care for the area in which we operate, and our local communities by adhering to best-practice environmental and social assessments. These are embedded into complex mine development plans and operational activities with rigorous monitoring and audit provisions, and we as a company continue to strive for improvement.

Key aspects of our environmental approach are:

• We are committed to following the standards laid out by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC Performance Standards), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD Performance Requirements 2019) and the Equator Principles.
• The Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) undertaken at the Vares Project provides us with a thorough understanding of the local environment, the potential impacts of our activities, and how these can be effectively mitigated. Our ESIA process is being managed by international consultancy Wardell Armstrong.
• Our ESIA forms the basis for a robust Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS), which will support our aim to operate in a sustainable manner that eliminates, minimises, mitigates or compensates for adverse impacts while maximising positive environmental and socio-economic impacts.
• We use international best-practice techniques during exploration, development and operations, and are adopting advanced technologies to minimise environmental impacts.
• We actively work to remediate environmental legacy issues from historical mining activities in our host communities.
• We carry out ongoing environmental monitoring to allow for the identification of potential impacts from our operations and the implementation of appropriate mitigation actions. Our monitoring covers a range of environmental indicators including air, soil and water quality, biodiversity, dust, noise, vibration, and energy use.
• Our approach to environmental management is underpinned by our Environment Policy and in-house environmental expertise, clear senior management responsibility and Board oversight.

Among the most relevant environmental issues for our business are:

• Water: we recognise the critical importance of water, including to the communities where we operate. We are therefore committed to managing our water use in an efficient and sustainable way.
• Biodiversity: we strive to protect local biodiversity and to ensure the areas in which we operate remain a positive and viable habitat for local species. Our aim is to achieve ‘no net loss’ of priority biodiversity features or critical habitat and, where possible, to contribute to a ‘net gain’ of biodiversity as a result of our activities.
• Climate change: we recognise that climate change is one of the most significant challenges facing the world today. We therefore aim to minimise our contribution to greenhouse gases, by ensuring efficient use of energy and resources. We also make sure that we actively consider and plan for the risks of climate change to our business, and work with our host communities and other stakeholders on climate change related challenges.
• Tailings: we manage tailings and waste responsibly in conformance with national legislation and international  codes of best practice.