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Diamond drilling resumed at Barsele project • Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management BHP launches Supplier Innovation Program Colorado Resources commences exploration at Castle
Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management
Following the tragic tailings facility collapse at Brumadinho, Brazil on 25 January 2019, the Global Tailings Review was jointly convened in March 2019 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM).
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The Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management was launched on 5 August 2020, less than 18 months later. “It is with great pleasure that I present the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management, which sets a precedent for the safe management of tailings facilities, towards the goal of zero harm,” said Dr Bruno Oberle, Chair of the Global Tailings Review.
“The catastrophic dam collapse at Vale’s Córrego de Feijão mine in Brumadinho was a human and environmental tragedy that demanded decisive and appropriate action to enhance the safety and strengthen the governance of tailings facilities across the globe. I am particularly pleased to deliver a document which reflects and addresses the complexity and multi-disciplinary nature of sound tailings management.
“It has been a privilege to lead this work and I now call on all mining companies, governments and investors to use the Standard and to continue to work together to improve the safety of tailings facilities globally. It is my hope that the Standard will be supported by an independent body that can maintain the quality and further refine and strengthen the Standard over time.” The Standard covers six key topics: • affected communities • integrated knowledge base • design, construction, operation and monitoring of tailings facilities • management and governance • emergency response and long-term recovery • public disclosure and access to information.
The Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management is directed at operators and applies to tailings facilities, both existing and to-be-built. It makes clear that extreme consequences to people and the environment from catastrophic tailings facility failures are unacceptable.
Operators must have zero tolerance for human fatalities and strive for zero harm to people and the environment from the earliest phases of project conception. To be compliant with the Standard, operators must use specified measures to prevent the catastrophic failure of tailings facilities and to implement best practices in planning, design, construction, operation, maintenance, monitoring, closure and post closure activities.
Overall, conformance is expected where there is no conflict with the legislative requirements of the jurisdictions where tailings facilities are located.
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BHP launches Supplier Innovation Program
BHP has partnered with Austmine, the leading industry body for the Australian mining equipment, technology and services (METS) sector, to launch a new supplier innovation program across Australia. Following a successful program in its Minerals Americas business, the BHP Austmine Supplier Innovation Program will provide opportunities for Australian METS companies to come together to help solve business challenges.
“As our industry shifts towards more remote and technologicallyenabled operations, our ability to find unique and innovative solutions to business challenges will be critical,” said Sundeep Singh, Group Procurement Officer. “This program is different to our usual approach to sourcing, where we know what we need to buy. Instead, we will go to the market with a question instead of an answer, and ask potential vendors how to solve it.
“We want to play our part in supporting Australia’s METS sector, so together we can deliver world-leading solutions for the resources industry straight from our operations. Now more than ever, as we play our part to support Australia’s economic recovery through COVID-19, our partnerships with Australian METS suppliers can make a real difference to our industry and beyond.”
Colorado Resources has commenced exploration at the Castle Project in the Golden Triangle region of Northern British Columbia. The field program is designed to minimize physical contact with local communities and strictly adhere to Covid-19 guidelines established by the British Columbia Government, local First Nations and the company.
The 2020 field program will comprise surface sampling, mapping, and an induced polarization survey at the highly prospective Castle Property where past exploration discovered two porphyry coppergold systems. These two systems, Castle East and Castle Main, are located five and eight kilometres, respectively, along trend to the west of GT Gold’s Saddle North copper-gold deposit, where a significant maiden resource was announced on 7 July 2020.
The 2020 field program, designed to lay the framework for a robust drill program in 2021, will test the hypothesis that there are multiple unexplored porphyry centres along the Castle-Saddle Trend.
Newmont ranked top miner in 100 Best Corporate Citizens List
Newmont Corporation was ranked 13th overall in 3BL Media’s (formerly Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s) 100 Best Corporate Citizens list for 2020, moving up from 20th on last year’s list. Newmont was the sole mining company in the top 20 and one of only two miners on the list. 3BL Media’s 100 Best Corporate Citizens ranks the 1,000 largest, publicly traded US companies on environmental, social and governance (ESG) transparency and performance. 3BL Media’s partner, ISS ESG, conducts the research and processes the ranking based on publicly available information and data gathered by reputable, third party organizations.
Newmont has also been recognised for its ESG performance by several other independent organizations in the past twelve months, including the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI) which named the company the top gold miner for the fifth year in a row in 2019. Newmont was the top mining company in FORTUNE’s 2020 list of the World’s Most Admired Companies.
