Sustainable Development

 

Australian Silica Quartz Group Limited aims to practise responsible sustainable mining

“A sustainable mining operation maintains the natural capital of the area in which it is located through sound environmental management systems. Successful rehabilitation and environmental management ensures that bauxite mining is a temporary land use that does not compromise other long term land uses.”(1)

Bauxite Resources believes in responsible mining whereby exploration and mining operations are managed through sound environmental management systems. The bauxite mining industry has demonstrated successful rehabilitation and environmental management that ensure bauxite mining is a temporary land use that does not compromise long-term land uses. Globally, bauxite mining disturbs a relatively small area of land compared to other types of surface mining. Recent information from the International Aluminium Institute suggests that the average annual area opened for bauxite mining is equal to the average annual area rehabilitated after mining. In this steady state of area mined equal to area rehabilitated, bauxite mining can be considered "land area footprint neutral".

Almost 80% of the bauxite mines surveyed in 2008 by the International Aluminium Institute are International Standards Organisation (ISO) 14001 certified.

Australian Silica Quartz Group Limited aspires to the ISO 14001 standard. The ISO 14001 environmental management system standard specifies a process for the control and the continuous improvement of an organisation’s environmental performance as outlined in the diagram below.

Diagram: ISO 14001 Environmental Management Framework

Diagram: ISO 14001 Environmental Management Framework. (2)

(1) Source: http://bauxite.world-aluminium.org/mining/responsible-sourcing.html

(2) Source: http://www.environmentalmanagementsystem.com.au/iso-14001-environmental-management-system.html