Our projects are not regarded as environmentally sensitive and are located within a historical mining domain. The low-risk ore and non-toxic beneficiation process minimises our environmental impact. However, we continue to closely monitor dust, water, and waste management to ensure compliance with our environmental management plan.
Our dedication to environmental stewardship is set out in our environmental, climate change, sustainable development and water stewardship policies.
We measure our environmental performance against any ecological incidents caused by our activities. Each incident is evaluated based on severity, with Level 5 being the most severe.
Every year, our goal is to prevent Level 3 or higher incidents. When an incident does happen, it is thoroughly investigated to identify the causes. Next, action plans are created to prevent future occurrences and improve our environmental practices.
These are minor and limited incidents with no noticeable ecological effects. They remain restricted to a small area, last only briefly, and do not violate any laws.
These incidents occur outside of designated pollution control areas, last briefly, and require cleanup or correction. Such events do violate legal standards / limits.
These incidents have a significant or continuous negative impact on the environment that goes beyond the boundaries of the mine or project site. It is caused by multiple incidents and violates legal rules / limitations.
This refers to significant environmental incidents that do not lead to the shutdown of the operation. It affects a large area, spanning beyond the mine site, causing widespread external complaints. Such incidents break legal standards / limits. They can be reversed over the mine’s lifetime.
These incidents cause extensive environmental damage, could result in company failure and have a local, regional or even international impact. Such incidents’ effects may last beyond the end of mining activities.
We understand that climate change is a significant issue that affects the company, our workers and the areas in which we operate.
The lithium, tin, and tantalum we mine are crucial resources, necessary in the green transition. However, we do recognise that mining requires a lot of energy and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. To improve our operations and reduce costs, we work tirelessly to achieve the most efficient use of energy and the most-reduced emissions possible.
We aim to reduce our impact on the environment by looking into renewable energy options as well as energy-saving initiatives. We keep track of our carbon footprint by monitoring our GHG emissions and energy usage.
As our business operations mature, we plan to set formal goals for reducing our environmental impact, based on both science and practicality.
Southern Africa is a naturally water-scarce region. Furthermore, our mines are located in the Namibian desert – a hot, arid climate which speeds up evaporation.
Since our mine uses groundwater, we recognise the importance of efficient water management – for the good of the ecosystem as well as the continued success of our operations.
We manage our activities’ water use by:
Ore extraction creates a lot of waste. The majority of this comprises waste rock but also includes plant, chemical, packaging, oil, and office / accommodation waste.
As part of our group- and site waste management procedures, we’re working on a plan for dealing with non-mineral waste that follows the waste management hierarchy. This means we will always try to reduce, reuse and recycle waste. We will only send waste to a landfill as a last resort.
The mining process creates waste that has no value and therefore has to be discarded. For now, during Phase 1 Operations, we’re allowed to dispose of waste rock and plant waste together, which has some environmental benefits, such as reduced dust pollution.
Hazardous waste, such as hydrocarbons, is transported to and disposed of at Walvis Bay Hazardous Waste Disposal Facility by an accredited waste management company. We remain committed to accurately measuring and properly managing the waste we produce.
