Union files complaint against Orla Mining, alleging violation of worker rights in Mexico
The complaint is only the second of its kind made from Canada using CUSMA’s RRM process since the trade deal came into force in 2020.
A new Metal and Mining research report on greenhouse gas emissions in gold mines by S&P Global Market Intelligence reviewed 2020 sustainability reports from more than 90 leading gold mines globally to conduct a year-over-year comparison of greenhouse gas emissions to see the impact of lockdown on emissions.
The report looks at the year-over year comparison of emissions. Mining grades declined in 2020, but despite some fluctuations in actual emissions, that drop in grade led to a drop in gold output, which caused a drop in per-ounce emissions intensity, says S&P.
In 2020, gold output was down 5% globally compared with 2019, largely due to lockdowns imposed to curb the covid-19 pandemic. The combined output from primary gold mines that accounted for around 35% of global supply in 2020 fell just over 1% from 2019 production, the report reads.
Throughput from these mines also fell around 1%, from 847 million tonnes of ore processed in 2019 to 840 Mt in 2020, S&P reports. Meanwhile, emissions from these operations increased less than 1%, from 27.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, or tCO2e, in 2019 to 27.6 MtCO2e in 2020.
Emissions intensity averaged 0.697 tCO2e per ounce of gold produced, the report reads, a negligible decrease year over year. On a per tonne of throughput basis, emissions intensity increased incrementally, up less than 1% to 28.7 tCO2e per thousand tonnes of ore processed.
Negligible change in emissions, divided by less gold gives a bigger value in tCO2e/oz. Supporting that somewhat more-stable nature of open pits, grade didn’t change by much at open pit mines. Underground mines’ per-ounce intensity increased by 13% but declined at open pits, the report finds. Generally, per-tonne emissions intensity remained stable overall.
Lockdowns did occur in a number of regions in 2020 but overall they didn’t cause much change in terms of emissions intensity of a project.
“A period of lockdown might have caused a drop in output, but the emissions are coming from operating the mines. During the lockdown, the equipment and the mills were shut down, therefore the emissions would decline anyway. A drop in emissions divided by a lower output (or throughput for that matter) can just as easily yield the same emissions intensity,” says S&P.
Analysis of 2019 data from 96 gold mines highlighted clear differences in the emissions intensity across mine types, the report finds, with open pit mines exhibiting a higher intensity on a per ounce of gold produced but a lower intensity on a per tonne of ore processed basis.
