HudBay Minerals Inc. 2010 Annual Report

RESPONSIBILITY
Our 85 years of operating in the Flin Flon area have
resulted in a strong, sustainable community and
a legacy of 19 mines that have been successfully
reclaimed and remediated.
Remediation
All mines have finite lives. While some mineral deposits can
sustain a mine for 50 years or more, other deposits may only
produce a mine life of a few years. Mine closure is the final phase
of the mining cycle. Our practice is to carry out an orderly, safe
and environmentally sound process of converting an operating
mine to its pre-mining condition.
Having closed 19 mines in the course of our history, sometimes
in ecologically sensitive areas, we have turned mine closure and
remediation into core competencies for HudBay.
We have a progressive rehabilitation program underway at our
Flin Flon metallurgical complex, which has undergone numerous
expansions, upgrades and closures over the years, including the
2010 closure of our copper smelter. The program aims to restore
the environment in and around the complex and enhance the
visual impact. Activities include removing old structures and
equipment, reconfiguring and revegetating tailings sites, and
greening spaces between the community and the operations.
We also work with the community on green initiatives that
promote rehabilitation of the region.
In addition, we are voluntarily revisiting some of the mine
sites worked decades ago – both by ourselves and by other
companies whose assets we inherited as legacy properties –
recognizing that standards and regulations have changed
over time. Our remediation specialists first render the sites
safe by properly securing mine entrances and removing any
abandoned structures. Next we apply leading-edge techniques
that rehabilitate (where necessary) the surrounding areas
and either restore them as green spaces or prepare them for
redevelopment into other uses.
Environmental Sustainability at Back Forty
As part of the planning process for the Back Forty project, we are
conducting extensive environmental baseline studies with a view
to integrating sustainability into the mine planning and design
processes. The studies cover wildlife, plants, water resources
and wetland, air quality, archeological sites and existing land
use. Through this process, we are engaging with a wide variety
of local stakeholders to build strong relationships and work
collaboratively to identify and address their interests.
20 HudBay Minerals Inc. 2010 Annual Report