Description

Dragon Mining Oy is a Finnish mining company that is also engaged in exploration. Dragon Mining Oy is owned by the Australian Dragon Mining Ltd. The company has mines in Orivesi and in Jokisuvu, Huittinen, in which gold ore is excavated. The ore excavated in the mines is concentrated in the Vammala processing plant in Sastamala. As a concentration method, the company uses flotation and a vibrating table based on gravitation. The principal product of the company is gold concentrate.

The responses presented in the corporate social responsibility report concern only the Jokisivu and Orivesi mines and the Vammala processing plant. The responses do not address exploration in the vicinity of the mines or elsewhere. However, those figures with a general bearing on the company (personnel, finances and the occupational health and safety) have not been removed.

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Toiminta-alue: Huittinen, Orivesi and Sastamala

Yhteystiedot vastuullisuusasioissa:

Elina Arponen
elina.arponen@dragonmining.com
+358 (0)40 300 7800

The company in figures in 2015

• Tuotantomäärä: A total of 7,158.05 tonnes of gold concentrate: 7,158 tonnes of concentration from flotation, and 0.05 tonnes of a ´concentration from a vibrating table
• Kokonaislouhinta: 528,015 tonnes (ore, 269,832 tonnes, waste rock, 258,183 tonnes)
• Raportoidut malmivarat: -
• Raportoidut mineraalivarannot: 1,801,000 tonnes: 1,480,000t in Jokisivu (measured 354,000t 5.10g/t; indicated 4.5g/ per 681,000t, inferred 445 000t 4.5g/t); 321 000t in Orivesi (measured 115 000t 5.60g/t, indicated 152 000t 6.40g/t, inferred 54 000t 8.10g/t)
• Toiminnan aloitusvuosi: Orivesi 2006 (restart of mining in 2006; a shutdown between 2003 and 2006; the mine was opened for the first time in 1994 by another company. The Vammala processing plan in 2007 (the restart of the processing plant in 2007; the plant was shut down between 2003 and 2007; the plant was originally opened in the mid-1970s by another company.) Jokisivu 2009 (new mining operation)
• Kaivoksen arvioitu jäljellä oleva elinikä: 0-5 years
• Kaivosalueen pinta-ala: A total of 266.97 ha (the area in the company’s possession is slightly less than 70%): Orivesi 39.82ha (100% rented), Jokisivu 69.62ha (rented 47%, owned 53 %; a mining permit decision on the expansion of the mining concession (21.3ha) was issued in August, and the process for ordering mining concession was completed in February 2016). The processing plant is located in the area of the closed Vammala mining concession, which is 157.53ha in size (of which the rented area accounts for around 12% and owned 88%).
• Malminetsintäalueen pinta-ala: No reports
• Omien työntekijöiden määrä: 86
• Työntekijöiden pääasialliset asuinkunnat: Sastamala, Tampere and Nokia
• Vakituisten urakoitsijoiden määrä: 57
• Käyttökate EBITDA: EUR 8.8 million
• Maksettu yhteisövero: EUR 0 (on account of the payback of investments. While the payback is ongoing, the company pays no corporation tax.)

Environment

Keskeiset tunnusluvut:

• Amount of extractive waste: 517,222 t (waste rock, 50%, tailings, 50%)
• Utilisation of waste rock: nearly 60% was used as backfill in underground mines . At the Orivesi site, a permit was obtained for the temporary crushing of waste rock classified as inert waste. An environmental permit was applied for the crushing of waste rock excavated at the Jokisivu site (this permit was obtained in June 2016).
• Fuel consumption: –
• Other energy consumption (electricity and heat production): electricity 29GWh (the proportions of renewable and non-renewable energy sources are unknown)
• The operations of the Vammala processing site required water amounting to 1,200,000 m^3.. Water is recycled in the process via a closed underground mine located in the area, meaning that no additional water is needed. A volume of approximately 340,000m³ was run off from the area, but this figure includes water from the environment. At the Jokisivu site, no water intake took place, as all the necessary water was obtained from recycled water coming from dewatering the mine (with runoff to downstream waterways amounting to 103,000m³). At the Orivesi mine, water from a lake was taken to be used in the process, amounting to 3,500 m³, but otherwise process water was obtained from recycled water (with the runoff amounting to 61,000 m³).
• Total number of dams in the area where tailings are stockpiled: 1 (Class 2)
• Number of endangered species occurring in the operational area: 2 species (flying squirrels appear in the Jokisuvu mining area, and three dark whitefaces were observed in the vicinity of the Orivesi mining area in summer 2014)
• Usage of chemicals dangerous to the environment: 0 kg
• In the Jokisivu mining area, nesting boxes have been built for flying squirrels as compensation for removing one squirrel’s nesting tree. The number of flying squirrels in the area today exceeds that before the mining operations were launched.

Personnel and safety

Keskeiset tunnusluvut vuonna:

2015

• Average number of training days per year: 1,5 days/employee
• Absence due to sickness (excluding contractors): 1.7%
• Lost-time injury frequency rate: 11.66 accidents per 1,000,000 working hours (accidents leading to a loss of more than one shift)
• Working time systems currently in use: 3-shift system, 8-shift system, 12-hour working time system, flexitime system

Impact on the use of the neighbouring areas and the sources of livelihood

Vaikutukset paikallisiin elinkeinoihin: Mining operations are not carried out in the reindeer management area. The municipality, inhabitants of neighbouring areas, land owners and those earning their livelihood from rural activities are taken into consideration in the company’s stakeholder collaboration.

Vaikutukset lähialueen virkistyskäyttöön:

According to the assessment of the company itself, its activities have not impacted the recreational of use of the neighbouring areas with the exception of the Orivesi mine. The impact of dewatering the Orivesi mine is discernible in the fish populations in the two lakes downstream of the mine.

In Lake Ala-Jalkajärvi which is located closest to the Orivesi mine, no fish were found in previous years, with the exception of a handful of specimens, but the fishery research carried out in summer 2015 produced excellent catches of perch. Perch were sampled for metals, and the concentrations detected were either low or below the permitted maximum concentration limit. In Lake Peräjärvi, which is located downstream of Lake Ala-Jalkajärvi, the fish population is more restricted than is normally the case, and is composed of fish species typical of small lakes. According to a survey carried out in 2013, the metal content of perch in Lake Peräjärvi was low with regard to the maximum allowable limits or below the determined limits.

According to the assessment of the company itself, its operations do impact land use in the sense that the areas taken up by mining and processing are excluded from other use. However, as far as is known, these areas were not used in recreation in such a way that the mining operations would have impacted them.

Vaikutukset maisema-arvoon:

Landscape values have been taken into consideration in planning the locations of waste rock dumping heaps.

Interaction with stakeholders

Sidosryhmäyhteistyö:

• The company monitors the social impact by monitoring the general atmosphere in Finland and, more closely, in the company’s operational areas.
• An open-door day was arranged at the Jokisivu mine.
• At the Orivesi mine, a number of local school classes visited the mine to learn about its operations. Mine personnel also visited a secondary school in a neighbouring municipality, telling the pupils about the operations of the mine. The board for community development of the city of Orivesi also visited the mine to familiarise themselves with its operations.
• At the Vammala processing plant, pupils from the local primary school visited the site to learn about its operations.
• The company supports the activities of the local community, for example, sport and leisure activities, cultural activities and similar. The object of the support varies from year to year.

Tutkimus- ja yhteistyöhankkeet:

• Green Mining projects Seeway, SoLiMi.
• NordMin Wascious (water conscious mining)
• SUSMIN (tools for sustainable gold mining in EU)