GESTION AMBIENTAL

Pucamarca uses an approved Environmental Impact Study (EIS) with all authorizations established under the law.

As one of the most modern and eco-friendly mines in the country, it is important to highlight Pucamarca not use water for consumption by the population of Tacna. We obtain the water resources that we require for our operations in the basin of the Azufre River, which is unsuitable for agricultural or livestock use.

Pucamarca does not generate tailings nor effluents, as the method for exploitation of the rock is by heap leaching (called pads) and, in addition, the water used is recycled and reused in its entirety.

This modern mining operation includes several security measures to ensure the protection of the water and the environment of Tacna:

• There is no risk of contamination of the Uchusuma outlet:

• The outlet is located 500 meters from the leaching pad which has with a capping channel and an overflow control system to avoid any overflow, in addition to being separated by a rock mass of a height equivalent to a five story building
• PLS and GE pools are 12 meters below the channel at a distance of 65 meters              .
• There is no danger of leakage into the soil: The Leaching Pad, the solution pool and the  major events pool, are all waterproofed with geomembrane on top of low permeability material
• Huaylillas tunnel is isolated by an underground concrete screen of 240 meters in length and 50 deep, in the unlikely event that leakage may occur, preventing the solution from being channeled to the Huaylillas South Tunnel.
• Cyanide management is fully controlled: there is an acidity control system to prevent any toxic risk and detection systems to identify the hypothetical presence of toxic gases. Also, the transport of cyanide is carried out according to international standards and with contingency plans in place.
• Detonations for the extraction of rock are controlled and are carried out at a distance of 2 km from the Uchusuma channel and Huaylillas South tunnel, at a distance four times greater than that stipulated by the Environmental Guide for Mine Drilling and Blasting Operations.

Environmental management at Pucamarca is transparent and is subject to monitoring by the communities, social organizations and the authorities of the Tacna region, through the participatory environmental monitoring carried out regularly in the catchment area of the operation.