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Spence

This document describes the environmental management system and the production processes of Minera Spence, an open-pit copper mine located in Sierra Gorda, Chile. The mining company uses a hydrometallurgical process to produce high-purity copper cathodes. The document also analyzes the main environmental impacts of copper mining and the policies and monitoring systems implemented by Minera Spence to mitigate and control these impacts.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
28 views21 pages

Spence

This document describes the environmental management system and the production processes of Minera Spence, an open-pit copper mine located in Sierra Gorda, Chile. The mining company uses a hydrometallurgical process to produce high-purity copper cathodes. The document also analyzes the main environmental impacts of copper mining and the policies and monitoring systems implemented by Minera Spence to mitigate and control these impacts.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Environment and mine closure

Spence Mine

Environment and mine closure

Section: IP-8IMIN-8V1

Luis Romero Inostroza

Names of the group members:

Fernando Cautin Cautin

Mayla Valdes Rojas

Erasmo Bugueño Araya

Betzabeth Manque Barraza

September 14, 2020


Table of contents
introduction
summary.........................................................................................................................4
General objective..............................................................................................5
Specific objective.......................................................................................................5
Theoretical framework.................................................................................................................5
Theoretical foundation
Description and characteristics of mining metallurgical processes.....................11
Main environmental impacts.............................................................................12
Environmental management systems..................................................................................14
Sustainable development policies of Spence mine...............................................15
Permissible limits according to legislation............................................................16
Control systems and pollutant treatment............................................17
Management of hazardous substances..................................................18
Environmental challenges of the company.........................................................................20
Conclusion
21

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1. Introduction

From theColonyMining became an important productive activity.


for the Kingdom of Chile. During the 19th century, it gained great dynamism and transformed into the
main economic activity at the national level, as well as mining production andexpansion
industrialthey were integrated into a single reference. However, parallel to the importance
economic growth that this subsector acquired, mining began to transform into one of the
more invasive productive activities, causing a strong environmental impact on the
areas where it was developed. During the 19th century and much of the 20th, practically
there was no environmental awareness, which prevented the exploitation of resources
natural issues related to mining assessed negatively, predominating
always economic progress over environmental matters.

Around 1964, what was called the 'Chileanization' of mining took place when
the Chilean state associated with North American capitals, which implied a great boom of
production. However, this process of state intervention in the exploitation and
production of themining activities continued progressively until culminating in
thenationalization of large miningwhen, through Law 17.450 in 1971, the
The state took charge of the most important mines in the country. Just 6 years later, in
1977, through theDecree Law No. 1,759,the military regime allowed for the incorporation of
foreign capitals, generating a shared exploitation system, even when
Some of the nationalized mines remained in the hands of the State, as was the case.
de Chuquicamata,El Salvador, Andean andThe Lieutenant.

A key fact for the environmental impacts caused by mining was the
promulgation, in 1974, of Decree Law 600 on the Foreign Investment Statute. Said
decree, by structurally promoting investment by substantially lowering rates
taxes and generating equal treatment for national and foreign companies,
made that between the years 1974 and 1983 the levels of foreign investment in mining
they will reach historical peaks. As a result of this "liberation", a
strong expansion of the activity that influenced, directly, the generation of
important environmental impacts, which gradually gained notoriety
until they become unsustainable.

It was not until 1990 that the authorities, within the framework of greater sensitivity
due to the issue, they began to discuss possible measures to stopthe impact
environmentalof mining activity. Initially, the discussion focused on the
atmospheric pollution from smelters and in tailings ponds.Cases
emblematicit was the Ventanas foundry, whose abundant black smoke was visible.
many kilometers away, and the El Salvador mine, which discharged its tailings into the sea.
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The previous cases were also added to the systematic destruction of properties and
agricultural regions, along with the pollution of irrigation channels.

Thus, mining pollution began to be regulated, starting the search for a


coexistence of environmental protection with economic development through promotion
of aappropriate legislation.Starting from Decree No. 185 of 1992, and within the framework of a
voluntary agreement between various productive sectors and the State, plans were initiated
of decontamination in the 5 state copper smelters and were implemented
environmental impact studies for all new mining operations, which ultimately resulted in
more than 60% of those studies corresponded to the mining sector. At the same time,
the Environmental Base Law (1994) and the enactment of its regulations in 1997,
they imposed a greater environmental awareness in the mining activities of the country.

Despite this belated awareness, specific cases are still manifesting.


pollution, like the Los Pelambres mine in the IV region, which has been reported for
to spill liquid industrial waste into the rivers of the area.

Summary
The purpose of this report is to disclose and provide the required information.
by the teacher the way Minera Spence of the Australian company BHP operates
its installation located in the Sierra Gorda commune in the 2nd region of Antofagasta at
an approximate height of 1600 m.a.s.l. various points of interest will be announced,
specifically and placing greater emphasis on its environmental management system and how
mitigate the impact that the metallurgical mining process causes to the environment since
on Genesis. Contemplating its hydrometallurgical process plant.

Minera Spence is dedicated to the production of copper cathodes through a


open-pit operation. Its high-purity copper cathodes are obtained after a
process that includes bacterial leaching, solvent extraction, and electro-winning,
and are mainly exported to China, Italy, and the U.S. In 2015, the company presented a
environmental impact study to extend the life of your mine through
exploitation of the sulfide resources located below the current deposit. The
project considers the construction and operation of a new concentrator plant with
a nominal processing capacity of 95,000-100,000 t/d and associated infrastructure
to achieve an annual production of 835,000t of copper in concentrate and 7,500t of
molybdenum. In addition, it includes the construction of a desalination plant that
supply around 800 l/s of desalinated water for industrial processes, as well as a
aqueduct of 154km and a pumping station, and a storage tank
4,000m3 of capacity. The main shareholders of the company, founded in 1979,
they are Rio Algom Limited and Rio Algom Exploration, both subsidiaries of BHP Billiton.
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3. General objective
Investigate the environmental problems generated by exploitation and processing of
minerals for the production of copper cathodes from BHP's Spence mining operation.
As well as the mitigation and control measures that this issue entails.
4. Specific Objective
Environmental management system of Spence mining iso 14001

Description and characteristics of the mining metallurgy processes


Control and treatment of pollutants
Environmental impact generated by the exploitation and operation of mining processes
copper metallurgists.
Environmental regulations of the mining company

Company sustainable development policy.


5. Theoretical framework

In the international aspect, the first principles and foundations with a view to policies
environmental was at the United Nations conference on the human environment in
Stockholm 1972, which was used as a basis for the mitigation procedures
environmental with which it was the first step for future policies of the time.

In Chile, environmental policies took shape through the Rio Summit of 1992.
Brazil where the contamination of hazardous waste was specified. Samples were taken
foundations of the summit, but not all in their entirety, by President Patricio
Aylwin, which led to the approval of law 19.300 in 1994 that would establish an environmental institution.
non-existent to date, having collateral relation with law 20.173 in 2007 creation
from the Ministry of the Environment changing the foundations of Law 19,300.

Law 19300 is based on three fundamental principles, which are:

Preventive principle
The principle "the polluter pays"
Participatory principle

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6. Theoretical foundation

6.1.Preventive principles

From the point of view of the Chilean constitution, it is fundamental in rights.


humans live in a pleasant place and environmental surroundings for the community. According to
with article 19 No. 8 of the Political Constitution of the Republic: "The Constitution
ensures all people: The right to live in an environment free of
pollution. It is the duty of the State to ensure that this right is not affected and
to safeguard the preservation of nature. The law may establish restrictions
specific to the exercise of certain rights or freedoms to protect the environment
environment

To explain it more explicitly, what the constitution states we will separate the
two actions: firstly, 'the right to live in an environment free of
pollution is the duty of the state to ensure that this right is not affected.

It is understood that the state takes responsibility and must take positive actions to
the good of the environment since the importance of the word to safeguard becomes
reference to demanding action from the state regarding people's health, that is, that it
seek a pleasant environment where one can live under normal conditions according to the
constitution. Furthermore, on the contrary, according to law 19.300, the state does not
responsible for environmental conditions but seeks to mitigate and control them
conditions that it adjusts to prevent, it is not about creating a normal environmental setting but rather
the 'State must act to restore the situation prior to the impact' with this
It leads us to interpret that the mandating entity, the state, will restore the conditions.
prior to the activity generated by industrial billing or activity performed
according to the general environmental framework of law 19.300.

6.2. "to safeguard through the prevention of nature"

Regarding guardianship, it is about the follow-up of prevention according to the law and the
The constitution clearly states that preventive welfare is personal to each individual, from
From a legal point of view, guardianship is understood as a special protection; for
that this would mean that the state should take charge of the guardianship of the good of the
nature would take care of regulating this, the management system
integrated of the SEIA in which it would measure the parameters to name the points of
prevention.

different opinions were proclaimed regarding the rights in the constitution, which in the
the time when different parts of the country began to industrialize and there were various trials in
courts for pollution such as hydropower plants, mining exploitations,
and all kinds of polluting activity. From this, the communities and environment
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they demanded for good living without pollution and the president became active and created a
Environmental bill known today as law 19.300.

for them, the foundations of law 19,300 were specified in the SEIA as essence that
every activity necessary from a social or economic point of view will lead to the future
a negative environmental impact, meaning that in each project before being
executed, the negative environmental impact it will cause must be taken into account.
time due to the prevention required, such effects must be taken into account,
characteristics or circumstances for their respective evaluation and grading. Starting from
the objective of the law and its main basis take preventive considerations into account in the
which will be evaluated by the administration to finally make a decision.

6.3. Principle that the polluter pays

This principle is fundamental when starting or executing a project as it


In 1974, OECD members attached this principle to the Rio summit where the
resources must be included in the costs of pollution prevention and
control measures to promote correct friendship with the environment.

Through this, this principle obliges projects and economic activities to


to carry out an activity, investments must be made in prevention and control measures for the future
for the collateral payment of the environmental impact and the effects they produce on
the community in social aspect.

From this point, investors in your project must internalize the costs.
environmental aspects in their production and utilities so that they are taken into account
the costs of prevention are equally requested in this principle to ensure
social responsibility that allows for the full repair of the damages inflicted on
environment.

With this, the SEIA aims for investment in prevention and mitigation measures to...
pollution that does not cover completely and therefore in response to a pollution the
the company or project of order or service must pay for each spill or
pollution produced.

6.4.Participatory principle

In this principle, the participatory judgment that society has in projects applies.
with those that effectively produce pollution, that is to say, that society and
communities and third parties that do not have direct contact with this activity or project
they can participate for the participatory principle to take place.

In this sense, the principle of participation in the environmental field is


conceptualized and recognized in Principle 10 of Rio, which states: 'The best
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the way to address environmental issues is with the participation of everyone
interested citizens, at the appropriate level. At the national level, all
the person must have adequate access to information about the environment
that the authorities provide, including information about the materials and the
activities that pose danger in their communities, as well as the opportunity to
participate in decision-making processes. States must facilitate
and promote awareness and public participation by making information available to
disposition of all. Effective access to the procedures must be provided.
judicial and administrative, among these the compensation for damages and the resources
relevant. It is through this principle that consensus is established at the level
the importance of public participation in decision-making internationally.

In the Constitution of the Republic, this principle is recognized as a right.


where in its last clause article 1° establishes that 'It is the duty of the State to safeguard'
national security, provide protection to the population and the family, promote the
strengthening of this, promoting the harmonious integration of all sectors of the
Nation and ensure the right of people to participate equally
opportunities in the national life.

Through Law 19.300, it makes legal proceedings and environmental trials the
direct or indirect persons are informed about environmental pollution that
produce the economic activity and participate in the trials with the power to demand
procedures and even report an environmental impact for this purpose it seeks to have
a control of more massive indicators since the political constitution supports it
The state's right is to ensure optimal conditions for people and the
nature.

6.5.Environmental impact assessment

The SEIA is based on the principles mentioned above.


is responsible for having an integrated management system to forecast and characterize the
fundamental and systematic errors produced by a service or project.
purchase.

Furthermore, it has the characteristic of being eminently technical and specialized, for
how much it delivers its administration to a specialized body of the State such as
the Environmental Assessment Service (SEA), which acts as the responsible service
of its administration.

This procedure is based on presenting the executor with the facts in a predictive manner.
of pollution so that the competent service for its evaluation has
present the types and ways to combat pollution and have a record of it

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management system implemented for optimal mitigations so that the
guardianship and social and environmental context should be participatory.

In Chile, environmental assessment was introduced by law through the creation


of the Environmental Impact Assessment System (SEIA), where basically its
The objective is the incorporation of the environmental variable in projects or activities.
to be executed prior to their development; establishing criteria,
principles, methodologies and minimum contents to consider in the evaluation
environmental, which finally allows to determine whether the environmental impacts of a
project, are socially and environmentally acceptable. In this sense, the Law defines the
projects that must be submitted to it, the income channels under which it will be carried out
evaluation, its contents or subjects to develop, in addition to establishing the
specific administrative procedure to be used, a matter that we will proceed to analyze.
continuation.

6.6.Environmental assessment pathways (Declaration and Environmental Impact Study)

In law 19.300, article 10 states that before executing or modifying the project, one must
It must pass the environmental assessment, therefore we took care of the above.
to anticipate environmental impacts through the organization's management system
Competent in this is evaluated and two paths are taken depending on what it dictates.
project on what type of road it wants to optimize its environmental impact.

Regarding environmental assessment procedures, Article 9 of the Law states


that any holder who must submit their project for said evaluation must do so now
either through the submission of an Environmental Impact Statement or
through an Environmental Impact Study, these being the only two avenues for
entry of a project into the environmental assessment process. This does not inhibit the
possibility of voluntarily submitting to environmental assessment when it concerns
of a project not listed in article 10.

According to the definitions established in Article 2 of the Law, the Study


The Environmental Impact, is a document that describes in detail the
characteristics of a project or activity that is intended to be carried out or its
modification. It must provide well-founded background for the prediction,
identification and interpretation of its environmental impact and describe the action or actions
that will be executed to prevent or significantly mitigate their adverse effects.

In the environmental declaration, the company or executing party in charge must sign an oath.
about the activities of the procedures or modifications where it is a document
descriptive, the difference between the declaration and the environmental study is that the former
it lies in the greater environmental impact that the former entails.

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Article 11 is an important point as it has through the mentioned avenues
to dictate or inform about the so-called 'significant impacts' or 'effects
"significant adversities" with this, the aim is to obtain information so that the
activities do not have prejudices against the health of the society or population where they are executed
the project since the state has to look after the health of the people, it also
they harm tourism, customs, cultural heritage, considering archaeology
and paleontology.

6.7. Contents of the Environmental Impact Study and Declaration

In this part of the research, we will detail the differences between the two paths.
of environmental declarations where each of them is differentiated for the SEIA according to
Law 19.300

Environmental impact study.

project_description
Determination and justification of the area of influence and general description
Description and justification of the baseline area
Background that justifies the non-existence according to article 11
Detailed descriptions of adverse effects according to article 11
Mitigation measures plan
Repair and compensation
Prevention and contingency plan
Environmental variable monitoring plan
•Compliance plan for applicable environmental legislation, including permits
sectoral environmental
Voluntary environmental commitments, if they are considered

Environmental impact statement.

Project description
Determination and justification of the area of influence and general description
Background justifying the non-existence according to article 11
Contingency prevention plan and emergency plan
Compliance plan for applicable environmental legislation, including permits
sectoral environmental
Voluntary environmental commitments, if considered

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In light of what has been described according to the two pathways, it is important to emphasize that the description of

The base area is very important because it is where the first instance will have the
first pollution and it is there that the first ones can be grounded
predictions and mitigation measures and controls stated in article 11 of the law.

It is important that the environmental impact study has a high resource cost due to
what companies always choose to do is to optimize resources for
environmental declaration, the difference is that in the declaration there is an oath in
the one responsible for the execution must speak with faithful and worthy data for not
he could go to an environmental court in which he is subjected for breaching the law
19.300.

7. Description and characteristics of mining metallurgy processes


7.1.Mine operation
Also called open-pit mines, open-pit mining is a type of exploitation
mines that take place on the surface, unlike underground mines.
This is possible when the deposit emerges at the surface or very close to it.
depth. It began to be carried out in the mid-16th century and is used throughout the
world.
In order for an open-pit mine to be carried out, excavation is necessary.
(through machinery or explosives) of the land surrounding the deposit. That
material that is not useful in the exploitation is referred to as waste and is
deposits in spoil heaps located outside the mine site, which will be used in the
future to restore it once it is exhausted.

7.2. Process plant


They are all facilities and infrastructure, whether above ground or underground.
where the processes of crushing, agglomeration, storage take place,
grinding and recovery of mineral substances for subsequent treatment, already
whether by the siderometallurgical or pyrometallurgical route.

7.3.Crushing
process by which the size of mineralized rocks is reduced
crushing them in machines called crushers and mills. The extracted material passes
by primary, secondary, and tertiary crusher, until reaching sizes of less than
½ inch.

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7.4.Agglomeration
The agglomeration process aims to prepare the mineralized material.
for leaching, ensuring a good permeability coefficient of the solution.

7.5.Leaching
solid-liquid extraction is a unit operation that consists of the separation of
one or more substances (solutes) contained in a solid matrix (carrier phase),
usually powdered, through the use of liquid solvents.

7.6.Solvent extraction
method of separating one or more substances from a mixture using
of solvents. An organic resin is used in the copper extraction process.
diluted in an organic solvent (paraffin), which is mixed by stirring with the
PLS solution resulting from leaching.

7.7.Electro-extraction
Electrowinning is a process of electrometallurgy, through which it
recover the copper that is concentrated in the copper solution (which is
obtained from the leaching process) with the purpose of producing high purity cathodes
of copper (99.99%), highly valued in the market.

8. Main environmental impacts


Any change in the environment, whether adverse or beneficial, that is a total result or
partial of the activities, products or services of an organization.

8.1. What is an Environmental Aspect?


According to ISO 14001, Environmental Aspects defined as 'Element of the
activities, products or services of an organization that interacts or can
interact with the environment. A significant environmental aspect is one that
it has or may have one or more significant environmental impacts. The aspect
environmental is seen in a simple way as the cause of a possible consequence
or environmental effect.

8.2. What is an Environmental Impact?


According to ISO 14001, Environmental Aspects are defined as 'Element of the
activities, products or services of an organization that interacts or can
interact with the environment. A significant environmental aspect is one that
it has or may have one or more significant environmental impacts. The aspect
The environment is seen in a simple way as the cause of a possible consequence.
or environmental effect.

8.3. What is an Operational Control?


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They are the controls that must be carried out on our processes to prevent the
pollution or reduce its environmental impact.

8.4. Environmental events report


The person in charge of the area where an environmental incident occurs must issue a report in
EMS platform (Event Management Solution).

Before sending the report, the person responsible must inform the environmental specialist,
which will be carried out:

Review of the information before being uploaded to the EMS platform.


Review of the report to determine if the event should be reported to the authority.

8.5. What should the report contain?


Clear description of the event.
Possible Cause
Solution or chemical substance spilled in m3
Affected area in m2.
Immediate and subsequent control measures.
Photographs

8.6. What should I report?


Chemical spills (hazardous and non-hazardous)
Process solution spill (ILS, PLS, Refining, etc.)
Leakage of drinking water, sewage, and process water (over 20 m3)
Poor segregation and disposal of domestic and industrial waste.
Poor segregation and disposal of hazardous waste (mixing of waste
incompatibles, mix with non-hazardous domestic or industrial waste, disposal
in unauthorized site, exceed temporary storage time).
Damage to archaeological site, mounds and/or bones.
Sighting of injured or dead wildlife.
Lack of dust control application in the areas.
Legal non-compliance of RCA's

9. Environmental management system


9.1. What is the Environmental Management System?

It is a cyclical process of planning, implementation, review, and improvement of the


processes carried out by an organization to perform its activities
ensuring compliance with its environmental objectives and commitments
raised in the Sustainable Development Policy.

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9.2. What is ISO 14001:2015?

It is a standardized, internationally accepted norm for implementing a


Environmental Management System, which promotes good administration of
resources, which results in a reduction in energy expenditure
electricity, fuel, water, and raw materials, a guaranteed compliance of the
legal regulations and improve the corporate image, as well as relationships with third parties
as the authorities and local communities.

9.3. What is the Environmental Management Manual?


The Environmental Management Manual of Minera Spence is based on the ISO standard.
14001 is a tool through which the maintenance and the
update of the Environmental Management System.
10. Sustainable development policy of Spence mine

The environmental policies of a company are those determined by the ISO.


what a person, company, or organization decides to apply in their company to be able to
make a change regarding the environment with your actions.

10.1. What does the company think about this?

This company adheres to this environmental policy so that its mining processes
metalworkers have the least possible consequence within the entire ecosystem that
surrounds it. What they said in their last statement was 'our goal is to achieve
zero harm to people, our communities, and the environment, working
with the best practices in the industry" - (Mía Gous, general manager of Spance mine).

Our manual is applicable to all areas of Spence and its companies.


collaborators, establish the context of the organization and the responsibilities of
the roles directly related to environmental management.

10.2. Sustainable development policies


It is a public statement made by Minera Spence regarding the protection of the environment.
environment, as well as care and respect for their communities.

Make open commitments such as:

Continuous improvement.
The protection of the environment.
Compliance with legal requirements.
• Letter of values and 'Our BHP Requirements'.

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Sustainability development policy statement issued by managers - Spence mine

6. Permissible limits according to legislation


6.6. How do I manage the emission of Particulate Matter (PM10)?
Housekeeping in process areas, Hurricane and suppressor cannon
Tests with Additives
Irrigation Plan for Mine, Service Roads, and Irrigation of Loading Fronts
Air Quality Monitoring through online monitoring at 3 stations
(polyclinic, Sierra Gorda and camp)

6.7. How do I take care of water consumption in Spence?


Determination of the baseline consumption, as well as impacts associated with use and
download
Implement Management Controls
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Groundwater monitoring
Water recycling program
Communication program (raise awareness about saving)

6.8. How do I take care of the archaeological sites located in Spence?


Annual monitoring
All duly identified (marked or delimited)

6.9. How do I take care of the flora and fauna in Spence?


Do not come into contact with the species.
Do not feed native species.
Dispose of waste in the appropriate places and containers for
avoid the attraction of vectors and birds to the operational areas.

7. Air Quality
7.6. What is PM10?
Particulate matter (PM) is an atmospheric pollutant that corresponds to
those liquid or solid particles that are suspended, which are
they can be classified according to their diameter. MP10 corresponds to those particles that
they have a diameter of 10 microns (µm).
7.7. What are its impacts?
The MP10 penetrates throughout the respiratory system up to the lungs,
producing irritations and affecting various diseases.
Poor management could pose a risk to people's health.
In this way, poor management can also pose a risk in the
operational continuity of Spence.

7.8. How do we measure it?

At Spence, we have fixed and mobile monitoring stations that are located
distributed in different areas, these stations use different equipment for the
real-time measurement of the concentration of PM10 (µm/m3).

7.9. How do we control it?


Dust controls are led by different areas, so the success of these
it is linked to teamwork, communication, and collaboration among them, as well as
also to our behaviors and discipline.
At Spence, dust control is everyone's responsibility, whether generating
awareness of the risks, identifying areas of concern or verifying the
compliance with its controls.
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8. Control systems and pollutant treatment
Spence develops a table of parameters where they keep track of their goals and
purposes to fulfill where one of them is to generate controlled operations that
minimize damage to the environment.

All operations must implement Water Management Plans that detail


controls to limit our impact on water resources. Where they are identified
material risks related to water, each operation must set goals and implement
customized projects to specifically address these risks and
monitor and report on the progress of project implementation. operations
In Chile, they achieved high-quality water reductions of 11,363 Ml in FY14.
equivalent to 360 l/s.

Category Waste Type Characteristics

Domestic • Remnants and containers • For its storage, it


of food. they use containers of
red and/or labeled
• Empty bottles
as domestic waste.
• Papers and
• Deposits cannot be made
cartons
directly in
• Bags and containers containers, only
plastics they are removed if they are in bags.

• Organic sludge
dry treaties
PTAS

Industrial • Containers, bags and • For your deposit, they are used
plastics. yellow containers,
they can be plastics and/or
• Lumber.
metallic, or hoppers.
• Highlights of
• In case of putting into bags,
iron, glass and
the color of must be respected
metals.
the classification using
• PVC pipes and yellow bags.
HDPE.

• Air filters.

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• Straps
carriers.

Dangerous • Waste oil • The Respel is deposited in


hermetic containers,
• Elements
this way they are
contaminated transported to the courtyard of
with
temporary storage and
hydrocarbons then, to the final destination.
oils and/or
fats. • It is prohibited to mix them.
they must be segregated from
• Lead anodes
agreed with its danger.
• Batteries and cells.
• Install labels on the lid
• Filters of or on the side of the drum,
lubricants. identifying the type of
Rescheduling and the start date
• Waste of the filling.
contaminated
with acid, • Cannot be stored
organics, refining Rescue for more than two
and electrolyte. months in the areas.

• Paint jars • Hazardous waste does not


and brushes. they can remain longer than
six months inside
• Tubes Spence.
fluorescents.
• The labels for the
• Cartridge and labeled are defined by
Toner. Minera Spence and they must not
be adulterated.

Image extracted from documents provided by spence

11. Management of hazardous substances


11.1. What is a chemical substance?
It is a substance of chemical nature, which according to its classification can be
dangerous and non-dangerous.

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11.2. What is a hazardous chemical substance?

These substances by their nature produce or can produce temporary damage.


or permanent effects on human, animal or plant health and on material elements.

11.3. Risk identification

It must be ensured at each storage point the existence of the label that ...
indicate the substance of greatest risk.

11.4. Storage of hazardous substances

Operational procedures related to handling must be in place and


storage of hazardous substances, which must be considered by some.
aspects such as:

Define the person responsible for storage and the tasks of the committed staff.
Have a record of the stored chemical substances.
Control of entries and exits.
Keep the order and cleanliness of the facilities.
No eating or drinking in the workplace.
Segregate according to hazard groups.
Respect existing signage, no smoking, evacuation routes, etc.
Use specific PPE for transportation, storage, and handling.
Read the product safety data sheet.
In case of emergency, act according to what is defined in the procedure.
emergency.

Image extracted from documents borrowed from Spence company

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Environmental challenges of the company
9.6.Goals and objectives
Within the company, various objectives have been proposed in order to reduce
social and environmental factors, which is why some programs were implemented
to be able to meet these goals.

Objectives

1.- Mitigate impacts due to PM10 generation

2.- Mitigate impacts from PM10 generation

3.- Soil and Biodiversity Protection

4.- Water Reduction

5.- Reduction of GHG

Environmental goals

1.- 107.6 ug/m3 (Campamento Station)

2.- 85% effectiveness of bischofite

3.- No environmental incidents level > 4

4.- 5.992 ML

5.- 2.34 tons CO2-e / tons Cu

Programs

1.- Dust control in mine and plant areas, follow-up on SIGA HSE platform

2.- Bischofite Application (TSP)


3.-Monitoring environmental incidents in 1SAP

4.-Decrease due to stretch

5.-Decrease due to stretch

10. Conclusion
Our society fights for social and environmental well-being day by day, but we
it remains an unknown whether we can extract and utilize natural resources without
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to carry our communities and environment. In our opinion, it
as long as they do not affect the various communities that are present
surroundings, like its native fauna. For this reason, various measures are implemented in Spence.
environmental protection systems that they adopt voluntarily. Due to
that the current Chilean regulations are too precarious and too ambiguous
together with the legal system. As future engineers, we must know how to manage waste.
and control all functions in such a way that we do not harm our surroundings.

11. Bibliography

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