Production activities such as mining, mineral processing and smelting rely heavily on water resources. Clean and safe water resources are crucial for our production and the lives of surrounding communities. We understand that excessive water consumption will affect the surrounding communities and the environment. Therefore, during production and operations, we prioritize and continuously improve water resource management, increasing our water efficiency to reduce negative impacts on local water resources.
| 处于水风险偏高地区的取水量 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 取水量 | 单位 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
We strictly abide by the laws, regulations and policies of the host countries, such as the “Water Law of the People’s Republic of China”, the “Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People’s Republic of China”, and the “Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China”. We also follow international initiatives and standards such as the “Environment, Health, and Safety General Guidelines”, “Mining Industry Environment, Health, and Safety Guidelines”, and “Basic Metal Smelting Industry Environment, Health, and Safety Guidelines” published by the International Finance Corporation (IFC). We conduct our business according to the principle of following high standards.
Our commitment to responsible water consumption is enshrined in our "Policy Statement on Water Resources Management", which explicitly states that the Company's Board and management team are responsible for water resource management strategies and performance, and that water resource management is incorporated in our business planning. We established necessary communication mechanisms with affected communities and stakeholders to effectively manage and share water resources, thus maintaining the water balance along the entire basin.
We used AqueductTM Water Risk Atlas, a tool developed by the World Resources Initiative (WRI), to conduct annual water risk analysis for 45 subsidiaries. This covers physical risk indicators affecting water volume (such as baseline water stress, inter-annual variability, seasonal variability and drought risk), physical risk indicators affecting water quality (such as untreated wastewater and coastal eutrophication trends), and regulatory and reputational risk indicators (such as drinking water issues and sanitation issues). The evaluation results are adjusted based on each asset’s exposure risk coefficient to water stress.
We have developed a series of measures for water resource protection to avoid the negative impacts of our operations on the water security of the rivers and groundwater sources in our host regions. These measures also aim to ensure the quality and quantity of water available to local communities and other residents in the area.
We require all subsidiaries to:
● Set up groundwater monitoring wells in mining areas, surrounding waters and key locations (such as upstream and downstream of tailings storage facilities, landfill sites, etc.) on a quarterly basis at the minimum.
● Install online monitoring systems at all discharge outlets
● Network with the local environmental protection department to achieve real-time monitoring and respond promptly to changes in water quality. All subsidiaries with drainage processes were fully covered with online water quality monitoring
We require all subsidiaries to:
● Strictly comply with the regulations of each region for waterproofing treatment for reservoirs, tailings storage facilities, heap leaching sites,etc.
● Establish diversion facilities to collect rainwaterSet up physical procedures or measures such as seep-proof walls to protect the rivers and groundwater resources of mine areas from being polluted
We use the "Water Balance Model" in each mining area to plan water management. By predicting the annual water withdrawal, consumption and discharge of the mining area, we conduct water resource-related risk management, and adjust water consumption plans scientifically.
We require all subsidiaries to:
● Conduct water consumption analysis and assessment prior to water withdrawal
● Prepare a “Water Resources Justification Report” when withdrawing water directly from rivers, lakes or underground
● Assess the impact of water withdrawal and discharge on surrounding communities and other stakeholders
We regard wastewater management as one of the core issues in our operations and monitor wastewater closely. To avoid major impacts caused by pollutants in wastewater to our neighboring communities, we use our "Environmental Protection and Ecological Information Management Platform" for real-time monitoring of water discharge. This enables us to timely forecast the total volume and concentration of wastewater discharged and provide early warning. In addition, we follow the principles of "Rainwater and Sewage Diversion, Clean Water and Sewage Diversion, Source Reduction, Classified Collection, Treatment Depending on Quality, and Circular Utilization", to recycle and treat industrial wastewater, domestic sewage, and rainwater separately, ensuring the effective use of water resources and meeting the requirements of life-cycle water management at our mine sites.
Regarding acid rock drainage (ARD), we work with external experts to assess and develop methods to reduce ARD generation in mining areas where it may occur based on the “Global Acid Rock Drainage Guidelines”. We incorporate ARD into our overall water cycle system, recovering valuable metals from higher-concentration ARD and then neutralizing it with low-concentration ARD. After ensuring it meets the required standards, we either reuse or discharge the treated water.