Ecology

«YUZHNIY GOK» Mining and Processing Plant is a mining enterprise specialized in extraction and beneficiation of iron ore. Given the importance of environmental issues, the company pays special attention to environmental protection and rational use of natural resources.

To prevent negative impact on the environment, the plant pays special attention to solving problems related to environmental risks that arise in the process of production activities.

The company’s management declares continuous improvement of the environmental management system. To this end, the company introduced and operates the international standard ISO 14001:2015, IDT “Environmental Management Systems — Requirements with guidance for use”.

Environmental policy sets the general direction and determines the priority principles of activities in the field of environmental management at the plant, which include:

• Prevention of increased air pollution.
• Minimization of impact on climate change.
• Protection and rational use of water and land resources.
• Ensuring the effective functioning of the automated system of environmental air monitoring at the border of the sanitary protection zone.
• Rational use of natural and mineral resources, as well as reducing losses in the extraction of minerals and their processing.
• Restoration of disturbed landscapes, preservation of biodiversity and habitat.
• Concern for the health of employees.
• Training of staff on environmental safety of production and environmental management system.
• Cooperation in the field of environmental protection with interested organizations and the public, providing open information on environmental activities of the enterprise.
• Improving the efficiency of the environmental management system.
• Risk-oriented thinking (approach).

Being aware of the scale and complexity of environmental safety goals, the «YUZHNIY GOK» Mining and Processing Plant intends to prevent the negative impact on the environment that arises in the process of production activities. The company monitors and measures environmental performance to ensure compliance with environmental legislation and decision-making in the field of environmental management.

«YUZHNIY GOK» Mining and Processing Plant undertakes:

• To comply with the requirements of environmental legislation, regulations and other environmental documents applicable to the environmental aspects of the enterprise.
• To conduct regular environmental monitoring and internal audits, as well as to ensure the participation of all employees of the enterprise in maintaining a favorable state of the environment.
• In the process of economic activity to develop and implement environmental measures aimed at improving the environmental situation, as well as to minimize or eliminate environmental risks.
• To evaluate the efficiency of the use of natural and raw materials in terms of environmental impact, ensuring their reuse or safe disposal.
• To promote an open dialogue with all interested parties regarding the potential impact on the environment.

«YUZHNIY GOK» Mining and Processing Plant was one of the first in Kryvyi Rih to introduce an automated environmental monitoring system. The indicators are available on the website of the Kryvyi Rih Resource Center online. Monitoring data have been available in the public domain since January 2018. It was then that the «YUZHNIY GOK» Mining and Processing Plant and the executive committee of the Kryvyi Rih City Council signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on transmission of data from automated stationary posts for lighting in the Ecomonitoring module on the Kryvyi Rih Resource Center portal.

Indicators of the three observation posts located on the border of the sanitary protection zone of the plant are recorded automatically. Data on dust emissions, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide are updated every 20 minutes. Information is collected by measuring equipment (gas analyzers, meteorological stations, digital meters of aerosol particle mass concentration), which are subject to regular state metrological verification.