ANNUAL%20REPORT%202015%20eng

Sustainability Report
In 2015, approximately 7,000 seedlings were harvested from the nursery field for use in various tree planting,
landscaping and gardening projects. Plants like elm, silverberry, tamarisk and saxaul were planted by seed and
cuttings for later use in seedling preparations.
Water
Water is a scarce and highly valuable resource in the arid Gobi region. Access to water is critical to our ongoing
operations and effective water management is considered an essential factor of our project and operational
sustainability. A comprehensive Water Management Plan guides the actions of our management, employees and
contractors with regard to the use and re-use of water. This especially includes the effective management of
groundwater, taking into consideration its use by local herders. The ecological and economic value of water has
led to greater scrutiny of responsible water use and increased expectations from our stakeholders for improved
water stewardship.
The Company uses a combination of both groundwater and recycled water at the mine sites. As part of our water
use and management, we have provided filtered water for the local communities at a subsidized rate since 2011,
and welcome their participation in our water monitoring activities.
At our operations, water is sourced from groundwater boreholes and is stored in two water reservoirs with a total
storage volume of 56,000 m 3 , covered by synthetic membrane to prevent evaporation. In 2015, a total of 465
megalitres (“ML”) of groundwater was extracted and 190 ML of water was recovered during coal processing by
the Belt Filter Press facility for re-use in further coal processing.
We continue to undertake activities that are aimed at preventing and reducing potential impacts on groundwater.
These include:
• Monitoring of herder wells around the mine and Tsogttsetsii soum centre is conducted on a monthly basis.
There are 10 groundwater boreholes installed in the UHG mine licensed area for groundwater monitoring,
which allows us to control the level of groundwater and monitor for potential contamination that may result
from our operations. In partnership with the authority of Galba Uush Dolood Gobi water basin, we equipped
2 groundwater monitoring boreholes around our water extracting area with remote data loggers.
• In 2013, the Company established a waste water treatment plant in the soum center which has a capacity to
treat 1,200 m 3 of waste water per day. The facility’s treatment capacity of contaminated water stands at up
to 96%, making the treated water quality fully in compliance with the requirements of the national standards.
In 2015, over 80 ML of domestic waste water was treated and re-used for purposes such as road and tree
watering.
• In June 2015, a solid waste clean-up campaign was organized in the surrounding area of six natural springs
located within a 30 km radius of the UHG mine site.
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Annual Report 2015