Natural capital

In 2022, all companies and plants included in the segment complied with all legal requirements, working closely with regulators with regard to environmental topics.

The expression of the above commitment is the adoption, in 2022, of the Climate Policy of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. – a directional document, addressed to both external and internal stakeholders, whose overriding purpose is to present the climate ambitions of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. and to specify the necessary scope of process and organisational changes for their implementation and continuous improvement. The overriding objective of the KGHM Climate Policy is for the parent entity – KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 with respect to Scope 1 GHG emissions – direct emissions related primarily with the Company’s production activity, and Scope 2 emissions – indirect emissions associated with the consumption of electricity and heat purchased on the market, while reducing them as much as possible. In contrast, the interim target is to reduce combined Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 30% by 2030 compared to 2020 emissions.

One of the primary goals of KGHM’s pro-climate activities is to optimize energy activities, mainly by conducting rational energy management while ensuring the security of energy supply to facilities and installations within the production line. It is the ambition of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. to continually grow the share of renewable energy sources and in-house energy production in covering energy demand. KGHM has its own low-emission generation sources powered by gas. The parent entity is in the process of advancing further investments to increase electricity generation, with nitrogen-rich natural gas used as fuel. By 2030, two more stations will be built with the total capacity of 17.6 MWe.

One of the important projects which will bring KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. closer to achieving energy independence is the implementation of small nuclear power reactor technology (SMR – Small Modular Reactor). KGHM plans to build a small modular light water nuclear unit with a capacity of up to 500 MW by 2030. In 2021, KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. established a Nuclear Energy Department and in February 2022 a contract was signed with NuScale Power to commence work on implementing the SMR technology in Poland. 

As part of the activities in the scope described above, the following work was carried out in 2022:

• construction of a photovoltaic power plant Obora Sandpit I,
• construction of the HMG I-III photovoltaic power plant complex,
• development of wind energy, including offshore,
• development of solar energy,
• development of hydrogen technologies,
• development of CO2 capture technology,
• development of nuclear energy,
• Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs),
• self-generation of electricity.

Preventing and minimizing the environmental and climate impact and rational management of natural resources is of fundamental importance for KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. in respect to sustainable development, the satisfaction of stakeholder expectations and accountability to future generations. The activities of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A., including exploration and mining, processing and metallurgy, are accompanied by technical and organizational activities based on best available techniques, which mitigate the impact on the environment and climate. By improving the Environmental Management Systems (EMS), which have been in place for many years and are certified in the Metallurgical Divisions, Ore Enrichment Plants and the Tailings Plant, and are based on the PN-EN ISO 14001 standard, on 6 October 2021 the Company adopted the Environmental Policy of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. The adoption of a uniform policy began the process of implementing an Environmental Management System at the Head Office and in the Mining Divisions also in accordance with the ISO 14001 standard to ensure that the EMS functions in the entire Company. In accordance with the order of 27 December 2021, a team was appointed for the implementation of the Environmental Management System at the Head Office and in the Mines of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. in compliance with the requirements of the PN-EN ISO 14001:2015 standard.

Completion of the implementation process in these entities is scheduled at the end of 2023, which will be confirmed by performing a group certification by an external certification body.

In addition, in 2022 further work was carried out to reduce KGHM Polska Miedź S.A.’s air emissions, including dust emissions (down from 2.8 to 2.6 g/Mg of ore for mining production, down from 59.4 to 33.3 g/Mg of electrolytic copper for metallurgical production) and SO2 emissions (down from 2.3 to 1.8 kg/Mg of electrolytic copper). Action was also taken to adapt the smelter installations of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. to the requirements of the BAT conclusions for the non-ferrous metals industry, leading to a decrease in arsenic emissions from 2.8 to 1.3 g per Mg of electrolytic copper.

The year 2022 was also dedicated to further optimization of water and wastewater management. In 2022, about 150 million m3 of water was returned to the ore enrichment process. Consequently, only water from mine drainage and recycled water from the Żelazny Most Tailings Storage Facility is used in the enrichment process. The water used in production processes is routed back to Energetyka for treatment. Because of the high quality of effluents, approximately 30% of the global stream is reused for production processes in the technological processes of the smelters. The remaining treated wastewater is discharged into surface waters.

KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. is also implementing the concept of a circular economy (CE). In 2022, this was implemented mainly through:

• developing the innovation process, strengthening cooperation between business and science,
• participating in the growth of the market for secondary metallic raw materials and increasing the share of such materials in production,
• minimising the volume of post-production waste to residual waste levels,
• seeking and implementing solutions that allow utilization of waste storage sites as secondary deposits.

The concrete result of the above work in 2022 was the commissioning of the Souther Quarter at the Żelazny Most Tailings Storage Facility for three phases, and the commissioning of the Tailings Segregation and Concentration Station for the hydrocycloning technology. In addition to the above, the following activities were also carried out:

• commercialisation of flotation waste towards recovering metal from such waste, as well as economic utilisation of rock-forming minerals, as sealing material for the Żelazny Most Tailings Storage Facility, as filling in post-mining goafs, and material for applications in construction, road building and agriculture (more than 18 million Mg of waste was used),
• full reclamation of post-production areas,
• utilisation of heat energy contained in the mined deposit,
• development of the Company’s own research and development activity towards a circular economy,
• research and development within the Horizon Europe program towards a circular economy,
• development of the Company’s own investments towards a circular economy.

In 2022, KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. worked continuously on the revised edition of the registration dossiers for substances and semi-finished products, taking account of the newest research results and the most recent guidelines of the European Chemicals Agency. In view of the changing requirements of the REACH Regulation, the company updated its safety data sheets, which were subsequently provided to customers on an on-going basis.

All of the above activities serve to minimize the impact of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. on the environment. 

KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. also takes active measures to preserve and – where it is not possible – to compensate for lost biodiversity, and to ensure responsible management of land and forests. At the same time, it does not operate in, or in the direct vicinity of, areas of outstanding natural heritage (defined as national parks, nature reserves or Nature 2000 areas). Evidence for the above was the planting of more than 634 thousand trees and shrubs in 2022.

In 2022, the mines operating in the two segments met all the legal requirements and cooperated with regulators in order to achieve the best possible outcomes for the environment as well as for their operations.

No irregularities occurred in connection with the mining activity that would lead to severe environmental consequences.

In 2022, the activity of the international assets focused mainly on ongoing environmental monitoring and obtaining or renewing necessary permits.

In 2022, the Robinson Nevada Mining Company mine spent approximately USD 4.1 million on environmental protection (waste management, environmental fees, cooperation with consultants, as well as for mitigation measures which accompanied plans to expand the flotation tailings storage facility and measures linked to the Liberty open pit). In addition, the closure and reclamation of the “D-Pad” heap for leaching with cyanide oxide ore, which was a remnant from the early 1990s operations of the previous plant operator, was carried out.

In 2022, Carlota Copper Company allocated USD 1.4 million for environmental activities, while the Sudbury mines allocated more than USD 256 thousand. In the case of the Victoria project, more than USD 3.5 million was allocated for environmental activities in 2022.