Tailings form a major component of the mining industry, and management of tailings in mining sites across the globe has become a key component of discussions on climate change, carbon emissions and environmental social governance.
Studies have shown that if not managed properly, tailings can have chronic adverse impacts on the environment and human health and safety, with pollution from effluent and dust emissions being potentially toxic to humans, animals and plants. Thus, mining companies are under obligation to develop and implement policies that ensure tailings not only don’t become harmful to human beings and the environment, but also become economically beneficial to host communities.
Usually, waste from mine operation have less economic value; hence, their exploitation is somehow unprofitable. Studies have shown that mine tailings is one of the most life-threatening and long-lasting environmental problems associated with the mining industry. The tailings’ disastrous environmental pollution has ensued due to a failed system used for storing mine waste. As stated earlier, the outcome of waste from mine tailings on human health, aquatic life and the economy is quite severe in many countries across the world. Consequently, human rights organisations are holding mining industries accountable for dumping waste without adequate precautions to protect human life and livelihoods.
Environmental and health effects
A key bone of contention is that where mines are abandoned, and where waters and surrounding watersheds are no longer producing, they become environmental hazards. A major area of worry is that the mine dumps mostly comprise sandy by-products and waste material commonly called tailings. These tailings are formed during the mining operation. Conversely, an active mining zone includes landed property positioned under or above the land’s surface, and is utilised for the extraction of metal ore from their natural deposits for cleaning and metal ores concentration.
Whether mines are closed or active, exposure to their waste materials and dust can inflict serious health effects on communities living close to mining companies. Furthermore, respiratory diseases like asthma are becoming more frequent in communities near mining dumps. It is also an established fact that mine dumps generate severe acidic and chemically noxious environments which affect the health of people living close to mine dumps. With time, waste from mine dumps filter into water, contaminating ground and surface water; affecting aquatic life; and having a widespread impact on agricultural land productivity. This is the main reason that health, livelihood and human rights violations of communities living close to mine dumps have been on the rise.
Economic and social impacts
Principles of the UN Global Impact, UN Declaration of Human Rights and ILO Convention mandate companies operating in the extractive industries to adopt precautionary measures that promote environmental sustainability and social governance in host communities. Principle 9 of the UN Global Compact mandates corporations to develop and deploy environmentally-friendly technologies in their operations. This makes it incumbent on mining companies to ensure that mine dumps are properly monitored and managed, because dumps can lead to discharges of contaminated water.
Furthermore, atmospheric contamination and environmental degradation in several minefields result in the occurrence of gaseous products (like H2O, CO2, CO, CH4, H2S, H, SO2, SO3, HCl and NH4). Apart from discharge of gaseous materials from the combustion processes of active dumps into the atmosphere, other mechanisms and impacts of mining are noted to damage the environment.
Therefore, there is a global movement by mining stakeholders to recognise the individual and collective rights and interests of Indigenous Peoples in line with the ILO Convention 169 and UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Paris Declaration on carbon reduction is also gathering momentum across the globe, as extractive industries are under obligation to reduce or eliminate carbon emission from their operations for the sake of future generations.
Newmont’s Director of Processing, Frank Roberto, is quoted in the Sustainability report as saying that the carbon capture, utilisation and sequestration (CCUS) of tailings supports a long-term direction for the mining industry: “Waste rock and tailings are the largest component of residues from our mining operations, and the work for direct air-capture of CO2 through tailings carbonation provides a unique opportunity to reduce our and others’ emissions throughout the value chain,” he noted.
Verification and auditing
As environmental advocates and host communities are beginning to challenge corporate social responsibility and environmental social governance claims, mining companies are beginning to develop policies on managing tailings. These policies require all employees and third-party workers to comply with social, environmental and political laws, regulations and global environmental standards. These policies must commit to transparently informing and consulting stakeholders, and to respect human rights, diversity and all cultures.
Does Ghana have any policy for tailings and waste-land reclamations? Are the appropriate agencies ensuring that multinational mining companies in Ghana are abiding by global standards on land acquisitions and tailings management? Once more, I will use Newmont Corporation as a case-study because they have published their sustainability report for public scrutiny.
Newmont Corporation operates at Keyansi in the Bono Region and has mines at Akyem in the Eastern Region of Ghana. According to Newmont’s 2022 Annual Sustainability Report, the company is committed to managing its tailings and waste rock in a manner that is protective of the environment and human health throughout the mining lifecycle. “Our aim is to manage mining wastes from a cradle-to-grave perspective, by using principles of minimisation, circular economy characterisation, recycling and reuse, innovation and implementing best practices. We have also established independent reviews and critical controls to support understanding the performance of our tailings facilities,” the Report said.
Newmont asserts that it is committed to implementing the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM), which strives to achieve the goal of zero harm to people and environment and requires companies (operators) to take responsibility and prioritise safety of tailings storage facilities through all phases of the mine lifecycle. In furtherance of this, Newmont says it is aligned with the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) to end catastrophic failure of tailings dumps through engagement with peer companies, industry associations, governments and communities.
Engagement and transparency
In my last article, I emphasized the need for intense stakeholder engagement as a way of managing corporate-community relations. According to Newmont, it is committed to working with national and local governments, non-governmental organisations, industry associations, multi-lateral organisations, local communities, the academic community, media and employees in a manner that is transparent and enables the company to share ideas, plans, and opportunities to create shared value while resolving disagreements and misunderstandings in good faith.
Best practices in sustainability entails engaging communities and Indigenous Peoples to obtain the social licence for operations. “We commit to designing programmes to benefit Indigenous Peoples in a participative manner, and implementing preferential local employment and procurement programmes for traditional owners of the land on which we conduct mining activities, or those who reside near our operations. We are committed to the safe management of tailings facilities, maintaining emergency preparedness and response capability, and to supporting recovery in the case of failure,” says the Report.
According to Newmont, it is committed to the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) and encourages governments to support public disclosure of contracts and licences related to minerals development, in line with the EITI Standards. “We disclose our taxes and royalty payments to governments in the countries where we operate, and will work with governments and other stakeholders to encourage greater transparency to build trust in our economic contribution to society. Where feasible and not precluded by law or regulation, we will work with relevant governments to encourage disclosure of our mineral development contracts.”
Nevertheless, the bone of contention between mining companies and host communities on management of tailings often relates to land acquisition and land use. Quite often, many mining companies fail to respect the rights and needs of landowners and local communities – especially regarding land acquisition and resettlement or forced evictions. Land acquisition is conducted in compliance with applicable laws, regulations and international best practice as defined by International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standard 5, and specific requirements on resettlement, compensation and/or livelihood restoration activities.
In some contexts, mining tailings have turned from a health hazard to an economic opportunity – as some groups and individuals have been trained to extract gold residues from the tailings. Also, proper restoration of the mined land’s ecology can return it to agricultural productivity. Perhaps this policy reflects Newmont’s purpose of creating value and improving lives through sustainable and responsible mining and its core sustainability values: to serve as a catalyst for local economic development; and to build trust with communities through transparent and respectful stakeholder engagement. The policy is also purported to promote responsible stewardship of the environment, in accordance with the principles of sustainable development and consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals.
Small-scale gold mining
Equally significant is the policy of working with appropriate government, community and other stakeholders in situations where small-scale mining activities are taking place in Newmont’s influence of operations. While Newmont needs to promote safe access to its assets, it also needs to manage the impacts – engaging in cooperation and collaboration to improve livelihood options for legitimate small-scale mining activities.
It is refreshing that Newmont engages with governments and other stakeholders on a variety of issues: including worker health and safety; permitting, environmental protection; trade, economic development; infrastructure; revenue sharing; transparency and rule of law; and other issues like use of weapons in the communities.
In fact, the promotion of small-scale mining and livelihoods through community engagement will reduce the tension between Newmont and the people at Keyansi and Akyem. For some time now, the company and its host communities have engaged in collaborative and cooperative relationships. It is these improved stakeholder cooperation and community engagements that Mr. Thomas William Jefferson Cook Dankwah, Executive of Hanssen Global UK and Ghana, is advocating. When host communities are directly benefitting from the profits of a mining company, it promotes corporate accountability and responsibility.
References
Agboola, O, Babatunde, DE, Fayomi OSI, Sadiku, ER, Popoola, P, Moropeng, L, Yahaya,A &Mamudu, AO. 2020. A review on the impact of mining operation: Monitoring, assessment and management
Newmont Corporation. 2020. Sustainability Report.
