Precious metals consultancy Metals Focus has issued a new report on Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) comparisons in the gold mining sector, says miningmx. An extract from the report focuses on Green House Gas (GHG) emissions by gold mines.
Based on kt of CO²e (Carbon dioxide equivalent), for the calendar year 2018, Sibanye was the largest emitter of GHGs, followed closely by Newmont.
However, using a unitized measure based on annual gold production, i.e., t/oz, the top emitter in 2018 was again, Sibanye, with Harmony following. In this context, both mines source their power in South Africa from coal-fired utility Eskom. The GHG calculations consider emissions for both Scope 1 (production activities) and Scope 2 (electricity purchased).
The report found that Agnico was the smallest emitter on both metrics and that AngloGold took the honors for the maximum reduction in GHG of 44% on kt basis over the last five years. Sibanye cut emissions by 35% on a t/oz basis over that period.
However, Barrick increased its unitized emissions by 85% over the last five years.
The findings of the report are significant, given that the theme of the 50th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, is “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World.” A key area will be ecology and climate change.
Read the miningmx article HERE.
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