Sustainability
Responsible exploration starts before a drill rig arrives — with genuine partnership, free prior informed consent, and long-term relationships with the herder communities of Govi-Altai and Dundgovi.
By the numbers
0%
Responsible Mining Codex
Self-assessed against MNMA's ESG standard
0+
Herder households supported
Hay and fodder distributed, 2025
0
Day rehabilitation
Every drill hole capped, backfilled and restored
0
Trees planted
Various tree saplings donated to Khuld soum
Our approach
We believe responsible exploration starts before a drill rig arrives. Our philosophy is grounded in genuine partnership with herder communities, free prior informed consent, and long-term relationships.
Our approach is about working alongside communities. Three principles guide everything we do in the field.
We introduce ourselves to soum governors, bagh governors, and herder households before any field activity starts. We share what exploration is — and what it is not. Trust is earned through consistency, transparency, and following through on every commitment, no matter how small.
We commit to FPIC as a non-negotiable standard. Local communities have the right to receive complete information, ask questions, and decide — without pressure — whether and how exploration proceeds on or near their lands.
Our field teams are experienced in respectful engagement with nomadic households. We map winter and summer pasture routes before drilling, and after every campaign we restore the land disturbed by exploration activities.
Standards we hold ourselves to
Self-assessed at 90% compliance against MNMA's Responsible Mining Codex, covering environment, social, governance, transparency and carbon.
Consultations are recorded and archived. Communities and herders receive written summaries of what was discussed and what commitments were made.
We map grazing zones, sacred mountains, ancestral sites and water sources with herders before any ground disturbance — not after.
Stakeholder engagement
We secure the required permissions and notify soum and bagh governors before any planned field activity. Notification covers the location, timing, scope and potential impacts of the exploration.
We attend or host the regular bagh meeting to present the exploration plan, show maps and answer questions. All herder households in the area are invited.
Our environment and community specialist and senior geologist visit households whose pasture or water sources may be near drilling areas. Concerns are recorded and addressed before work begins.
A dedicated contact — by phone and in person — is available throughout the campaign. All grievances are logged, acknowledged and resolved in writing.
After drilling, we invite local environmental officers to inspect rehabilitation work and confirm the land has been restored to their satisfaction before we close the site.
Social Responsibility Agreements are renewed with soum governors, and progress on every commitment is reported publicly.
Environmental stewardship
Mongolia's steppe, rivers and biodiversity are irreplaceable. Our Environmental Management Plans set out how we minimise impacts at every stage of exploration — from the first survey to the last rehabilitation inspection.
Drilling at Yambat uses a closed-loop water circulation system — water drawn for drilling is recycled on-site rather than discharged. No exploration activity occurs within the protection zones set by relevant Mongolian laws and regulations.
Water samples are taken from rivers, springs and wells in the Maikhan Uul and Yambat areas and processed at certified laboratories.
10 vascular plant species across 7 families recorded at Yambat, with none on Mongolia's protected list. Wolves, gazelle, lynx, fox, saiga (бөхөн) and argali are documented and avoided in drilling-path planning.
The Yambat and Maikhan Uul sites sit far from settlements with no industrial emission sources nearby. PM2.5 and PM10 are monitored, dust suppression is applied on field roads in the dry season, and field crews are briefed on vehicle speed limits — especially near herder camps.
Every drill hole is sealed immediately on drilling completion, then backfilled and the surface returned to its original condition. Management reports are verified by the local community.
Formal EMPs are approved annually by local governors for all sites, covering water, waste, hazardous materials, biodiversity impacts and rehabilitation — reviewed and approved each year.
Stakeholder engagement
Our year-round stakeholder engagement program is underpinned by the Social Responsibility Agreements with local soum and provincial authorities, covering community investment, environmental stewardship, and local participation. The engagement is continuous, with open communication maintained through meetings, consultations, and site visits. We believe responsible exploration depends on meaningful community partnerships — the foundation of our ESG strategy and social license to operate.
Local investment
The Company has invested in and supported community development across Dundgovi aimag since 2019 and Govi-Altai aimag since 2022 — covering education, health and livelihoods. Our social responsibility spending is directed by what communities tell us they need, not what we assume.
A playground was built in Yesunbulag soum (completed spring 2026). The Company supported teacher and student incentives in Yesunbulag and Taishir, and delivered 1,000 L of milk under Taishir soum's children's milk program.
During difficult winter conditions the Company delivered hay and fodder to 180 herder households in 2024 and to 345 households in 2025.
In 2025 we supported early-detection medical screenings for the senior herders of Rashaant bagh, who live far from regular health services.
We handed over 445 ornamental tree saplings for the landscaping of Khuld soum's festival grounds, 4,600 elm saplings for the soum centre landscaping, and 10 solar-powered streetlights under a formal agreement, and joined the tree-planting works on site.
Community stories
Behind every Social Responsibility Agreement and every data point is a family, a bagh, a way of life. These stories are gathered by our employees during field visits across Govi-Altai and Dundgovi — because sustainability is not a report, it is a dynamic relationship.
The 2024 winter was one of the hardest in memory, with early and prolonged snowfall, and herder families in Rashaant bagh were running low on reserves. For three years running, the Company has delivered hay and fodder, reaching every herder family before the worst of the cold hit.
Addressing a key community need, we partnered with the Yesunbulag soum administration to create a dedicated play space for local children. Following a formal request at the 2025 SRA meeting, the Company funded and completed the playground; the administration is leading the final landscaping, due in spring 2026.
For the first time, we brought local government representatives — soum and bagh governors, environmental officers — to Mongolia's national Mining Week. They joined roundtable discussions on sustainable development and SRA policy. We also organised a Geology and Mining station tour for Rashaant bagh residents to share foundational knowledge about exploration.
Before beginning exploration at Bayan Sair, we partnered with local herders to document pasture routes, sacred land, water sources and seasonal camps. The resulting Natural Resource Map is now integral to our exploration decisions at the site.
From the field
01Field environmental baseline survey
02On-site team, Govi-Altai
03Community engagement session
04Water resource monitoring
05Rehabilitation and land care
06Local stakeholder visit
07Exploration camp operations
08Community partnership program
Reports & disclosures
Approved reports, policies and disclosures will be linked from this section as they become available for publication.
