ENVIRONMENT

Overall, the key management pillars relating to the substantive issue of waste and garbage are:

• To Integrated Urban Waste Management Programme.
• The certified Hazardous and Non-Hazardous Industrial Waste Management System  following the basic logic of separation at the point of production in order to achieve the best possible result.
• Solid inert mineral residues from the Olympias mine development projects, Madem Lakkos - Olympias Tunnel and the development projects of the Black Stone, after being processed in crushing plants, can be used as building material, in many cases offered for free to the local community.
• The remaining solid mineral residues from the process of natural enrichment of ore in our plant, are used after treatment as backfill material for the needs of the mines, in filling the old tunnels or shipped in specific licensed disposal sites within our facilities.
• Moreover, after a thorough inspection and evaluation process including quantitative and qualitative controls of solid mineral waste, and if this waste meets certain standards it is used as by-product and other operations. Finally, from the creation of the mine a by- product is topsoil that can be used for rehabilitation works or for our nursery.
• In addition to the liquid and solid waste associated with the production we have solid industrial waste (plastic, wood, metal). Based on the Integrated Waste Management System and contracts with certified operators, the financial balance of waste management is positive. Our goal is, for 2016, all waste rock from Olympiada, Stratoni and Tunnel, to be reused, so to avoid having any solid residues to inert materials. These goals and objectives surpass legislation and are mostly voluntary. As mentioned in the relevant rules and regulations provided, the disposal of solid waste is also possible, while Hellas Gold reuses the entire solid waste.
• For liquid waste which in their entirety are made of treated mine water, there is continuous monitoring and continuous sampling confirmimg basic water quality parameters after chemical analyses. The waters of the region in each case have the same quality and composition as the water the rest of Halkidiki.