At Peak Gold Mines (PGM), we are committed to strong environmental performance and to a prosperous Cobar region. PGM is a leader in the Cobar community and our policies reflect our commitment to ensuring the sustainability of the town long after mining in the district ceases. To that end, PGM has been instrumental in commencing Enterprise Facilitation in Cobar, which is a method of diversifying the economic base of a community through entrepreneurship.

Community

Representatives of Peak Mines serve on a variety of boards and committees, including Cobar Enterprise Facilitation, Cobar Water Board, the Emergency Management Committee, Cobar Pool Committee, Cobar Health Centre Committee, the Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade and the State Emergency Services. PGM believes in developing and maintaining relationships built on openness and respect with the wider community. As part of our commitment, PGM seeks to support a large range of local organizations by providing support in the form of monetary donations as well as in-kind support wherever possible.

Environment

PGM realizes the importance of protecting our land and environment, which is why we have broken down our focus into three main areas: water, land and air.

1. Water
   • PGM has maintained a policy of water recycling for several years and is well placed to operate during drought conditions. Part of our success is built on our Tailing Storage Facility (TSF). This facility is a centrally thickened discharge. Unlike other TSF’s, the resultant depository is a dry stack which has benefits in terms of safety as well as water usage and efficiency.  In 2008, the company used 308Ml of raw water.
2. Land
   • At PGM, we have many historically mined areas on our leases for which we are responsible in terms of community safety and minimizing environmental impacts. We are committed to leaving those areas in a condition that is not only safer for the public but also in an overall improved state in-keeping with surrounding land wherever possible. For any land disturbed by PGM, all care is taken to ensure that rehabilitation materials are preserved for the end of mining and that the land is returned to an agreed land use. In 2008, 6.6 ha of disturbed land was rehabilitated.
3. Air
   • PGM is committed to energy efficiency and reducing its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. PGM aims to achieve this through education, monitoring, target setting and consideration of energy efficiencies during project and procurement activities. PGM also maintains an Energy Saving Action Plan which is intended to drive improvements in energy savings. PGM maintains a license that stipulates noise and vibration levels as well as imposing a dust monitoring regime. PGM not only complies with these license conditions, but seeks to continuously improve for the protection of the environment and the neighboring community.