Tailings and waste
Targets: maintain safe operation of tailings facilities and minimise environmental impact of mineral and non-mineral waste.
Key next steps: build mass balance model for waste management and prepare for the self-assessment under Global Tailings Standard.
Waste
The Company reuses most of its industrial waste as approximately 99% of the waste generated are hazard class 5, i.e. non-hazardous waste. This is mostly waste from the mining and smelting operations, including rock and overburden, tailings, and metallurgical slags. Ore extraction waste is used as backfill for underground workings and open pits, road fill, or for tailings dam reinforcement. The increase in waste generation in 2020 was attributed to the commissioning of Bystrinsky GOK.
Tailings
Nornickel currently operates six tailing dumps: four in the Norilsk Division, taking tailings from Talnakh and Norilsk concentrators and Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant; one at Kola MMC, storing tailings from Zapolyarny Concentrator; and Bystrinsky GOK tailing dump.
| Hazard class | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V | 32,118 | 30,722 | 29,517 | 35,300 | 144,052 |
| IV | 1,114 | 1,190 | 1,191 | 1,115 | 1,175 |
| III | 30 | 12 | 15 | 5 | 7 |
| II | 5.8 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 0.03 | 0.05 |
| I | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.04 | 0.04 |
| Total | 33,267 | 31,926 | 30,725 | 36,420 | 145,234 |