Materials stewardship encompasses the responsible management of both processes and product. Exploration, extracting and refining minerals and metals must be done in a way that minimises environmental impacts and health and safety risks – this includes the optimisation of raw materials, energy efficiency, waste minimisation and reuse. Safeguarding the health and safety of our workforce and reducing our environmental footprint is our responsibility and makes good economic sense. Gold mining generates a large amount of mineralised waste, the majority in the form of waste rock and tailings. Mine operation also produces a variety of non-mineralised hazardous and non- hazardous waste materials.
There is significant opportunity across our business to be more efficient with the resources we use, and to draw the maximum value from materials requiring a systematic and structured approach to material and process optimisation in each business area.
At Sukari we have detailed waste management plans in place to ensure all hazardous and non-hazardous waste generated is managed in a manner that minimises environmental risks, and promotes and reduces closure and reclamation liabilities.
TAILINGS MANAGEMENT
Gold mining creates a significant amount of tailings waste as mined ore is crushed, milled and processed to separate the gold from the ore.
This process involves hazardous chemicals and reagents such as cyanide and flotation chemicals, of which residual quantities remain in the tailings after processing.
These tailings form the bulk of Centamin’s hazardous waste and are pumped into a specially designed and engineered earth-filled lined impoundment known as a tailings storage facility ("TSF"). TSFs need to be carefully managed and monitored to ensure the stability of the embankment walls and to prevent seepage of possible Contaminants into the local environment.
Centamin is committed to the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (“GISTM”) with the objective to cause no harm to people or the environment through tailings facility design, operation and closure. We are targeting compliance with this standard by August 2023, and as a first step completed a gap analysis of our tailings governance and management framework using the ICMM Conformance Protocols for the GISTM.
Disclosures on Tailings Management
