Major rehabilitation milestone met

Media statement

McArthur River Mine (MRM) has reached a major rehabilitation milestone this week, with 100,000 trees, shrubs and grasses planted on the McArthur River channel this year.

It is an annual record for tubestock planting at the MRM mine site near Borroloola in the Gulf of Carpentaria, and brings the total tubestock planted on the riverside to more than half a million since rehabilitation began 10 years ago.

MRM built a 5.5km diversion of the McArthur River in 2007-08 when it transitioned from an underground to open cut mine. The river was sitting directly above the orebody and the only way to access it was to rechannel the river.

Since then, the environment team at MRM has been steadily revegetating the river banks with plants mostly sourced from seeds collected in the local area.

A major upgrade of the onsite nursery two years ago has seen a massive increase in the number of plants available for revegetation. Last year the team planted a record 80,000 seedlings and set a target of 100,000 for this year.

MRM Environment Safety and People Manager Ryan Pascoe said the rehabilitation of the river was a key factor in the river’s health.

“This milestone highlights the considerable work MRM is continuing to do to rehabilitate the McArthur River channel,” Ryan said.

“We are continuing to see increased numbers of native fish such as barramundi and freshwater sawfish in the channel, which show that our rehabilitation work is paying dividends.

“At the same time, the recent NT Environment Protection Authority Assessment Report into our environmental Impact statement has stated that the McArthur River is healthy, the water quality is good and fish from the river are safe to eat.”

For further information, please contact:

Media

Tracy Jones
m: +61 418 251 774
e: Tracy Jones

Francis de Rosa
m: +61 417 074 751
e: Francis de Rosa

Notes for editors

Glencore

Glencore is one of the world’s largest global diversified natural resource companies and a major producer and marketer of more than 90 commodities. The Group's operations comprise around 150 mining and metallurgical sites, oil production assets and agricultural facilities. With a strong footprint in both established and emerging regions for natural resources, Glencore's industrial and marketing activities are supported by a global network of more than 90 offices located in over 50 countries.

Glencore's customers are industrial consumers, such as those in the automotive, steel, power generation, oil and food processing sectors. We also provide financing, logistics and other services to producers and consumers of commodities. Glencore's companies employ around 146,000 people, including contractors.

Glencore is proud to be a member of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights and the International Council on Mining and Metals. We are an active participant in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

McArthur River Mining

McArthur River Mining (MRM) is located in the Northern Territory approximately 970 kilometres south-east from Darwin and 60 kilometres south-west of its closest town of Borroloola. MRM mines one of the world’s largest zinc and lead deposits. Established as an underground operation in 1995, MRM converted to open pit mining in 2006. MRM produces zinc and lead in concentrates which are primarily exported through Bing Bong loading facility on the southern coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria. The current mine life extends to 2036.

The mine provides direct employment to about 1,000 people, including contractors. In 2017, we spent $69 million on wages, $91 million on capital projects, $252 million on goods and services – much of which we sourced locally – and $1.8 million on community investment projects.