Environmental policy
Our environmental commitments comprise of the following:
- adherence to and conformity with South African, Tanzanian and Botswanan environmental laws, regulations and requirements;
- commitment to following international standards of best practice;
- rigorous environmental management of our operations and related activities (within our area of control and influence);
- promotion of environmental awareness among our employees and the community;
- operational control of any process, facility or activity that can or will have an adverse affect on the environment;
- continual improvement of our Environmental Management Systems; and
- validation of our commitment towards the environment through long-term sustainable practices.
In order to ensure that we meet these commitments, we undertake to concentrate on:
- minimising, and where possible, eliminating the visual, noise and vibration impacts of our mining operations;
- rehabilitation of mining residue deposits in order to minimise the negative environmental impacts and to ensure sustainable end-use;
- constant measurement and monitoring of key characteristics in order to prevent potential and mitigate actual pollution to air, land and water;
- ensuring that environmental risk and emergency procedures and plans are developed and kept up to date, as well as made widely available for training and procedural purposes;
- optimise consumption of renewable and non-renewable resources such as water and electricity to guarantee the sustainability of our operations;
- recycle and lawfully dispose of unpreventable solid waste in an environmentally friendly manner;
- reduce environmental impacts from mining on soil integrity, biodiversity and sensitive environmental elements;
- management of all chemicals, substances, materials and containers through responsible purchasing, handling, storage, disposal and clean up of spillages;
- informing, training and making our employees and contractors aware of the importance of sustainable environmental management, in addition to their roles and responsibilities within the relevant Environmental Management System; and
- approach stakeholders openly and transparently on our environmental matters and performance.