Luzenac - Rio Tinto

Managing
the environment
responsibly
Flashing light system powered
by photovoltaic cells.
Luzenac Set, our Spanish
operation, has recently replaced
its fuel-powered forklifts by electric
forklifts. This not only reduces
greenhouse gas emissions,
it minimises health risks for
employees.
10
Luzenac’s Health, Safety, Environment and
Communities policy requires that we “be a steward
of the environment and the natural resources
under our responsibility and be a respected member
of the community wherever we operate”.
It also requires that we “build from a foundation of regulatory
compliance with consistency in standards, practices
and procedures worldwide”. This means that we
have an integrated view of environmental management
and community responsibility. Our primary aim
is to operate our business with the minimum of environmental
damage and to work with our neighbours
to ensure we are not causing them problems.
ISO 14000
Last year, we set a target for all
our operations to be certified to
ISO 14000. By year-end, two
operations, Mexico and Australia, remained uncertified.
Both are now operating to environmental management
systems compliant to ISO 14000 and will
have their certification audits in 2003. This means
that all our operations are now managing environment-related
matters in a manner that is planned,
controlled, monitored and recorded in compliance
with an internationally acknowledged Environmental
Management System.
The auditing process covers whether landscape rehabilitation
is planned for and carried out progressively,
and is commensurate with the nature of the operation;
and whether the landforms created are stable
and safe and allow for a development of the land
which is consistent with company and stakeholder
expectations and regulatory requirements. The auditors
also check that our resources are used in a sustainable
manner, and that all generated waste is
minimised, handled safely, treated and disposed of
in a suitable way.
These audits are all performed by trained auditors
from all operations and from different backgrounds.
This not only ensures that our operations come under
the scrutiny of an impartial eye, but that experience
and best practice are shared within the group.
Exploring new energy sources
A new goal for us is to explore the use of more renewable
(“green”) energy sources such as wind and solar
to meet at least some of our electricity needs. We
have already started this in a very modest way at our
The former tailings area of our Johnson
Mill in Vermont is now a recreational area
featuring a soccer field, three baseball
fields and a children’s playground.
Trimouns mine in the Pyrenees, which now uses solar
energy to power the flashing light system used to warn
drivers on the road to the mine that one of our cableway
buckets is about to pass overhead. These lights
are operated 24 hours a day by photovoltaic cells.
Originally powered by batteries, this solution is not
only environmentally friendly, it is cheaper.
Land management:
a key issue for Luzenac
The mining and processing of talc is relatively benign
from an environment perspective. Our key environmental
issue is land management–even in this
department we are very fortunate in that we have
very little unwanted rock mixed in with the talc that
has to be separated and discarded. This is added to
the overburden and generally used for landscaping,
creating visual and noise barriers and to rehabilitate
the land we have disturbed.
The restoration schemes we implement are designed
to enhance local species and biodiversity. To help us,
we engage local academics to advise us on cultivation
techniques, the choice of species, where and
when to plant, how to nurture and so on. This work
is combined with water run-off management as the
quantity and quality of water flow is directly related
to these land management aspects. This water can
be of great benefit to our neighbours.
Great effort, therefore, goes into minimising the
adverse footprint of our mines and mills and to maximising
the beneficial footprint we can create. Indeed,
when we investigate the acquisition of an operation,
we take into consideration how we would restore
the landscape once the deposit is exhausted.
Take our Johnson talc mill in Vermont for instance.
The mill was first opened in the late 1800s and finally
closed its doors in 1991. Initially operated as a dry
grind mill, in later years the previous owners installed
a flotation circuit for the processing of talc for cosmetic
products. With flotation came the need for tailings
settling ponds–but the facility was located in a
sensitive area on the banks of the Lamoille River.
At the time of closure, over 19 acres of land had been
utilised as tailings ponds. Although Luzenac had
owned and operated the Johnson mill for less than
five years when it closed, we agreed with the local
community that we would reclaim the whole tailings
area and turn it over to the community as a recreational
area. Ten years on, there are three baseball /
softball fields, a soccer field, a playground, a parking