Soil protection and responsible mining

Land protection

Nornickel seeks to reduce the negative impact on soils resulting from the Company’s operations. To this end, Nornickel focuses on the rehabilitation of all land affected by construction and mining, as well as otherwise affected by our operations.

The Company conducts an environmental impact assessment, including a negative impact on land, in accordance with the Russian laws.

Nornickel is developing the Oktyabrskoye, Talnakhskoye and Norilsk-1 deposits on the Taimyr Peninsula, Zhdanovskoye, Zapolyarnoye, Kotselvaara and Semiletka deposits on the Kola Peninsula, and the Bystrinskoye deposit in the Trans-Baikal Territory.

For each deposit, the Company has built and is continuously updating a list of measures to prevent or mitigate potential negative effects on the environment while ensuring sustainable use of natural resources throughout the deposit life cycle.

The Company has field development, mine liquidation and land rehabilitation project documents in place for all of its deposits. Nornickel’s deposits are in commercial development, exploration or production test stages with liquidation or abandonment not expected until 2050 and special provisions set aside for rehabilitation activities.

Disturbed and rehabilitated land area in 2022, ha

Completion of the restoration efforts at CHP-3

In January 2022, NTEC transferred land plots of a total area of 47.5 ha to the Norilsk Administration, with certificates for acceptance and delivery signed; 2021 saw the rehabilitation of these land plots, which were contaminated by the fuel spill and disturbed during clean-up activities.

As for the remaining area of 27.4 ha, the rehabilitation works were completed in full in the reporting year.

The quality of the work performed is confirmed by:

• lab tests of the rehabilitated soils conducted by the Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences;
• report on the inspection control and evaluation of the work quality submitted by the Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The transfer of the rehabilitated land plots of a total area of 27.4 ha to the Norilsk Administration is scheduled for 2023.

Responsible exploration and field development

To replenish its resource base, Nornickel focuses closely on exploration, including geophysical and geochemical surveys and drilling at promising subsoil areas across the Company’s current operations. Nornickel sees a significant potential for the discovery of new deposits and plan to continue exploration both within and beyond its footprint to unlock it.

The Group’s exploration activities are subject to various regulations of the Russian Federation covering subsoil use, environmental protection, occupational health, industrial and fire safety. Furthermore, Nornickel assesses its environmental protection obligations based on the requirements of applicable laws in various jurisdictions, terms of licence agreements and internal engineering estimates as interpreted by the Company’s management.

In order to assess, monitor and predict the environmental situation during exploration, development and operation of deposits to make competent management decisions aimed at preserving habitats and ensuring environmental safety of traditional trades, we conduct environmental monitoring at all stages of exploration and development.

In addition to environmental monitoring, exploration is accompanied by a set of measures to protect the subsoil, topsoil, vegetation and water bodies. Upon completion of reserve exploration, disturbed land is subject to rehabilitation including liquidation of drilling sites, neutralisation of soil contaminated with fuel and lubricants, as well as land levelling. The sites are brought to a condition suitable for further use according to their intended purpose.