Our responsibility to our host communities and countries is to minimise our environmental impacts and anticipate the successful social and environmental closure of our mines.
Our approach
We aim to restore the land we have occupied to an economically viable end land use, in consultation with our stakeholders, and ensure that local water quantity and quality are safeguarded for future generations. We also consider avenues to best eliminate any health and safety concerns that communities could be exposed to.
Closure plans are integrated from the very start during the permitting process and constantly revised and enhanced throughout the mine life cycle and operational phase. All of our sites have conceptual closure plans in place.
All sites maintain closure and rehabilitation plans which are approved by national authorities and continuously updated throughout the mines’ life cycle.
For more information on how we manage mine closure, please view the factsheet below:
Closure investment
As at the end of 2022, total restricted cash held for this purpose was approximately $36.3 million and meets our regulatory requirement.
Land rehabilitation
During 2022, we rehabilitated 30 hectares across our operations.
Mine rehabilitation
The majority of rehabilitation expenses are expected to occur between 2022 and 2037.
Group Closure Standard
During 2021, we implemented our Group Closure Standard which details our guidelines and minimum requirements, as well as rehabilitation schedules, including our recently acquired sites. To support the rollout of our new Group Closure Standard, all key staff were trained on the new requirements. As part of our closure plans and to comply with environmental laws and regulations, we also make financial provisions to a fund to cover the costs of implementing an environmental preservation and rehabilitation programme. We report on this as part of our annual financial statements. The majority of rehabilitation expenses are expected to occur between 2022 and 2037.
Sustainability Report 2023
Read about our ESG strategy and the significant sustainability milestones reached in 2023.
