Tag Archives: Mining Association of Canada

Barrick Gold advances emissions reductions targets after a year of ESG positives in 2020

Environmental, Mining services, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , ,

Barrick Gold has decided to up the ESG ante with a new emissions reduction target to 2030 that makes its goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050 that much more achievable.

The company said its ESG strategy delivered tangible results in 2020, included zero Class 1 environmental incidents, a new record of 79% water recycling and re-use by its operations, and the introduction of fully functional community development committees at all its operating sites to guide its social investment programs.

Speaking in a virtual presentation on sustainability this week, Barrick President and CEO, Mark Bristow, said: “At the beginning of last year, we set an emissions reduction target of 10% by 2030 against a 2018 baseline that combined the data from the legacy Barrick and Randgold operations as well as newly acquired assets. Through the year, we worked on identifying further reduction opportunities and this has enabled us to set an updated target of at least 30% by 2030 with an interim reduction target of 15% based on projects already being implemented, while maintaining a steady production profile.”

He added: “Ultimately our aim is to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, achieved primarily through greenhouse gas reductions and offsets for some hard-to-abate emissions,” he said.

Sustainability has long been a strategic business priority for the company, according to Bristow.

“Our strategy is based on four pillars: the creation of economic benefits for all stakeholders; the protection of health and safety at our mines and in their host communities; a respect for human rights; and the minimisation of our environmental impacts. For us, ESG is not a corporate compliance function: it’s integral to how we manage our businesses worldwide.”

In the same presentation, Barrick’s Group Sustainability Executive, Grant Beringer, said all the company’s sites had been certified to the ISO 14001:2015 environmental management standard. Each site had also been empowered to manage its own environmental issues under the oversight of the group’s strategic leadership. There was a particularly rigorous approach to management of tailings facilities, the company added.

Beringer said: “Our tailings and heap leach management standard has been aligned with the recently updated guidelines of the International Council on Mining and Metals, of which Barrick is a member, as well as those of the Mining Association of Canada. The standard sets out six levels of inspection and surety for the safe operation of tailings and heap leach facilities.”

The Mining Association of Canada updates tailings management guidance

Environmental, Mining policy, Mining safety, Mining services, Sustainable mining, Water management, , , ,

The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) has announced updates to its guidance on responsible tailings management that, the association says, aligns its policies with the ‘Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management’ published last year.

The Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) standard, first developed by MAC in 2004, is a globally recognised sustainability program that supports mining companies in managing key environmental and social risks. TSM was the first mining sustainability standard in the world to require site-level assessments and is mandatory for all companies that are members of implementing associations.

Through TSM, eight critical aspects of social and environmental performance are evaluated, independently validated, and publicly reported against 30 distinct performance indicators.

As part of this, MAC has also come up with its ‘Tailings Management Protocol’ and supporting guidance documents.

“TSM provides an established system for credible performance measurement and reporting, including rigorous standards to help ensure that tailings facilities are being responsibly managed,” MAC said. “Effective tailings management is rightly being prioritised more than ever to ensure that stakeholders, communities surrounding mine sites, investors and the general public can have confidence in how mining operations are being run.”

Pierre Gratton, MAC’s President & CEO, said the publication of the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management last year provided a good opportunity to review TSM’s requirements, with a view to incorporating aspects of it that would further enhance the safe management of tailings facilities around the world.

“What we found was broad alignment in most critical aspects, plus some opportunities to further strengthen our guidance and TSM requirements,” he said. “We also found that, in many respects, TSM is more detailed and rigorous than the standard and is a surer guarantee of the safe management of tailings facilities.”

In efforts to ensure continued best practices and world leading tailings management expertise, MAC has updated ‘A Guide to the Management of Tailings Facilities’ to improve alignment with requirements of the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management. These updates, the first step in a process of further strengthening TSM requirements and guidance for tailings management, are based on a detailed comparison of the equivalency of TSM requirements to those of the standard, MAC said. To further align with the standard, MAC is also expanding the application of the TSM Tailings Management Protocol to closed and inactive sites.

With these changes, TSM will, MAC says, meet or exceed most of the requirements in the standard and will continue to:

  1. Provide more detailed and rigorous performance measurement expectations. For example, the standard has three high-level requirements related to developing and implementing an operation, maintenance and surveillance (OMS) manual for tailings facilities, whereas TSM identifies more than 120 items that must be addressed to be in conformance with the TSM requirement to develop and implement an OMS manual;
  2. Take a more comprehensive approach to identifying and addressing human and community rights and benefits; and
  3. Have an established and independent verification process with almost two decades of experience measuring, assuring and publicly reporting site level performance.

Adam Matthews, Chief Responsible Investment Officer, Church of England Pensions Board, who repesented the Principles for Responsible Investment that helped developed the standard, said: “We welcome the Mining Association of Canada’s intent to incorporate the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management into the TSM framework. We hope and expect the mining industry as a whole to adopt the standard, and support improvements that will lead to the safer management of waste.”

TSM does not fully address elements of the standard related to the planning, design, and initial construction of new tailings facilities. In addition to guidance in the MAC Tailings Guide, MAC members also rely upon the Canadian Dam Association safety guidelines and tailings dam bulletins.

Gratton concluded: “With the growth and expansion of TSM internationally, including its adoption most recently by the Minerals Council of Australia, we now have a robust system for ensuring the promotion and implementation of best practices in tailings management the world over.”

Minerals Council of Australia members to adopt Canada’s TSM sustainability system

Environmental, Mining industry recognition, Mining policy, Sustainable mining, , , , , ,

Australia’s minerals industry is to introduce the Mining Association of Canada’s Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) system to, the Minerals Council of Australia says, further improve site-level performance through regular and transparent reporting on safety, environmental and social indicators, including partnerships with First Nations landholders and communities.

Adopting TSM – implemented worldwide among key mining nations – will support companies in demonstrating site-level safety, sustainability and environmental, social and governance performance through better measurement and accountability, the MCA said. TSM will also show how operations engage with Traditional Owners while supporting social and economic aspirations and heritage protection.

MCA CEO, Tania Constable, said the phased introduction of TSM as an expectation of MCA membership will give industry stakeholders, including First Nations partners, local communities and groups, investors and customers, additional assurance and visibility on the sector’s site-level sustainability performance across a range of important practical measures.

TSM builds on existing commitments to Enduring Value – the Australian minerals industry’s corporate-level sustainable development framework – by providing a consistent and independently verified approach to assess and communicate site level performance, supporting trust and enhancing confidence in the industry’s sustainability credentials, the MCA said.

Constable added: “Australian mining is a global leader in sustainability performance, and it’s time to take another step forward to enhance community, investor and customer trust and confidence in the industry.”

Mining Association of Canada CEO, Pierre Gratton, said: “TSM has led to better outcomes for mining communities in Canada and around the world, and it’s great that Australia has chosen TSM as the vehicle to demonstrate environmental and social performance in its mining sector. We are very proud of TSM’s increasingly global reach and power to improve sustainability through measuring site-level performance.”

The system includes guiding principles and standardised protocols to be adapted for Australian implementation, including:

  • Communities and people: Indigenous and community relationships, safety and health, crisis management and communication planning, preventing child and forced labour;
  • Environmental stewardship: biodiversity conservation management, tailings management, water stewardship; and
  • Climate change: site-level targets and management.

The program was established in 2004 by the Mining Association of Canada to enable mining companies to demonstrate how they are meeting society’s needs for minerals, metals and energy products in the most socially, economically and environmentally responsible way, with its core strengths including:

  • Accountability: participation in TSM will be an expectation for all Mining Association of Canada members for their Australian operations, with assessments conducted at the facility level where the mining activity takes place;
  • Transparency: members will publicly report their performance in line with standardised protocols and indicators; and
  • Credibility: TSM includes ongoing consultation with a national Community of Interest Advisory Panel, an independent multi-stakeholder group, to oversee and shape the program for continual advancement.

Canada government invests in climate change adaptation project for mining

Environmental, Mining policy, Sustainable mining, , , , , ,

The Government of Canada says it is investing in climate adaptation and resilience, while supplying the minerals and metals needed for clean technologies throughout the world, through the funding of a climate change adaptation project for the mining sector.

Paul Lefebvre, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources, Amarjeet Sohi, on Friday announced an investment of more than C$325,000 ($238,000) in the Mining Association of Canada’s (MAC) project.

The investment was announced as part of National Mining Week (May 13 to 19, 2019), reiterating the importance of the mining sector to Canada’s clean growth future, the government said.

Lefebvre said: “By investing in sustainable mining projects like this one by the Mining Association of Canada, our government is helping ensure that our natural resources, including minerals and metals, play an important role in supplying the building blocks for clean technologies across the world. By helping our mining sector to adapt to a changing climate, we are proving once more that the environment and the economy go hand in hand.”

“Funded through Natural Resources Canada’s Climate Change Adaptation Program, this project will enable MAC to work with industry and other experts to develop best practices and guidance for the mining sector on climate change risks and adaptation measures,” it said.

The project – Climate Change Risk and Adaptation Best Practices for the Mining Sector – will give mine operators the tools and knowledge needed to better plan for climate change in decision-making at all stages of mine life, according to the government. As a result, mining operations will be more resilient to a changing climate and extreme weather events.

With a total value of C$650,000, the project received additional support from MAC, Golder Associates and Lorax Environmental Services.

Pierre Gratton, President and Chief Executive Officer, MAC (pictured), said: “The outcome of this project will be the first of its kind – best practice guidance for our industry to both assess potential future climate changes at mine sites and assess potential impacts of those changes on mine operations and infrastructure.”

This investment builds on other Government of Canada initiatives, namely the Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan, which was developed in collaboration with provincial and territorial governments, Indigenous peoples, industry and civil society. The plan is based on a number of strategic directions for the future of the sector, one of which is the environment, and includes a vision for the continual reduction of mining’s environmental footprint and systematic climate change adaptation planning, the government said.

The Mining Association of Canada is the national voice of the Canadian mining industry, according to the government. “Working alongside its members, MAC promotes the industry nationally and internationally, works with governments on policies affecting the sector and educates the public on the value mining brings to the economy and the daily life of Canadians.”

From May 27–29, 2019, Canada will welcome over 25 countries to this year’s Clean Energy Ministerial and Mission Innovation Ministerial to discuss a future that is “cleaner, brighter and more prosperous for generations to come”, the government said.

The MWSG issues advice on security management planning for mine sites

Mining safety, Mining services, , , ,

The Mining Security Working Group (MWSG) has produced its first white paper regarding security management planning, which provides guidance for developing a Security Management Plan (SMP) that supports implementation of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPSHR), and the application of other international best practices.

The MSWG, which says it supports the initiatives of the Government of Canada, the Mining Association of Canada, and extractives industry leaders in promoting respect for human rights, said its whitepaper represents the best practices and practical experience of MSWG members gained from applying these measures around the world.

Established in 2015, the MSWG is a forum for subject matter experts and security practitioners within the extractive industry to collaborate and share insights and learnings of ongoing challenges, technological advances, best practices, and further the goals of industry initiatives such as the VPSHR and UN Declaration of Human Rights.

The VPSHR, which were established in 2000, are a set of principles designed to guide companies in maintaining the safety and security of their operations within an operating framework that encourages respect for human rights.

The MWSG said: “Implementation and application of the VPSHR requires an organisation to conduct threat and risk assessments, develop department standards for proprietary and contract security, and carefully consider their relationship with, and support for, public security.

“To accomplish this, a well-considered security management plan that follows industry best practices is required.”

This is where the SMP comes in.

An SMP is a document that outlines the organisation’s security philosophy, strategies, goals, programmes, and processes, according to the MWSG.

“It provides strategic guidance for the security department’s development and direction in a manner that is consistent with the company’s overall business plan. It should also outline risk assessment and mitigation plans,” the group said.

“The SMP guides the company’s actions in mitigating and protecting against risks of a security and human rights nature that could threaten communities, employees, facilities, operations, production, the reputation of the company and its global operations.”

An important consideration of SMP development is aligning the mission and strategies of the security programme with those of the organisation, the MWSG said. This ensures the security function is not seen just as an expense, but is an integral part of the business and contributes to an environment of success.

“The SMP is a tool that helps the security manager achieve agreement and buy-in from other business units. It articulates how the security department interrelates and supports all areas of the organisation.”

The MWSG outlines seven areas that need to be covered in the development of an effective security management plan:

  1. Principles of security management;
  2. Developing a blueprint;
  3. Security management;
  4. Risk management;
  5. Risk assessment;
  6. Policy and procedures, and;
  7. Security supervision and control.

“There are many documents, available from a variety of sources, that address implementation of the VPSHR. They all discuss the need for policies and procedures that support the principles, but an organisation must have a strong security foundation to ensure the success of the implementation process,” the MSWG said.

For more information on the MSWG, follow this link.

Canada launches ambitious mining and metals plan to improve sector competitiveness

Mineral commodities, Mineral exploration, Mining finance, Mining policy, Sustainable mining, , , , ,

Canada’s national organisation for the mining industry, the Mining Association of Canada (MAC), has welcomed a new initiative in support of the country’s minerals and metals industry.

The Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan (CMMP), which includes measures that aim to enhance the sector’s competitiveness, advance the participation of Indigenous communities and promote Canada’s role as a global leader in the mining sector, is an ambitious plan and provides vision that will position the industry for success in the years to come, MAC said.

Pierre Gratton, President and CEO of MAC, said: “We appreciated the opportunity to collaborate with federal, provincial and territorial governments to provide the perspective of Canada’s mining industry throughout the drafting process of the CMMP.”

Amarjeet Sohi (pictured), Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, presented the plan at the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada event, in Toronto, Canada.

He said: “In a world increasingly looking for sustainably and responsibly sourced mineral products, Canada is unmatched. As global demand for sustainably developed resources grows, Canada must continue to capitalise on its natural and human advantage to ensure our competitiveness in global markets.”

Given the important role Canada’s mining industry plays in the economy and as an employer in communities across the country, addressing the sector’s competitiveness has been an issue of critical importance over the past several years, according to MAC.

“While Canada has long benefited from a prosperous minerals and metals industry, we are not immune to global competitive forces, and cannot take the benefits and opportunities that mining offers Canadians for granted,” Gratton said. “In order to attract greater investment and enhance the competitiveness of the mining sector, the CMMP proposes a number of initiatives, including strategic investments in infrastructure, supporting financing and taxation systems that support exploration, promoting more agile and efficient regulatory systems and investing in Indigenous training initiatives and mining innovation. If all of Canada’s governments take steps to put this plan into action, the competitive landscape for new mineral exploration and mining investment will be much improved.”

As demand for minerals and metals continues to grow, and with Canada a demonstrable leader in sustainable mining practices, there is tremendous potential for the country to position itself as a responsible supplier of the mineral and metal products the world needs, according to MAC.

“While much needs to be done to bolster the sector’s domestic and international leadership, the good news is that Canada already has strong building blocks in place and the commitments in the CMMP are encouraging,” Gratton said. “The federal Fall Economic Statement, which included a five-year renewal of the METC (Mineral Exploration Tax Credit) and enhanced accelerated capital cost treatment for resource projects, was an early example of actions that would make a material difference to Canada’s competitiveness. The governments of Newfoundland and Labrador and British Columbia have already announced new measures to support investment in their mining industries, and we look forward to seeing the full implementation of federal, provincial and territorial action plans in the coming months.”