Environmental and Climate Management

Environmental Management

We identify, evaluate, manage and monitor environmental risks and opportunities. At a corporate level, we focus on water, biodiversity, waste management and the circular economy.

Materials and Waste

Our mining operations require the use of a variety of materials from renewable and non-renewable natural resources. According to their category, we control and manage them with the required procedures and measures and design programs to reduce their consumption, guaranteeing maximum utilization.
We try to reuse as many materials as possible, which we reincorporate for different purposes within our facilities or as a contribution to our communities of influence.
We responsibly manage the waste generated, which is treated according to its characteristics and the specific regulations of each country. We separate from the source, collect and dispose of them in our sanitary complexes or recover them with third parties according to their classification, seeking to reduce them or to reintegrate them as material or input in local communities or within our facilities.
We carry out education programs so that our employees and communities in the area of influence are aware of the proper management of recyclable waste and we generate local employment through the commercialization of recyclable waste.

Our Waste Management and Recovery Centers

In Colombia, we are the first mining company to receive the Zero Waste Gold category certification, thanks to the implementation of best practices in the optimal management of solid waste at the Center of Circular Economy, where strategies aimed at reuse and recycling are implemented for better use of resources.

At Hemco Mineros Nicaragua's Wastuna sanitary complex, Hemco Mineros Nicaragua classifies, stores and provides the appropriate treatment of industrial waste generated by the undertaking. This site takes more than 60% of the waste generated. Additionally, waste is dispatched to specialized centres for composting, recycling, and reuse.

Water

We supply water suitable for human consumption through adequate treatment and distribution in the projects where we operate.
We perform periodic preventive maintenance of the water catchment structures and water distribution networks of the projects, ensuring the sustainable use of water resources and the minimization of drinking water losses.
We monitor the quality of water for human consumption to verify compliance with regulations and the proper functioning of treatment systems.
We perform consumption control and optimization of pumping systems to control the captured flow.
We carry out continuous training programs to promote the efficient use and saving of water, including external personnel and/or contractors.
We monitor the use and disposal activities carried out by suppliers and internal production processes.

Biodiversity

We identify, evaluate and mitigate the impacts of our operations in environmental impact studies, in accordance with our operating processes and the environmental characterizations of the areas to be affected by our activities.
We monitor the effects of land cover change, modification of wildlife populations and terrestrial habitats.
Our operating model includes the rescue, removal, management, relocation and release of wildlife; the rehabilitation of disturbed areas; forest compensation; wildlife monitoring and environmental education for our employees, contractors and neighboring communities; and green alliances with artisanal miners, producers and indigenous communities.

Green Alliances in Mineros Nicaragua

Alianza Verde is a strategy developed by Hemco Mineros Nicaragua to contribute to the planting of native plants and reforestation of the area, through agreements with artisanal miners who own property. The owners lend their land for the planting of native forest species.

These alliances are made in compliance with current regulations related to maintenance times and compensation rates. In addition, Hemco Mineros Nicaragua donates 10,000 plants to the governmental environmental institutions of the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, which are used in reforestation activities carried out by these institutions.

Turtle Conservation Programs at Mineros Colombia

In Colombia, due to the degree of threat, their endemism and the impact we can have on the river turtle (Podocnemys lewyana) and the cative (Prioria copaifera) species, we have developed two specific management and conservation programs for each of them.

One of these is the river turtle conservation program, through which we seek to increase the populations of this critically endangered (CR) species in the lower basin of the Nechí River, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Through the involvement of the communities in our area of influence, we collect and incubate the eggs for the subsequent release of baby turtles in strategic areas.

66%

of the energy consumed in 2023 by our operations came from renewable sources.

Climate Management

Mitigation

We are committed to contributing to global climate change mitigation goals by reducing our GHG emissions. Our emissions reduction initiatives can be classified on two fronts:

Technological transformation: comprises all actions within our reach to reduce direct and indirect GHG emissions derived from our business and other associated activities.

Fixed
Combustion

Mobile
Combustion

Refrigerants

Acquired
Electricity

Operational
Efficiency

Nature-based solutions: comprises all actions within our reach to remove direct GHG emissions from dredging processes and other activities associated with deforestation.

Adaptation

Mineros manages the physical and transition risks that may affect its objectives and adapt to the challenges that climate change generates in its business model.

For physical risks, the company is reinforcing the existing mechanisms for emergency and natural risks under the Corporate Climate Adaptation Plan.