Responsible Water Management

Our mines rely on ready access to a steady supply of freshwater to operate. Access to water is also a fundamental human right. With populations growing and climate change impacting the predictability of water supplies, ensuring we use water efficiently is crucial to our social license to operate and a key business consideration. 

Our aim is to use water as efficiently as possible, and our commitment to responsible water use is codified in our Environmental and Sustainability Policy. 

From the high-alpine regions of Turkey, to the Nevada desert our operations span a range of climates, which means the actions we take on the ground to fulfill this commitment vary by site. Our environmental impact studies and assessment include comprehensive water management plans that are tailored for each operation. We maintain comprehensive water quality monitoring programs to help ensure that we meet all applicable regulatory requirements. The plans include establishing baseline water conditions and provisions for ongoing water samplings and test. All operations use water for processing, and we strive to reuse and recycle as much water as we can. 

During 2020 we identified our baseline water use and sources for our expanded group. In 2021 we will also work to refine our active water balance models across all sites and conduct further watershed-level assessments. In addition, we will begin disclosing to the CDP Water Security questionnaire.

Our primary water sources

Çöpler

Çöpler is in high desert region, and near the culturally significant Euphrates River. All water used by the Çöpler Mines is governed by strict permitting rules regarding extraction and discharge under Turkish regulations. Çöpler’s main water source is ground water.

Marigold

Marigold is our only mine in an area with exposure to water scarcity. The site’s primary source of water is from ground water. The Marigold Mine is designed to operate in a closed circuit configuration as much as possible. 

Puna 

At our Puna Operations, water must be removed from the pit, and teams must manage water runoff from surface waste rock facilities. Most of the water used by Puna operations are drawn from local pumping wells. Some of it is used for dust suppression around pits and haul roads.

Seabee

Most of the water used by Seabee is drawn from a nearby lake. Water must be removed from the underground workings.

Performance

During 2020, our water withdrawal was 7.6 million m3 of water, predominantly groundwater. Fresh water withdrawn at Marigold, our only mine in an area with high baseline water stress, accounts for 23% of our total abstraction volume. 

Our main consumptive uses of water are: 

• Dust suppression, which is carried out at our Marigold and Çöpler mines to reduce dust on haul roads, and across operations 
• Entrainment, that is water locked in tailings 
• Evaporation 

At all sites, we strive to maximize the amount of water we reuse and recycle, and in 2020 our water reused and recycled rate was approximately 80%. 

All water we discharge to the environment is treated to ensure it meets all applicable discharge requirements.

Performance for 2020 will set the initial water use baseline for our expanded business. Once this important step is completed, we will work to set targets for water reuse and recycling during 2021. Our performance in is not directly comparable to data reported for 2019, as we have worked in 2020 to align our water reporting with the guidelines of the ICMM Water Accounting Framework. Data reported for 2020 also includes full year data for the Çöpler gold mine. We will continue to improve our water disclosures in 2021, including responding to the CDP Water questionnaire.

Defining Water Use Terms

• Water used is all water used through mining activities 
• Water reused and recycled: water that is reused or recycled within the site for operational use 
• Withdrawal is water received and used for operation or stored 
• Water diverted is water which enters site and is released into the environment without being used 
• Discharge is water removed from the facility and discharged to the water environment or third party 
• Consumption is water used by the facility and not returned to the water environment or third party e.g., dust suppression or human consumption

2020 Water Performance (m3)