First Mining firmly believes that our business can make a lasting and positive impact to the communities we operate near as well as our shareholders and employees. Our sustainability approach starts with efforts to build and maintain respectful relationships with the communities and governments that host our development projects as well as recognizing the importance of environmental protection. Understanding the vision and goals of local communities in order to create beneficial opportunities is an integral element of all our future developments. We are committed to responsible environmental management of resources as well as putting the health and safety of our people first. First Mining’s policies and standards support these efforts and guide our performance.
Our Core Values
Our core values are at the centre of all that we do and define the way we do business.
- We are driven by integrity, transparency and respect
- We continue to build relationships and partnerships for future success
- We work responsibly to achieve safe and sustainable operations at our Projects
- We embrace challenges and continuously strive for optimal solutions
- We value the strength of our talented and diverse team
- We respect our shareholders’ investment –in our projects, in our people and in our communities
Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) are the three principal factors through which the impacts (both positive and adverse) and performance of our business activities are measured. First Mining is committed to being transparent by disclosing and continuously improve our ESG performance in a consistent manner across our business and with all of our local communities in mind.
Please see our annual ESG Report HERE.
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.
Social
We listen to and engage with local and Indigenous communities aiming to build meaningful, long-lasting relationships. These efforts aim to foster relationships long before our projects approach construction and begin operations. Guided by the core values of our business, First Mining is committed to continual and meaningful engagement with those communities, Indigenous groups, associations, individuals and regulators who have an interest in or may be affected by our development projects. Meaningful engagement is based upon the timely provision of relevant information and ongoing dialogue and interaction to ensure that both concerns and opportunities are understood and taken into consideration as the projects are advanced. This enables us to work with local communities and stakeholders to develop initiatives that meet their needs and priorities so they can share in the benefits of our projects. We hold frequent meetings with local community members, suppliers, and government officials.
As an employer, we add value to communities by providing local workers with well-paying jobs to support their families and build prosperous local economies. We seek opportunities to hire and source goods and services locally.
As neighbours, we seek to be a catalyst for economic empowerment for our neighbouring communities by supporting community events, health, infrastructure, education and culture initiatives. These efforts aim to generate tangible benefits and sustainable prosperity that brings forth long-term social and economic benefits for neighbouring communities. First Mining plans to sponsor a wide range of activities, including recreational and cultural events, and has contributed to the support of organizations.
Consistent with its Indigenous Peoples Policy, First Mining aims to establish positive and constructive relationships with local Indigenous group throughout the environmental assessment and permitting processes and over the life of our projects.
Governance
First Mining is committed to a high standard of corporate governance, and we recognize our inherent responsibilities to our employees, shareholders, communities and local governments to ensure we conduct our business in an ethical and responsible way. National Instrument 58-101 Disclosure of Corporate Governance Practices (“NI 58-101”) establishes corporate governance requirements applicable to all public companies. We regularly review our practices and endeavours to make meaningful improvements to achieve higher standards of corporate governance.
We ensure our project development activities, as well as corporate and regional offices, operate to a high degree of business ethics through implementing extensive internal policies and training. All employees are trained on these policies, with refresher training required regularly. These policies dictate appropriate conduct for a variety of situations and cover all employees.
Aligning our business goals with the long-term interests of local communities and the broader society is essential to our success. Our business can play an important role in catalyzing the economic development and social wellbeing of local communities and host governments through job creation, provisioning local goods and services, community investments, and paying taxes and royalties.