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ESG
ESG is a framework consisting of environmental, social,
and governance issues, approaches, standards, and/or solu-
tions utilized to assess the compliance and sustainable and
ethical performance of businesses. In the mining industry,
ESG has been adopted with the hope of being able to cre-
ate a positive relationship and balance between the planet,
its people, species, resources, and mining. ESG’s vision is
to be able to preserve mining, its projects, and renewable
energy sources in the future while altering or replacing
complex and harmful practices with more innovative, safe,
and sustainable ones. Nowadays, mining companies must
look through the following issues to successfully plan and
determine their project impact on the following categories:
Environmental
ESG’s environmental section deals with mining issues tar-
geting the preservation of nature and its inhabitants which
allows stakeholders and the government to understand and
visualize what their risk analysis and management systems
will provide. This holds companies responsible for perma-
nent or harmful environmental issues that occur through-
out the project’s lifetime from the exploration stage to the
monitoring of the reclamation stage. ESG holds companies
accountable for preventing and mitigating any environ-
mental issues their production may have directly or indi-
rectly caused by looking through the following categories
and setting action plans:
Mine Waste
Air, Water, and Land Contamination
Noise
Climate Change
Mine Closure
Greenhouses Gasses
Rock or land instability
Floods
Sinkholes
Deforestation,
Biodiversity loss or endangerment, etc. (Walker, 2022).
Social
ESG’s social section is concerned with supporting and
avoiding compromises to humans and their interdepen-
dencies (such as systems or other humans that people rely
on in their everyday lives). This urges mining companies
to establish healthy relationships with governments, local
communities, and other involved parties to ensure individ-
ual rights and resources are not being exploited throughout
the mining process. It is vital for companies to include all
types of stakeholders in their decision-making processes
and meetings in order to hear a variety of opinions and
decide on an effective solution or compromise.
Furthermore, ESG ensures companies are not bypassing
the natural rights and well-being of individuals as well as
their concerns by establishing a framework that explores
the following categories:
Human Rights
Land Use
Displacement of Communities
Gender Equality and Equity
Labor Practices
Health &Safety
Security
Violence
Poverty
Health Hazards
Cultural and Spiritual Threats, etc. (Walker, 2022).
Governance
ESG’s governance section deals with the legal and ethical
standards or rules that companies create, implement, and
enforce in order to maintain compliance as well as the dis-
tribution of responsibilities amongst involved parties. This
means ESG drives company transparency and holds com-
panies accountable for any promises or written agreements
they have established. This is important for the cultivation
of positive relationships among mining companies, govern-
ments, and residents. Therefore, companies must be able to
answer and set solutions for the following concerns:
Legal compliances
Anti-bribery and Corruption
Exploitation
Compensations/ benefits
Pay Equity and Equality
Practices for new hires and onboarding employees
Response to new laws
Transparency and Information Disclosure
Auditing
Taxing, etc. (Walker, 2022).
Furthermore, ESG is a system used by mining compa-
nies to ensure the longevity of their companies as well
as to secure investments. Mining companies have begun
implementing ESG in hopes of evaluating how ESG risks
will affect their ability to improve income, secure permits,
connect with communities, and protect employees from
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