At Primero, our primary environmental focus is to develop responsible mining projects where we proactively consider ways to minimize our footprint. The Environmental Management System employed at San Dimas is used to identify and reduce, eliminate or avoid the environmental impact that may be 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, who established the Environmental Management System, 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 San Dimas 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 River (subsequently Goldcorp), San Dimas raised its performance targets to environmental best practice in all aspects of the operation. San Dimas’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, environmental consultants were engaged to conduct an environmental due diligence of the operations. Recommendations from this review were actively addressed.
San Dimas’s practice in the design and operation of tailing containment sites complies with the requirements of Mexico and with the permits issued for the dams. Recent capital investments upgraded the containment structures and other parts of the operation to align them with accepted practice.