Every year, the DOWA Group confirms the status of water intake sources and drainage destinations in addition to water usage at production sites in Japan and overseas. We are promoting initiatives to reduce the amount of water used throughout the Group by improving our facilities and recycling water throughout our processes.
A large portion the water resources used by the Group is seawater that the Nonferrous Metals Business and our private power generation use for cooling purposes.
We promote the recycling of water used in our production processes and the thorough conservation of water, and the entire Group is working to reduce water withdrawals.
We have established voluntary standards that are stricter than mining laws and regulations for the management of over 20 closed mines and over 30 tailing dams, most of which have suspended operations or closed down. By doing so, the DOWA Group is working to prevent mine pollution and maintain and improve safety.
At suspended or closed mines, mine water, including acidic water or water containing heavy metals, may flow out of the pithead; thus, there is the risk of wastewater flowing into rivers and harming water quality and agricultural land. Accordingly, we have established voluntary management standards that are stricter than mining laws and regulations for the suspended or closed mines and tailing dams that we currently operate. By doing so, the DOWA Group is working to maintain healthy water circulation and an environment conducive to sustainable water use.
Mine wastewater treatment plants and tailing dam facilities are inspected on an irregular basis by public safety and inspection departments in each region. All of the closed mines and tailings dams operated and managed by us are managed by wastewater treatment and other means based on voluntary management standards that are stricter than mining laws and systems. In addition, rehabilitation of closed mines and tailings dams that have ceased operations has been completed, including soil covering, pollution prevention work, and revegetation with vegetation, to maintain stable conditions. We set the items for inspection and the frequency thereof by location, including tailing dams still in use, with qualified people doing patrol inspections of such things as blocked pitheads, and we check the slopes and culverts of tailing dams in order to quickly detect and repair points of deterioration and keep conditions stable.
