KEEPING IT CLEAN
In the current mining climate , cost reduction is crucial . With so many company ’ s coming to terms with the impact of a declining market , how does this impact GMI ? – not at all , as green mining and cost reduction go hand in hand .
“ We are always looking at things to make sure that we have that offer of dual benefit of environmental reduction but also some kind of cost competitive advantage . It definitely enters into it in more of a positive way ,” says Zinck .
“ Green mining is not simply about the environmental side , it ’ s a best practice when you can look at a process that ’ s going to reduce impacts for environment as well as an economic advantage , the two of them are very streamlined together .”
The Green Mining Initiative is Canada ’ s answer to a greener mining industry , but they are not alone . Other countries are upping their efforts to create a more sustainable industry , Tekes , in Finland for example has its own Green Mining programme to make Finland a global leader in the sustainable mineral industry by 2020 . Zinck believes that countries can learn from Canada and vice versa , as new entrants into the green mining market can only be good for the future of the industry , specifically standardisation of best practices . “ I think there certainly could be an inventory of best practices and identification / certification in some ways of performance technologies ,” says Zinck .
“ As more of the industry becomes more global , there are less players and costs become the bottom line . It ’ s becoming more and more challenging to make profits so standardisation of best practices could really minimise the number of uncertainties in the market .”
Working collaboratively across the globe is crucial , Zinck believes , to creating that vision of a sustainable mining industry .
“ Look at best practices globally , not only in Canada , that we can share together . In South Africa , Australia and Finland . They have their own best practices and collectively we can pull together . We can move towards identification of best practice globally .
“ We try to look for opportunities to have that kind of global presence and recognising that as the industry is becoming a fully global industry – we can ’ t be working on these green and sustainable initiatives in isolation .”
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