Respect for the environment is at the heart of our operating and development strategy. We are committed to preventing, or otherwise minimising and mitigating the impact of our operation on the environment.
The Gobi Desert is a unique environment, which requires protection. Our overarching goal is to have a net positive impact on the environment by the time our operations finish. This means minimising the environmental impacts of our operation and contributing to its conservation to ensure the region ultimately benefits as a result of our activities.
To achieve our goal, we draw on the advice of environmental experts, and the communities around the mine. We operate a large number of programmes and management approaches. For example, we undertake a wide range of activities and monitoring programmes in areas such as water, air, biological diversity, waste, and land management.
We comply with the following regulations and requirements:
- All relevant environmental laws, regulations and standards of Mongolia.
- Internationally recognised mining standards.
- Environmental requirements and standards of project lenders (e.g. International Finance Corporation, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development).
- Rio Tinto’s environmental policies, strategies and standards.
- Regular monitoring of environmental performance and complying with our internal environmental monitoring programmes.
We continuously monitor and improve our environmental policies and plans in consultation with local residents, communities, the government, experts, and professional institutions.
We are committed to being transparent about our environmental impact and we publish a large number of detailed studies and independent reports on our performance, including data from our own monitoring activities.
Our approach focuses on a number of areas, including:
Managing air quality
To ensure the best possible quality of air locally, we are committed to managing dust, greenhouse gas emissions, and noise and vibration from our operations.
Dust control and suppression
Dust storms occur frequently in the Umnugovi region. We have measures in place to combat any increase in dust levels from our operations, including blasting, loading and unloading, and vehicle movement.
We monitor dust levels at 33 monitoring points installed at strategic locations inside and outside the mine to ensure we are meeting our regulatory requirements.
Managing greenhouse gas emissions
Potential sources of greenhouse gas emissions at Oyu Tolgoi include vehicles, heavy equipment, generators, and heating units. We routinely measure the air quality at 40 monitoring points to ensure our emissions stay within acceptable limits and national air quality standards.
Minimising noise and vibration
We aim to minimise the effects noise and vibration can have on the health of our employees, on the environment, and on local wildlife.
Potential sources of noise include the airport, drilling and blasting, mining operations and movement of heavy equipment.
To mitigate these impacts, we have implemented a range of engineering and operational controls, including:
- Noise control specifications as part of our procurement process.
- Fitting noise controls on our equipment.
- Adjusting the site layout to provide increased sound shielding.
- Management procedures to control the use and operating times of equipment.
- Regular noise level monitoring at different times of day and night.