CYANIDE CODE

CYANIDE CODE STEERING COMMITTEE

Minutes of the third meeting, May 9-11, 2001, held in Washington, D.C.

Present:	Steering Committee	Harold Barnes, Homestake Mining Co., U.S.A. (Chair) Stephen Bailey, IFC, U.S.A. Gordon Drake, WMC Resources, Australia (for Tony O'Neill) Fred Fox, Kennecott Gold, U.S.A. (for Bill Faust) Juergen Loroesch, Degussa-Huls, U.S.A. Basie Maree, Anglogold Ltd., South Africa Glenn Miller, Univ. of Nevada-Reno (Sierra Club), U.S.A. Michael Rae, WWF, Australia Stanley Szymanski, ICCA, U.S.A. Stephan Theben, European Commission, Spain (for Jurgen Wettig)
	Secretariat	Kathryn Tayles, UNEP, France Tom Hynes, ICME, Canada
	Code Manager	Norm Greenwald
	Observers	Paul Bateman, Gold Institute, U.S.A. Douglas Fuller, Gold Institute, U.S.A.
Regrets:	Steering Committee	Julio Bonelli, Ministry of Energy & Mines, Peru John Gammon, Ministry of Mines, Ontario, Canada

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On the first day of the meeting, the Committee focused on obtaining input to the Cyanide Code development from a number of interested stakeholders, through presentations or written submissions. Presentations were made by Mr. Jay Reddy of Sasol Polymers in South Africa, from Mr. Mauricio Athie of the International Finance Corporation and from Ms. Judy Brown of Kennecott Minerals. Written submissions were received from Mr. Stephen Hoffman of the U.S. E.P.A., from James McElfish and Susan Bass of the Environmental Law Institute, and from Mr. Stephen D'Esposito of the Mineral Policy Center. These presentations and written submissions are appended.
Action: Norm Greenwald will draft written responses to those who provided input to the Code.

Following the presentations, the Committee spent most of the next 2 ½ days on discussion of the Principles and Standards of Practice that the Code will include. The majority of the issues were addressed at this level; the major exceptions are verification/certification, financial assurance, supplier/purchaser arrangements, and designating the "home" for the code. The Principles and Standards of Practice to which the Committee has agreed are listed below. Preliminary Implementation Guidelines to flesh out the Standards of Practice are currently being drafted.

PRINCIPLES AND STANDARDS OF PRACTICE

Principle 1: Encourage responsible manufacturing by only using cyanide produced in a safe and environmentally protective manner.

Standards of Practice:
1.1 Purchase cyanide from manufacturers that employ practices and procedures to limit exposure of their workforce to cyanide and to prevent releases of cyanide to the environment.
1.2 Use practices and procedures to limit exposure of the workforce to cyanide and to prevent releases of cyanide to the environment at gold mines that produce or regenerate cyanide.

Principle 2: Protect communities and the environment during cyanide transport.

Standards of Practice:
2.1 Establish clear lines of responsibility through written agreements between producers, distributors and transporters for safety, security, release prevention, training and emergency response during all phases of cyanide transport.
2.2 Implement procedures to confirm that transporters have appropriate emergency response plans and capabilities and employ adequate measures for cyanide management.

Principle 3: Protect workers and the environment during cyanide handling and storage.

Standards of Practice:
3.1 Design and construct unloading, storage and mixing facilities consistent with sound and accepted engineering practice, and employing quality control/quality assurance procedures and spill prevention and containment measures.
3.2 Operate unloading, storage and mixing facilities using practices and procedures including inspections and preventive maintenance to prevent or contain releases and control and respond to worker exposures.

Principle 4: Manage cyanide process solutions and waste streams at gold mine operations to protect human health and the environment.

Standards of Practice:
4.1 Develop and implement management and operating systems, practices and procedures including contingency planning and inspection and preventive maintenance procedures designed to protect human health and the environment.
4.2 Introduce management and operating systems to minimize cyanide usage in the leach process to reduce concentrations of available cyanide in tailings storage facility decant water.
4.3 Develop and implement a detailed and comprehensive water management program to prevent unintentional releases, such as maintaining adequate freeboard in tailings storage facilities.
4.4 Implement measures to protect birds, other wildlife and livestock from adverse effects of cyanide process solutions.
4.5 Implement measures to protect fish and wildlife from direct and indirect discharges to surface water.
4.6 Implement measures designed to manage seepage from cyanide facilities to protect the beneficial uses of ground water.
4.7 Provide spill prevention or containment measures for process tanks and pipelines.
4.8 Implement quality control/quality assurance procedures to confirm the proper construction of cyanide leach facilities. [The Steering Committee is still reviewing and deliberating the applicability of these procedures to various portions of an operation.]
4.9 Implement monitoring programs to evaluate the effects of cyanide use on wildlife and surface and ground water quality.

Principle 5: Protect communities and the environment through of development of plans and implementation of capabilities for closure and rehabilitation (reclamation) of cyanide facilities to minimize impacts.

Standards of Practice:
5.1 Evaluate cyanide related risks that may be present upon cessation of operations.
5.2 Plan and implement procedures to manage cyanide process solutions draining from closed heaps, storage ponds and tailing storage facilities with the objective of protecting human health and wildlife.
5.3 Implement a monitoring program to confirm that the measures are effective

The control of releases of cyanide-bearing dust from heap leach and tailings storage facilities is still under deliberation by the Steering Committee.

Financial assurance for closure and its relationship to the requirements of specific political jurisdictions is still under deliberation by the Steering Committee.

Principle 6: Protect worker health and safety.

Standards of Practice:
6.1 Operate and monitor to protect worker health and safety and periodically evaluate the effectiveness of health and safety measures.
6.2 Identify potential exposure scenarios and take measures as necessary to eliminate, reduce or control them.
6.3 Develop and implement procedures to respond to worker exposure to cyanide.

Principle 7: Protect communities and the environment through the development of emergency response strategies and capabilities that minimize impacts.

Standards of Practice:
7.1 Prepare detailed emergency response plans for potential cyanide releases.
7.2 Involve site personnel and stakeholders in the planning process.
7.3 Designate appropriate personnel and commit necessary equipment and resources for emergency response.
7.4 Develop procedures for internal and external emergency notification and reporting.
7.5 Incorporate remediation and monitoring elements into response plans.
7.6 Periodically evaluate response procedures and capabilities and revise them as needed.

Principle 8: Train workers and emergency response personnel to manage cyanide in a safe and environmentally protective manner.

Standards of Practice:
8.1 Train personnel to understand the hazards associated with cyanide use.
8.2 Train appropriate personnel to operate the facility according to systems and procedures that protect human health, the community and the environment.
8.3 Train appropriate personnel to respond to worker exposures and environmental releases of cyanide.

Principle 9: Engage in open and transparent public consultation and disclosure.

Standards of Practice:
9.1 Provide stakeholders the opportunity to communicate issues of concern.
9.2 Engage in dialogue describing cyanide management procedures and responsively address identified concerns.
9.3 Make appropriate operational and environmental information regarding cyanide available to stakeholders.

Principle 10: Demonstrate compliance with the Principles and Standards of Practice of the Code through regular audits, including independent verification.

Standards of Practice:
10.1 Conduct verification with an accredited third-party auditor for certification of compliance with the Principles and Practices of the Code and at three-year intervals thereafter.
10.2 Develop and implement action plans and schedules to correct deficiencies identified in audits.
10.3 Report on results of audits of certified operations to the Code Administering Body.

The role of a company's internal audits in the Code verification process is still under deliberation by the Steering Committee.

A number of other issues were addressed during the meetings:

Revisiting the participation of a labour representative on the Steering Committee.
Although there is significant concern regarding the size of the Committee becoming unwieldy, the absence of organized labour from the group is recognized as a major shortcoming. It was agreed to invite Steve Hunt of the United Steelworkers to join the Committee.
Action: Tom Hynes will contact Steve Hunt to invite him to the Committee.
[Completed May 15, 2001; Steve will join us at the Vancouver meeting.]
Revisiting the proportional composition of the committee.
The Paris workshop agreed on an equal balance between industry and other stakeholders, but industry's representation on the Committee has become reduced relative to other stakeholders. It was agreed to bring an additional mining representative onto the Committee.
Action: Paul Bateman will identify an appropriate representative.
The industry representative for small mines is unable to continue participation on the Steering Committee.
A replacement will be identified to serve on the Committee.
Action: Paul Bateman will coordinate with industry to identify a replacement.
Further stakeholder input to the Code.
There was a perception that the feedback to date to the Code was less than we want. It was recommended to follow up with the stakeholders who were unable to provide input to the Washington meeting, to see if further comments or input will be forthcoming.
Action: Tom Hynes will contact the invitees who have not yet responded.
There is a need to have further stakeholder meetings to involve other interested parties in the process. These consultations would focus on the larger issues (what the Code should and should not entail), not on the details. We will use Kathryn Tayles' consultation matrix to ensure key groups of stakeholders are not missed.
Action: Committee members will forward to Norm Greenwald their suggestions for further consultations. Norm will recommend how and where we should proceed. The Gold Institute is currently seeking input from 70 producers world wide.
Legal liability issues associated with the Code, and especially on certification.
There is concern on the legal implications of certification and verification, from the perspective of operators and of other stakeholders.
Action: Norm Greenwald will ensure legal advice, from different countries, is sought on implications for litigation and liability. Harold Barnes will invite someone to the next meeting to address the issue for us.
Concern regarding cyanide applicability.
There was discussion on whether or not cyanide use was always acceptable for gold extraction. There was consensus that some situations may be unacceptable for cyanide use, because of specific local circumstances (such as extreme meteorological conditions).
Glenn Miller has provided a draft paragraph for the Code preamble which incorporates this idea. This concept will be reviewed by the Steering Committee.
Role of tailings dams in cyanide events.
There was continued discussion (as at past meetings) on the need to address tailings dam issues to reduce the number of cyanide events. The ICME Tailings Guideline Task Force is now underway, and tailings-specific issues will be deferred to the ICME initiative. There is some concern about what will be included in the ICME initiative.
Action: Tom Hynes will update the members on the results of the next Tailings Guideline meeting to be held on May 21 in Geneva.
Possible financial advantage for Code subscribers.
There was discussion on the benefits of having an incentive for mining companies, and particularly for small miners, to become signatories to the Code. If Code subscribers were able to access development funds at a better rate of interest than non-subscribers (because of anticipated reduced cyanide events and liabilities), this might encourage small scale miners to participate.
Action: Steve Bailey will discuss this with finance institution colleagues to determine the feasibility of this approach.
Code auditing.
There was frequent discussion on the need to be able to effectively audit compliance with the code, by internal or external means. To this end the code text is being written in a way that future auditors can assess against.
Action: Norm Greenwald will put together a draft audit procedure for the Code.
Code roll-out.
There was a presentation by Carol Ralston, a communications consultant on issues to be considered in developing a communications strategy to ensure maximum stakeholder engagement in the Code roll-out. Her presentation is appended. There was discussion on the advantages and costs of translation into other languages. There will be a need to identify spokespersons who can get the message out to the various stakeholder communities.
Other issues.
Norm Greenwald has generated a series of 15 "one-pagers" on a series of issues that have not yet been resolved, including reporting, certification, etc.
Action: All members are to review as soon as possible the 15 items and to provide comments to Norm Greenwald to ensure that the issue and potential resolution are complete.
UNEP personnel change.
Kathryn Tayles will be leaving UNEP shortly, and will be succeeded on the committee by Wanda Hoskin. The Committee expressed warm appreciation for Kathryn's significant contributions to the creation and implementation of the Steering Committee.
Next meeting.
The next meeting of the Committee is scheduled for July 23-25, 2001 in Vancouver. Additional information will follow.

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