Environmental
Environmental protection is an integral part of all aspects of our work when planning our projects and operating our sites. First Mining’s environmental work is driven, first and foremost, by mitigating or eliminating impacts and risks to water, air, wildlife, vegetation, and aquatic life and minimizing our footprint wherever possible. We are building a culture within First Mining of shared responsibility and accountability for the environment and our project development activities to ensure compliance with all applicable legal requirements as we take a leadership position on important issues such as climate change.
Our environmental work is designed to minimize our impact, reduce our consumption of non-renewable energy and make all of our development activities and future operations more energy efficient. Our approach informs all aspects of the mine development process, from the exploration stage to project development and planning in advance for responsible decommissioning, and we monitor our performance across our various project sites.
Springpole
Environmental work to collect and understand the environmental baseline conditions has been ongoing at Springpole since 2011 and First Mining continues to collect and assess environmental information to support the submission of a draft Environmental Assessment (“EA”) / Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) report in 2022. The environmental monitoring program currently being carried out at Springpole includes collecting information from:
- 11 groundwater monitoring wells
- 6 flow monitoring stations
- 8 lake level monitoring stations
- 25 surface water quality monitoring locations
- An onsite weather station and air quality monitoring station
- Plans to expand and refine the program in the coming years
We have also been collecting data from a wildlife survey area that covers over 580,000 hectares and have analyzed hundreds of samples to determine geochemistry in the area. First Mining is funding community based Traditional Knowledge and Land Use studies that will help inform Project planning and future studies. Environmental studies and assessments will continue throughout the EA process. For more information on our Environmental Assessment process and requirements under the provincial and federal governments, including opportunities to provide feedback, we invite you to visit the following website:
For further information and the latest updates on the regulatory process for the Springpole Environmental Assesssment, please visit the provincial and federal websites:
We understand the potential impact our activities can have on the environment if not planned correctly; our Environmental, Indigenous Peoples, and Stakeholder Engagement policies and environmental work is designed to protect the environment and prevent – or otherwise minimize, mitigate and remediate – those potential impacts. Working with experts, regulators, local Indigenous communities and municipalities helps inform the planning process to ensure we are carrying out activities in a manner that is consistent with shared values for protecting the environment.