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SUSTAINABILITY

Nature

Nature provides critical inputs via ecosystem services that support our industrial activities. Our industrial assets have the potential to impact surrounding ecosystems throughout their lifecycle.

From project design to operational closure, we focus on reducing our physical footprint on land; by identifying, managing and addressing our actual and potential impacts on biodiversity, and by applying the principles of the mitigation hierarchy (avoid, minimise, restore, offset).

Watch Lucy Roberts, Head of HSEC and Human Rights, speak about our approach to rehabilitation

Our approach

We seek to responsibly minimise and mitigate the impacts of our industrial assets on nature and protect and resore ecoystems where we operate. 

We are responsible for managing areas of land we own or lease that are protected by legislation or other mechanisms. We manage our land in a productive and sustainable manner ensuring proactive stewardship of our landholdings, including those that have not undergone industrial activity. We identify, record and protect in alignment with local regulatory requirements, and we also consider best practice, cultural heritage and archaeologically sensitive locations on our landholdings.

We require our industrial assets to establish a robust environmental and socio-economic knowledge base and to develop risk-based biodiversity action plans and site-level biodiversity targets to drive progress in this important area. These plans can include measures such as preliminary clearing works, habitat relocation, flora and fauna conservation, invasive species control and fire and grazing management. Where possible, we require the plans to support the continuation or enhancement of land practices that benefit local communities, such as grazing and other agricultural activities, while considering impacts to ecosystems. 

We are committed to not conducting any exploration, drilling or mining in World Heritage areas and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) category I-IV protected areas (‘no-go’ areas), and to not putting the integrity of such properties at risk. Our industrial assets work to avoid the loss of any IUCN Red List threatened species.

Nature

We support species preservation and biodiversity conservation through integrated land use planning and management practices, partnerships and research, where appropriate. This contributes to the long-term sustainability of our industrial assets and the environment in which we operate, by seeking opportunities to reduce our operational footprint, and addressing biodiversity impacts. 

Our goal is to seek opportunities to achieve no net loss of biodiversity (NNL) by  completion of closure, in line with our NNL methodology (our NNL goal).

Sites in scope of our NNL methodology define physical and operational oundaries for biodiversity and undertake biodiversity assessments to develop plans that  upport our NNL goal. 

Developing biodiversity targets

As part of their plans to support our NNL goal, sites in scope of the NNL  methodology have set process and/or outcome-based targets to progress key  outcomes.

They may continue to build on these plans as shorter- or medium-term targets are achieved over time. Biodiversity target-setting is supported by our NNL methodology and target setting training programme. The programme delivers training on target-setting based on a standardised biodiversity accounting  framework. It enables establishment of methodical biodiversity targets based on industrial asset’s biodiversity context and using a consistent metric for biodiversity loss-gain accounting.

Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)

We have actively participated, through the ICMM, in reviews and pilot programmes that have supported the testing, iteration and refinement of recommendations from the TNFD. We have incorporated various elements of the TNFD recommendations into our environmental governance framework, such as the TNFD’s LEAP  (locate, evaluate, assess, and prepare) approach. 

Since 2021, the team at our Antapaccay copper asset in Peru has been working on an afforestation project in Espinar, planting species of Andean trees which can help with water and temperature regulation and provide a habitat for wild flora and fauna. Watch to hear more.

High biodiversity areas

Where we own or lease land adjacent to protected areas or high biodiversity areas outside of protected areas, we require the relevant industrial assets to have completed biodiversity risk assessments and have biodiversity management plans in place where required. 

Our industrial assets located within or near areas identified as having a high biodiversity value include:

Asia

Country Industrial asset Area of high biodiversity value
Philippines Pasar smelter and refinery Near an area of high biodiversity value containing several endangered coral species as well as mangroves which support fauna such as coral, hermit crabs, mud crabs and birds.
Kazakhstan  Kazzinc (Altay concentrator) Near Nizhne-Turgusun State Nature Sanctuary, which is of botanical importance


Australia and New Caledonia

Country Industrial asset Area of high biodiversity value
Australia Rolleston mine Near to the Albinia National Park, which includes a large, protected area that sustains an endangered Bluegrass plant community.
Australia Clermont mine Near to the adjoining Blair Athol and Apsley State Forests, and the Bluegrass Nature Refuge. There is also a refuge area for the endangered Belyando Cobbler’s-Peg (a perennial daisy that is short-lived) on the mine lease.
Australia Hail Creek mine Near to the Homevale National Park, which protects important biodiversity and historic fossil locations.
Australia United Wambo mine Near to the Wollemi National Park. 
Australia Bulga mine Near the Wollemi and Yengo National Parks and situated adjacent to the Lower Hunter Valley which is an ‘Important Bird and Biodiversity Area’ internationally recognised by BirdLife International. The Wollemi and Yengo National Parks are part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.
Australia Ulan mine Near the Goulburn River National Park and Munghorn Gap Nature Reserve and lies within the Mudgee-Wollar Important Bird and Biodiversity Area.
Australia Mount Owen mine Partly within the Ravensworth State Forest
Australia Newlands mine Near the Newlands Nature Refuge area that supports Blue Grass and Brigalow plant communities and birds such as Squatter Pigeon and Satin Flycatcher.
Australia Queensland Metals (Lady Loretta mine) Within the Buckley River Important Bird and Biodiversity Area. It supports i.a. habitat of Purple necked Wallaby as well as Carpentarian Grass Wren.
Australia McArthur River mine Near the McArthur River which is of high biodiversity value due to the diversity and abundance of fauna that the river supports. A key species of concern is the Largetooth Sawfish, which is listed as Vulnerable under local legislation and the foraging habitat of the Gouldian Finch must be protected.
New Caledonia Koniambo industrial complex Within the Massif de Koniambo Important Bird and Biodiversity Area and near the Voh Marine Important Bird and Biodiversity Area.


Africa 

Country Industrial asset Area of high biodiversity value
Democratic Republic of Congo Mutanda Mining Within the Basse-Kando Hunting Zone which contains species of diverse fauna and flora.
South Africa Chrome PSV (Helena, Thorncliffe and Magareng mines) Within the Sekhukuneland Centre of Plant Endemism, the third richest ultramafic-induced Centre of Plant Endemism in Southern Africa. They are also located within Critical Biodiversity Areas identified in provincial biodiversity conservation plans.
South Africa Chrome PSV (Kroondal mine) Within the transition zone of the Magaliesberg Biosphere Reserve, that lies at the interface between two biomes, the grassland plateaux and the sub-Saharan savanna, and therefore contains species of both biomes and exceptionally diverse fauna and flora. The Magaliesberg Biosphere Reserve is located in its concession and also overlaps with the Magaliesberg Important Bird and Biodiversity Area.
South Africa Chrome PSV (Lydenburg smelter) Near freshwater critical biodiversity and ecological support areas, as defined in the 2014 Mpumalanga biodiversity conservation plan. It also sits within the Lydenburg Nature Reserve.
  Chrome PSV (Rietvlei and Waterval mines) Near the Magaliesberg Protected Natural Environment and Magaliesberg Important Bird and Biodiversity Area. Rietvlei mine is located within a Critical Biodiversity Area (CBA 2), adjacent to an Ecological Support Area (ESA 1) and near both, a terrestrial and aquatic CBA 1. The Waterval Chrome mine is located within a CBA 2 and an ESA 2 area.
South Africa Chrome PSV (Boshoek Smelter) Within a Critical Biodiversity Area (CBA 2) and an Ecological Support Area (ESA 1) and includes riparian areas of medium sensitivity associated with watercourses.
South Africa Astron (Milnerton Refinery, East London Terminal and Durban Lubricant Plant) Near the Rietvlei Wetland Reserve and Bird Sanctuary in the Table Bay Nature Reserve, designated as key biodiversity and protected areas; near East London and South key biodiversity area; and near Bluff Nature Reserve, a key biodiversity area.


Europe

Country Industrial asset Area of high biodiversity value
Spain Asturiana de Zinc (San Juan de Nieva smelter) Near the Monumento Natural Dunas El Espartal, home to a sensitive and important dune ecosystem and near the Cabo Busto-Luanco Important Bird and Biodiversity Area and Natura 2000 site, which is part of a EU network of core breeding and nesting sites for rare and threatened species and natural habitat types.
United Kingdom Britannia Refined Metals (BRM) refinery Near the Thames Estuary and Marshes Important Bird and Biodiversity Area.
Germany Nordenham smelter Near the Unterweser Important Bird and Biodiversity Area and Natura 2000 site Unterweser. It is also near the Butjadingen Important Bird and Biodiversity Area and Natura 2000 birds directive site, as well as to the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park, which is also a designated Natura 2000 site.


South America

Country Industrial asset Area of high biodiversity value
Colombia Cerrejon mine Near the Mushaisa Aguas Blancas Santos Helena private reserve, which is part of the RUNAP network of natural protected areas. Near the Montes de Octa forest reserve.
Brazil AleSat (Brasilia Terminal) Near Brasilia National Park, a key biodiversity and protected area.


North America

Country Industrial asset Area of high biodiversity value
Canada CCR refinery Near the Fleuve Saint-Laurent protected area, which is on the banks of the St Lawrence river. This area is an important waterfowl gathering area, and near the Iles-de-Boucherville national park. 
Canada Sudbury mine Near the Windy Lake Provincial Park, which is protected as a recreational area
Canada Raglan mine Near a meteoritic crater within the Parc national des Pingualuit

Environmental incidents

We seek to reduce our environmental impacts through decreasing the number of environmental incidents. We assess and record high potential risk incidents (HPRIs) at our industrial assets, which include events that could have resulted in a catastrophic or major environmental incident. The relevant senior management teams’ share lessons learnt from HPRIs and the affected industrial assets are required to implement action plans to address the causes and prevent repeats.

Principles we follow

  • UN Global Compact
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  • Principle 7

    businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges

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  • Principle 8

    undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility

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  • Principle 9

    encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies

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