Assessing environmental, safety and social concerns at a mining site in South Africa
Citigroup, the American multinational investment bank, approached RSK GCS, an RSK company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, to undertake an in-depth environmental and social due diligence investigation into a mining operation in West Africa. RSK GCS’s remit was to highlight any areas of risk and propose suitable mitigation measures. Our tasks were directly linked to an iron-ore mining and integrated beneficiation, palletisation and direct-reduced-iron manufacturing complex and the associated lender standards, to help provide assurance that risks and opportunities were being identified and managed accordingly.
Once contracted, we established several teams from varying disciplines to undertake this large-scale due diligence assignment. Our work scope aimed to investigate the compliance of the mining operations’ existing and future activities to the relevant international standards for environmental and social sustainability, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC) performance standards. Our in-country teams investigated a variety of material risks and the efficacy of the proposed and implemented mitigation of potential impacts.
The project’s remit stressed the need to help the various funders to understand the level of risk and to assist with managing the risk linked to the funding arrangement for the mine development. RSK always tries to promote and recruit local talent, so the personnel in the RSK GCS teams was handpicked from engineers and environmental specialists from South Africa. Additional information on mining safety and social context helped to provide the client with the necessary data to inform the investment decision in conjunction with local content from additional partners in the region.
The broad scope of our assignment included detailed environmental and social due diligence investigations, a review of management systems and identifying safe and equitable labour and working conditions. Our team helped to identify key impact areas for pollution prevention; community health, safety and security; and cultural heritage and the cumulative impacts, associated land acquisition and involuntary resettlement issues of indigenous peoples.
- Location: South Africa
- Client: Citigroup
- Project status: Completed
- Sector: Finance Legal Mining Professional Services
- Service: Due Diligence
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🤝 At COP27, delegates from across the globe debated vital issues from expediting clean energy solutions to ensuring financial support for nations on the front lines of climate change.
🤔 As we are looking ahead to what the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) will bring, we asked specialists from across the RSK group what impact the agreement has had on their sectors and regions.
Read more in our bio!
#ClimateChange #Biodiversity #ClimateCrisis #COP15 #COP27 #Sustainability
📸 #selfiesonsite 🤳
Amelia Houghton from RSK Biocensus having a wonderful time on-site!
Want to join our team? View our latest opportunities 👉 www.rskgroup.com/careers
#RSKgroup #behindthescenes #meettheteam #RSKfamily #RSKonsite #culture
👏 Steven Carmody, Managing Director at SCP Infrastructure, an RSK group company, has been re-elected to the national council of the Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation.
💚 "I take great pride in seeing things being built and leaving a long-term legacy for our world.”
Find out more about Steven's work in our bio!
#Highways #Transportation #Transport #Infrastructure #Sustainability #Council
🤔 Do you ever wonder what COP15 really is and why does it matter to you and your business?
💚 Dr Stephanie Wray, RSK Group’s Chief Sustainability Officer and Managing Director of Nature Positive, gives us a clear explanation about why it is essential for the business community to understand the opportunity that is COP15.
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#COP15 #Biodiversity #Nature #Environment #Sustainability #NetZero
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Some great pictures from the team at @centara_ltd out on-site surveying with a laser scanner.
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#RSKgroup #behindthescenes #meettheteam #RSKfamily #RSKonsite #culture #survey
🤝 @facaderemedialconsultants' Managing Director has written to Housing Secretary Michael Gove to highlight concerns around new regulations such as the Building Safety Act 2022 and the developers’ pledge – Mr Gove’s bid to reset building safety in England.
Find out what he requested in our bio!
#Housing #Building #Construction #Safety #Home #Development
🌍 COP15, the upcoming UN biodiversity summit, aims to set out a plan for how countries will work together to achieve a nature-positive world by 2030.
🤝Our panel of experts will debate:
✔ key discussion points highlighted so far during COP15
✔ progress made towards a robust nature-positive action plan
✔ what living in harmony with nature looks like for future generations
✔ how living in harmony with nature can look different around the world.
💡 Join the COP conversation as RSK reports live from COP15!
Register for our free webinar in our bio!
#RoutetoCOP15 #Biodiversity #Nature #Sustainability #COP15 #Sustainable
💧 Actively restoring rivers by reinstating natural river processes will play a vital role in helping offset the global freshwater biodiversity crisis.
💡 In this insight, Dr Hamish Moir and Peter Downs from @cbec_eco_engineering_uk, an RSK company, explore how sustainable approaches to river management can help protect us from flooding and droughts.
Read more in our bio!
#Biodiversity #Climate #Water #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Floods #Droughts
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Jiano Pulickal from @structuralsoils took Bertie Bear around the site for the day!
Want to join our team? View our latest opportunities 👉 www.rskgroup.com/careers
#RSKgroup #behindthescenes #meettheteam #RSKfamily #RSKonsite #culture #construction