ENVIRONMENT
Environmental stewardship
ARM’s values, governance structures and ethical leadership guide employees and management to behave with integrity and act appropriately in the context of our natural environment and the country’s socioeconomic realities. We recognise that we have a responsibility to manage and mitigate the potential negative impacts of our business activities. At the same time, it is the value created by these activities that gives us the opportunity to support growth and development in the societies in which we operate.
Mining, crushing and milling, and the processing and beneficiation of minerals and metals present challenging working conditions. Hazard identification and risk assessment is critical to ensuring appropriate controls for mitigation of harm.
Principal environmental impacts
Water
Water is a material matter across the group, although for different reasons at different operations. We anticipate that the likelihood and impact of our water-related risks will increase over time as climate change results in more extreme weather events, particularly floods and drought. ARM believes that water-related challenges should be owned collectively. These issues are shared and, to be properly resolved, they require collaboration by governments, civil society, the private sector and local communities. We therefore continue to manage water impacts at our operations, while regularly engaging with our partners and other stakeholders on water stewardship and holistic-risk mitigation at the catchment level.
Climate change
Climate-change considerations are continually integrated into our business strategy. Climate risks influence our short-term strategy through the need to manage related operating costs (including through reduced energy consumption). Our long-term strategy incorporates expected climate-related changes in regulation that will affect costs (particularly energy costs in geographies where fossil fuels have traditionally been dominant), energy supply and the availability of water.
Tailings
Responsible management of tailings disposal is critical. ARM is committed to TSF management and standards that align with national and global good practices for the preservation of health, safety and the environment in all phases of the mining lifecycle. To achieve this consistently, we have strict internal standards and practices in line with local regulations and internationally recognised good practice. The report on conformance to the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) is available here. Click here
Product stewardship
While the mining and processing of metals and minerals have an impact on the natural environment and communities, many of the benefits of modern society would not be possible without them. Metals play a key role in the infrastructure and the technologies around us. With increasing population, urbanisation, industrialisation, economic development and the introduction and growth of new technologies, the need for more metals and minerals will continue.
ARM encourages responsible use, re-use, recycling and disposal of our products to minimise the lifecycle impacts they may have on the environment and the people who use them.