Improving data management for environmental reporting in the gold mining industry

Abstract

Environmental reporting is a realistic alternative for mines to prioritise operational changes in crucial environmental areas. Gold mines report to multiple platforms - i.e., integrated reporting. All these platforms have created the need for effective environmental data management. A methodology was developed in which the environmental performance data for numerous operations is centralised. A standardised reporting procedure was developed for each environmental data category that includes the different stakeholders' needs. Focus was also placed on reducing the data transfer errors due to the importance of data accuracy. The methodology is based on the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle and was implemented at a gold mining company. After implementation, the rate of transfer error that would have been recorded in the data was reduced from 20 percent to four percent. This error rate was recorded before an external audit took placeOmgewingsverslagdoening is ʼn realistiese alternatief vir myne om operasionele veranderinge in kritiese omgewings te prioritiseer. Goudmyne lewer verslag aan verskeie platforms, dit is dus ʼn geval van geïntegreerde verslagdoening. Al hierdie platforms skep die behoefte vir doeltreffende omgewingsdatabestuur. ʼn Metodologie is ontwikkel waarbinne die omgewingvertoning data vir verskeie bedrywighede gesentraliseer is. ʼn Gestandaardiseerde verslagdoeningsprosedure is ontwikkel vir elke data kategorie. Die vermindering van data oordrag foute het ook spesifieke aandag gekry. Die metodologie is gegrond op die beplan-doen-kontroleerdoen siklus en is by ʼn goudmyn geïmplementeer. Na implementering is die oordrag fout koers verlaag van 20 persent na vier persent. Dié syfers is bepaal voor ʼn eksterne oudit plaasgevind het