Mines cleaning up their act

Six hundred kilometres northeast of Prince George is the Red Chris mine. It has taken the social element of ESG to heart.

“It’s been really important for us to be engaging and working with the Tahltan and the Province. So we’re getting a lot of support in the permitting and the permitting agencies and, obviously with the host First Nation,” says Jon Gaunt, General Manager of the Newcrest Red Chris Mining Limited. “Being able to work with those groups in a constructive way has been massively important.”

The mine is in the heat of Tahltan territory, a First Nation that has been very business savvy for years.

“So through our impacts, co-benefits agreement, we have multiple forums developed, both at a management level and an environmental level. And also at a social level,” says Nalaine Morin, the Lands Director for the Tahltan Central Government. “And through these types of arrangements, we’re able to have some open and frank conversations. ”

Back at the Copper Mountain mine, the company is targetting very ambitious environmental goals for greenhouse gas emission reductions.

“We set out a target of net-zero by 2035 and that’s a pretty bold target. We’ve identified eight steps to make us one of the lowest GHG copper mines in the world within the next five to seven years,” says Strickland.

by Cheryl Jahn

Mines cleaning up their act

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