The Sustainability Report provides an overview of our sustainability programs and initiatives conducted each year, as part of an initiative to provide disclosure on our environmental, social and governance material topics.
Trevali’s inaugural 2018 Sustainability Report marks a public commitment to transparency in reporting and maturity in sustainability performance. Our strategy is to identify environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities most significant to our business and integrate them into our strategic framework and capital allocation decisions. Through this, Trevali will deliver on our vision to become a premier global base-metals mining company, preferred by investors for solid performance and by communities, partners and employees for mutual benefit and trust.
Trevali Mining Corporation is a base metal mining company with commercially producing operations in Canada, Peru, Burkina Faso and Namibia. Trevali recognizes that sustainable development is of critical importance to our business and as such incorporates safety, social, community, environmental and economic considerations into our business decision making and drives our focus at our operations. Our Trevali Environmental and Social Management System attested to the principles of ISO Environmental Management System Standard ISO 14001:2015 in addition, our Rosh Pinah Operation is certified to ISO 14001:2015.
Trevali Mining Corporation is a base metal mining company with four commercially producing operations in Canada, Peru, Burkina Faso and Namibia. Trevali recognizes that sustainable development is of critical importance to our business and as such incorporates safety, social, community, environmental and economic considerations into our business decision making and drives our focus at our operations. Our Trevali Health and Safety Management Framework is attested to the principles of ISO Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems Standard ISO 18001:2007 in addition, our Rosh Pinah Operation is certified to ISO 18001:2007.
Respect for human rights in our business, communities in which we operate and our value chain is critical to our long-term success as a business and to our stakeholders. Trevali recognizes that it operates in locations with vulnerable communities and ensures the security personal are well trained to respect human rights.
This policy outlines our commitment to human rights and recognizes the critical importance of this to our business globally. Trevali values, respects and supports the dignity and human rights of all people.
We are committed to respecting human rights (as defined by the International Bill of Human Rights, including the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the eight core conventions of the International Labour Organisation) across all Trevali operations, regardless of geographic location. This commitment includes using our influence to identify, prevent, mitigate and remedy the adverse human rights impacts of our operations on our workers, our supply chain, our communities and others affected by our operations.
We acknowledge that this means addressing some of our most relevant human rights issues, including those relating to health and safety, labour rights and working conditions, the activities of our private and public security forces, and the access and use of land, water and other natural resources. We recognise and respect the values, beliefs and connections to land and water of the communities and Indigenous Peoples near our operations.
We do not engage in or condone any form of forced, compulsory or child labour in our workforce or supply chain.
Our operations are driven by our people, and as such we are committed to the protection of all our people and workers’ rights, including minorities, Indigenous peoples, women, children, and other vulnerable groups. We believe that we are only as strong as the relationships we have with our workers, communities, suppliers and other stakeholders. Wherever we operate, we engage with our stakeholders throughout the mining life-cycle to understand the impacts of our activities, build trusting relationships, strengthen communities and leave a positive legacy in all the regions we operate. We provide our stakeholders with access to a confidential complaints and grievances reporting mechanism, and we listen to and take action to address concerns about our human rights performance.
Governance oversight of Trevali’s human rights performance is the responsibility of the Board’s HSEC Committee. Reporting on our performance with this policy, along with our Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) is provided in our annual Sustainability Report.
We undertake due diligence processes to identify, prevent, mitigate and remedy all human rights related risks and impacts as part of our existing risk management processes at each operation, and in line with our Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS), Trevali Safety and Health Management Framework (TSMF), employment and recruitment processes.
We share our vision with our management, employees, contractors, suppliers, business partners and visitors, and expect their compliance with our human rights commitments and standards. We provide training and support for compliance and implementation of this policy. We also encourage our non-operated joint ventures and minority interests to respect our commitments to human rights and to adopt similar principles and standards.
The catastrophic Tailings Storage Facilities (TSF) failures at Mount Polley (Canada) in 2014, Samarco (Brazil) in 2015 and Brumadinho (Brazil) in 2019, heightened global awareness on the need for effective governance, including continuous monitoring and maintenance. The Trevali Board requested an additional and comprehensive review of all TSF facilities in 2018, to verify that the system of governance in place was operating effectively.
In November 2018, Klohn Crippen Berger (KCB) was appointed to provide assurance over our existing TSF’s risk management framework and to provide technical guidance to address any gaps found. The work undertaken with KCB has confirmed the integrity of the Trevali TSF’s, and has highlighted the need for Trevali to develop and implement one consistent governance framework across all Operations even though Trevali operate TSF’s in compliance with the site-specific permits and regulatory requirements.
Trevali has eight TSF’s located across our operations. Five of these TSF’s are active and three are inactive. None of the inactive TSF’s are formally closed with closure certificates. Three TSF’s use the upstream construction method, four use downstream construction method, one facility uses the downstream construction methodology with one upstream lift.
Trevali is committed to improving the transparency of information about tailings facilities, and as part of this commitment, Trevali have responded to the Church of England Pensions Board and the Council on Ethics Swedish National Pensions Funds’ disclosure request.