GENERAL POLICY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Outlines our commitment to acting responsibly and with transparency in social, economic and environmental aspects as the core of our sustainability strategy.
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KNOWOUR PRIORITY
AREAS
AREAS
MINE WASTE
We ensure a comprehensive, safe and responsible management of our mine waste, reducing to a minimum any risks to the health and safety of our personnel, the community and the environment.
By applying best practices in the design, operation and closure of tailings facilities, we reduce their potential environmental impacts, improve our accountability and guarantee the physical and chemical stability of these facilities at the end of their useful life, reincorporating these spaces into the natural landscape (wherever possible), monitoring their behavior.
Our mine waste management focuses on 2 pillars:
Management of tailings
Safe closure of mine waste facilities
For more information, see Management Approach
OUR COMMITMENTS
- Minimize the operational and post-operational risks associated with our mine waste deposits.
- Wherever possible, construct tailings dams using the downstream method and using borrow materials.
- Have an operations, maintenance and monitoring manual, and a closure plan in place for all our active tailings impoundments.
HIGHLIGHTS
14 facilities
We have 14 active tailings facilities in Mexico, Peru and the United States.
86 %
of our tailings are stored in deposits or impoundments constructed to the downstream method, recognized as being the safest.
6 of
our 14 active tailings facilities, are classified as extreme (2) and as very high risk (4), according to the Canadian Dam Association (CDA Guidelines).
Related policies and codes
Our management in relation to this area is guided by:
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
Outlines our commitment to driving development that is respectful of the environment to benefit everyone, today and tomorrow.
HUMAN RIGHTS POLICY STATEMENT
Outlines our commitment to promoting respect for the human rights of all our stakeholders.
GENERAL POLICY ON TAILINGS SYSTEMS
Outlines our commitment to ensuring our tailings systems are managed safely and responsibly.
For further information, please refer to the ESG Policies section.
MANAGEMENT APPROACH
ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT
Grupo México integrates comprehensive risk management into its operational and ESG practices, ensuring the identification, assessment, and mitigation of operational, environmental, social, and regulatory risks across all divisions. Please refer to our Risk Management process, where we disclose some ilustrative examples.
Mine waste requires proper management and final disposal, and also a safe closure of the tailings facilities, to prevent health and environmental risks and impacts. We focus on two pillars in this area:
Proper management and disposal
- Tailings are the solid waste produced at our primary mineral separation and concentration operations. This waste must comply with strict technical requirement in terms of site selection for final disposal, construction, safe operation, monitoring to prevent risks, a closure plan that reintegrates the area into the natural landscape safely, and a post-closure plan that guarantees no impacts once the site has been abandoned.
- The stability of the structure is prioritized in the design, to ensure the tailings dams are not affected by earthquakes or extraordinary weather events, among other risks. For this reason, the construction and maintenance include rainwater diversions and overflow channels at the larger dams.
- For their closure, we use native plant species to reforest and we cover the area with natural material to prevent erosion from the wind and to reintegrate the area into the natural landscape.
Safe closure of mine waste deposits
Once they are abandoned, the mine waste deposits are subject to natural phenomena while they are adapting to the natural landscape that surrounds them. To ensure this occurs safely and successfully, we periodically calculate and adjust the closure costs for our operations, including dismantling some structures and stabilizing others, the reintegration into the natural landscape, and monitoring the quality of water at the sites we abandon.
The Community Development department implements the Sustainability Plan for the closure phase, which includes:
- Implement the Community Development model with a Social Management Plan.
- Encourage the neighbor communities to diversify their economic activities to reduce their vulnerability when the mine closes.
- Maintain a reporting and response system for communities to share their grievances and expectations.
- Assess the post-closure impacts on the areas of influence.
- Transfer the social and sustainable legacy to the local communities and authorities.
CORPORATE GOALS & TARGETS
Metas corporativas relacionadas con Seguridad y Salud
The goal has been met
In progress
Slight deviation from course
The goal has not been met
2022
Implement a policy and standards for the safe management mine waste facilities.
Update the safety assessments for all active mine waste facilities.
Standardize the operation, maintenance and monitoring manuals for all mine waste facilities.
2025
Full compliance with our Tailings Systems Policy.
Updated closure plans at all our active tailings dams.
2030
Closure of all inactive tailings dams, heaps and piles, in accordance with best practices.
Follow our annual progress in Corporate Sustainable Goals.
KEY INDICATORS
PERFORMANCE
Mine waste
719.3
million tons of mine waste generated in 2023.
Composition
72%
of mine waste is rock, which has a minimal impact on the environment.
MANAGEMENT
Compliance
90%
of our facilities comply with internationally recognized safety factors.
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
The organizational supervision of mine waste management is structured as follows:
Strategy and compliance
Operational supervision
Evaluates performance and progress on the corporate goals, targets and indicators, and investment projects related to mine waste. Identifies areas of opportunity, needs, risks and potential synergies.
Mechanism developed for the Board to monitor and promptly follow up on the management of our environmental, social and governance-related risks.
Monitors the performance of our actions, makes executive adjustments, assesses the risks and opportunities associated with, and submits strategic recommendations to the Board of Directors.
Leads the design and implementation of projects, initiatives and actions, in close collaboration with the other divisions and relevant areas of the company.
Participates in the Sustainable Development Committee; responsible for the mine waste management and for the mine waste deposits maintenance compliance.
Ensures compliance is met with applicable regulations; monitors the efficient mine waste management and the mine waste deposits operation.
Each unit or operation is responsible for its own mine waste management, which is supervised by the Head of each operation.
EVALUATION
Effective waste management is essential for sustainable supply chain performance and transparency. By identifying significant environmental aspects and monitoring key performance indicators, we continuously uncover opportunities to improve waste handling and reduction. Find more information about our sustainability actions related to mine waste here: 2024, 2023.
Our General Tailings Systems Policy contains the following:
Alignment with international standards
Aligned with the ICMM Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (2020).
Requirements
Requirement that all our tailings systems have an operation, maintenance and monitoring manual, and also a closure plan.
Specifications for operation manuals
That the operation manuals must include a monitoring program, with regular reports indicating the level of compliance, the corrective maintenance performed, and also the main safety indicators.
Responsibilities
Definition of the roles tasked with the annual reviews of the structure, design, operation and documentation for the tailings systems.
Assessments requirements
Requirement of an operational and structural review each year of all facilities by a certified independent firm.
We also have a management plan for the mine waste we produce, aligned with the following standards:
MEXICO
- Official Mexican Standard NOM-141-SEMARNAT-2003: provides the procedure for classifying tailings and the specifications and criteria for the classification and preparation of the site, project, construction, operation and post-operation of tailings dams.
- Official Mexican Standard NOM-159-SEMARNAT-2011: sets the environmental protection requirements for copper leaching systems.
