SAN DIMAS

SUSTAINABILITY

Environmental Initiatives | Community Development

Environmental Initiatives

The Environmental Management System employed at San Dimas is used to identify and reduce, eliminate or avoid the environmental impact caused by the Company’s mining and processing operations.  Precautionary measures are taken to avoid damage to the ecosystems wherever possible.  Where adverse impacts have occurred, integrated programs are implemented to promote the recovery of the affected ecosystems. 

Goldcorp has always been an industry leader in environmental compliance in Mexico. It was the first company in the country to have all its operations certified as ‘Clean Industry’ by the Procuraduria Federal de Proteccion al Ambiente (Mexican EPA).

For many years Goldcorp has engaged in a voluntary self evaluation program in order to improve performance by identifying deficiencies, measuring performance and implementing improvement programs

Following the purchase by Wheaton/Goldcorp, Luismin has raised its performance targets to environmental best practice in all aspects of the operation. The existing policies and practices are currently under review and will be updated where necessary. Goldcorp’s aim is to meet environmental standards equivalent to those of the leading gold and copper producing countries. The operations will be judged against the three pillars of sustainability – economic achievement, environmental performance and social contribution. As part of this process, Wheaton engaged environmental consultants to conduct an environmental due diligence of the operations. Recommendations from this review are being actively addressed.

Goldcorp’s practice in the design and operation of tailing containment sites in the San Dimas district complies with the requirements of Mexico and with the permits issued for the dams. However, improvements will be necessary to bring them up to World Bank standards. Capital investments are currently being made to upgrade the containment structures and some other parts of the operation to bring them more in line with accepted practice.

Since the acquisition of Nukay Site by Luismin and the later merger with Goldcorp, Nukay’s main objective has been to identify and reduce, eliminate or avoid the environmental impact caused by mining and processing operations at the Nukay site.

In June 2004, the site was audited by Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente (PROFEPA) to ensure compliance with the relevant environmental regulations. The audit identified some deficiencies and outlined the steps necessary to obtain the Clean Industry Certificate. Consequently, the company signed an agreement in January 2005 committing to eliminate or reduce certain risks and improve performance.  By the end of the year Nukay had made good progress and was 87% of the way to achieving the Certificate.  The company expects to obtain the Certificate in 2006.

Taylotita Tailing dam 2002

Taylotita Tailing dam 2005

Community Development

Goldcorp is aware that every action taken in its operations affects the environment and the community where it operates. This places the mine under an obligation to minimize the environmental impact of its activities and to improve conditions for local communities where possible. The mine strives to keep exhaust emissions under the allowed standards and, knowing water is a scarce resource, uses it sparingly. Water is recycled several times at the operations.

Goldcorp actively supports, along with local authorities and the community, a range of social and community initiatives including the construction of classrooms, sports facilities and road maintenance. The mine promotes small business development in the community and encourages the development of alternate sources of income which are not related to mining.

Goldcorp is an important business for Mexico and is a significant contributor to the Mexican economy. It has provided ongoing direct and indirect economic benefits and opportunities for the Mexican people for more than 200 years. The mines provide substantial employment and other benefits for local communities close to the operations.

Community Medial Care - consultations, lab analyses, pharmacy, x-ray and ultrasound facilities

Greenhouse farming in remediated tailings dam

Community development of corn field at Luismin

 San Dimas Sustainability Report 2005