Sustainability

Mining is not sustainable. The question is what a district looks like in 2050.

Extracting a finite resource is by definition not sustainable, and we do not claim otherwise. What can be measured is whether the places we mine end up better off than they would have been. These pages report that, including where the answer is no.

Fatalities, FY2025: 0
Scope 1 and 2 vs 2019: −38%
Water recycled: 79%
Land rehabilitated: 1,470 ha

Health and safety

Critical control management against the seven risks that can kill someone at a Quintel mine, and an unconditional right for anyone to stop work.

0 fatalities in five years

Environment and climate

A 50% absolute emissions reduction target, three solar plants built, and an honest statement of the abatement we do not yet have a solution for.

−38% Scope 1 and 2

Tailings and water

Eight tailings facilities under a single GISTM conformance programme, each with an Engineer of Record and an independent review board.

79% water recycled

Communities

Consent, land access, resettlement to IFC Performance Standard 5, local employment and procurement, and grievance mechanisms with published resolution rates.

US$881m spent locally

Responsible sourcing

OECD-aligned due diligence for copper, cobalt and gold, with chain of custody from mining block to shipment and no third-party material bought.

5 clean RMI assessments

The bargain

A mining company is granted temporary access to minerals that belong to a country and its people, on the understanding that in exchange it will pay tax, create work, avoid killing anyone and leave the land in a condition somebody can use. That is the whole bargain. Everything on these pages is an account of how well Quintel is keeping it.

We do not describe mining as sustainable. Extracting a finite resource is by definition not sustainable, and an industry that spends its time arguing otherwise has misunderstood what it is being asked. The honest question is narrower and harder: given that these minerals will be mined by somebody, can they be mined in a way that leaves a district measurably better off in 2050 than it would have been if nobody had come?

That question has an answer, it can be measured, and the measurements are published here whether or not they flatter us.

How this is governed

The board’s Sustainability and Safety Committee, chaired by an independent non-executive director who is a professor of environmental engineering, meets before every board meeting and reports to it in full. Its remit covers safety, tailings, climate, water, biodiversity, closure provisioning, human rights and community consent.

Every high-potential safety incident across the group goes to that committee individually, not in summary. So does every tailings review board finding, every Category 3 or higher environmental incident, and every grievance that has passed its resolution target.

Safety and sustainability outcomes act as a gateway in the executive variable pay framework: they can reduce an award to zero and cannot increase one. A fatality at any managed operation removes the annual bonus for the Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer entirely.

What is assured, and what is not

Sustainability data is prepared against a published basis of preparation setting out definitions, boundaries and estimation methods. Emissions, water, safety and payments-to-governments data are subject to limited independent assurance, and the practitioner’s statement is published alongside the data.

Community investment figures, local procurement percentages and biodiversity outcomes are not within the assured scope. They are internally verified and we believe them to be accurate, but a reader is entitled to know which numbers have been checked by someone outside the company and which have not.

Restatements are marked in the ESG Data Book with the reason. There were three in the 2025 edition, all relating to the reclassification of contractor hours at Fatala following a change in the contracting model.

The acquisition we are not rebasing the targets around

Every target and figure on this page relates to FY2025 and to the six operations the group ran that year. The Tazoult silver mine in Morocco was acquired on 20 February 2026 and adds roughly 34 kt CO₂e a year, a non-conformant tailings facility and a contested groundwater catchment.

The 2030 emissions target keeps its original 2019 baseline, which does not include Tazoult. Rebasing would have made our reported progress look better; the acquisition’s contribution is reported separately instead.
Tazoult safety, water and community data enters group reporting from the FY2026 half year and is stated separately for that year so the underlying trend at the other operations stays readable.
The site’s tailings facility is disclosed as non-conformant on the tailings and water page rather than being described as being on a pathway.
The water dispute, the mercury handling and the eighteen-month commitment list are set out in full on the Tazoult asset page.

2030 targets

Every target, with an honest status

Four categories: achieved, on track, behind, and no solution yet. The last category exists because a target with no credible pathway is not a plan, and calling it one is worse than admitting the gap.

Group targets and status at 31 December 2025
Area	Target	Status	Detail
Safety	Zero fatalities, every year	On track	Five consecutive fatality-free years. Thirty-one high-potential incidents in 2025, all published with root cause.
Safety	TRIFR below 1.50 by 2028	On track	1.94 in 2025, from 3.41 in 2021.
Climate	50% absolute reduction in Scope 1 and 2 by 2030, against 2019	On track	38% achieved. The remaining 12 points depend on the Fatala solar plant and underground fleet electrification at Mbengwe.
Climate	80% renewable and hydro electricity by 2030	On track	61% in 2025.
Climate	A credible Scope 3 reduction pathway for ocean freight	No solution yet	Stated openly in the Climate Transition Plan. The group has no realistic technical lever over ship propulsion this decade.
Water	85% of water recycled or reused by 2030	Behind	79% in 2025. Lubumba reached 71% against a 78% site target; the return-water pipeline responsible is now commissioned.
Tailings	Full conformance with the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management	On track	Seven of eight facilities in full conformance; the eighth, a legacy facility at Mbengwe, is in a closure-specific conformance pathway.
Land	Rehabilitate 2,000 hectares by 2030	On track	1,470 hectares to date, with progressive rehabilitation at every operating asset.
People	90% national workforce at every operation within five years of first production	Achieved	94% group-wide. Every operation is above 90%.
People	30% women in operational supervisory roles by 2030	Behind	19% in 2025 against a 24% interim target. Recruitment met the target; retention did not.
Communities	70% of procurement spent in host countries by 2027	On track	68% in 2025, equal to US$881 million.
Human rights	Zero substantiated child labour findings in the supply chain	Achieved	No substantiated findings in five years of unannounced audits at Lubumba and its tier-one contractors.

Standards

Frameworks we are assessed against

Voluntary standards are worth exactly as much as the auditing behind them. These are the ones with auditors attached.

International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) — mining principles applied on a voluntary basis
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) — supporting company in all host countries
Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) — full conformance programme
Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) — independent assessment pathway
Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights
United Nations Global Compact — participant since 2009
ISO 14001, ISO 45001 and ISO 50001 certified management systems
Responsible Minerals Initiative — downstream assurance for cobalt and copper

Health and safetyCritical controls, the right to stop work and every high-potential incident.Environment and climateEmissions, energy, biodiversity, closure and the gaps we cannot yet close.Tailings and waterFacility-by-facility disclosure and the GISTM conformance programme.CommunitiesConsent, resettlement, local content and grievance resolution.Responsible sourcingChain of custody, human rights due diligence and audit results.Reports and disclosuresSustainability report, ESG data book and assurance statement.

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