Sustai­nab­ly produced gold from Finland

We aim to conduct our business without accidents. We continuously measure our LTI rate and report safety findings, accidents, and near misses immediately. We continuously improve our practices based on our findings. We are committed to providing the necessary training and equipment to ensure safe operations.

We measure the well-being of our staff on an annual basis. We take measures to promote the well-being of our employees and to improve working conditions.

Diversity in the workplace and the right to equal opportunities is important to us. We value and recognise the contributions and personal strengths of everyone, regardless of gender, ethnic or other origin, colour, age, religious belief, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, trade union membership, or any other personal factor. We recruit and promote employees based on their competence and performance.

Endomines also has a defined diversity policy for its Board of Directors. The aim is to have a board of both genders. The long-term goal is to have a balanced representation of both genders on the board.

We seek to actively minimise the adverse impact of our operations on the environment. We recycle our process water and monitor water continuously. Our goal is to recirculate the water consumed in our production process so that no water is pumped into the process from outside the mining area. By increasing the internal water recirculation rate and reducing the intake of raw water, we can reduce our emissions to water.

Water discharged from the area is monitored at several points. The physical and chemical quality of water is monitored in accordance with a monitoring programme approved by the environmental authorities. 

Endomines comply with the regulations and practices of all national laws in which Endomines conducts business. Endomines also conducts its business in accordance with the international agreements and regulations that apply to it.

Labour and human rights

We are committed to upholding and respecting labour and human rights and expect the same commitment from all business partners. These rights include equal pay for equal work, zero tolerance for modern slavery, forced labour, child labour and other forms of discrimination.

Competition and intellectual property law

We are committed to acting in accordance with applicable national and international competition laws and regulations. We find it important to value the principles and practices that safeguard healthy and effective economic competition. We respect the intellectual property rights of all and will act in accordance with all rights under intellectual property law. We respect everyone’s rights to confidential information and will only process confidential or otherwise sensitive information where we have a legal basis to do so.

Conflicts of interest

We are committed to conducting our business in an ethical manner and avoiding conflicts of interest. We must be transparent when a conflict of interest arises and we must refrain from participating in the decision-making process concerning us when a conflict of interest arises, or could be perceived to arise.

Taxation

The Endomines Group is committed to complying with applicable tax legislation and paying the correct amount of tax to the countries in which Endomines conducts its business. Our commitment to comply with applicable tax legislation includes the principle of zero tolerance for tax offences/tax law violations.

As a Finnish company, our operations have a positive impact on employment locally

We pay taxes in Finland, and through our business, we build and maintain Finnish society, and enliven the Ilomantsi region where we operate. As we are headquartered in Finland, we also make decisions in Finland – which in practice means that we can influence the course of events and the impact of our business locally in the area where we operate.

We prioritise doing business with local suppliers. This allows us to build a network of business partnerships that benefit the regions in which we operate and reduce our risk of supply chain disruption.

We sponsor a local sports club in the area where we operate, enabling children to participate in low-threshold football or floorball, regardless of the social or socio-economic status of the youth. With our sponsorship funding, the sports club is also able to purchase protective equipment, as well as playing equipment, providing equal opportunities for all, to participate in the sports.

We motivate pupils in schools in our mining region to succeed at school by awarding various scholarships at the end of the term as a reward for learning skills needed in society.

Stakeholder engagement with local communities

The aim of stakeholder engagement is to build trust and transparency between Endomines and our stakeholders, with the aim of facilitating cooperation and the development of our business.

We want to have a positive impact on the communities and local residents among whom we do business, partner with and interact with. Cooperation and dialogue with our stakeholders are also valuable sources of information for us, whose opinions and expertise we value.

Accountability in the communities where we operate is critical to the success of our business. Dialogue with stakeholders in the mining, public authorities and residents helps us to operate in an open and proactive manner, taking into account the needs and wishes of our stakeholders.

We have identified the sources of our CO2 emissions and, in line with our plan, we aim to reduce them by 5% per ounce of gold produced each year. The greenhouse gas emissions of Endomines are

associated with direct CO2 emissions from operations (Scope 1), emissions from the consumption of purchased electricity and heat (Scope 2), and indirect emissions from the value chain (Scope 3). The most significant direct CO2 emissions come from the use of machinery, while the most significant emissions from the consumption of electricity are related to ventilation and heating in the underground mine, water pumping, ore crushing and grinding. Carbon neutrality is the company’s long-term goal, which can be achieved by replacing fossil fuels with renewable solutions in production.

Finnish environmental legislation sets strict requirements for water treatment. Water management is one of the most important matters at mines, therefore water discharged from the area is monitored at several points. This also ensures that water flows do not carry emissions of solids to the sea. The EU Water Framework Directive sets out the water status objectives that operators must meet. For the treatment of tailings pond overflow and mine water, the environmental permit sets target concentrations for acidity, solids, nickel and arsenic.

In mining, the main environmental impacts on land are CO2 emissions, mining waste and preservation of biodiversity. We strive to identify our emission reduction potential and take measures to reduce our CO2 emissions.

In Finland, work has been done to increase carbon-neutral power generation, so Endomines has the prerequisites for low-carbon gold production. The company’s long-term goal is carbon neutrality, which will be achieved by replacing fossil fuels in production with renewable solutions.

We monitor our CO2 emissions on a quarterly basis, reporting on our website our calculated CO2 emissions in tonnes per ounce of gold produced.

We maintain up-to-date waste management plans for our mines. the EU directive on the management of waste from extractive industries, which defines measures, procedures and guidelines for the processing of mining waste. In Finland, the directive is enforced in various national acts, especially the Environmental Protection Act and the Land Extraction Act.

Environmental monitoring

Environmental monitoring at Endomines is carried out in accordance with mandatory monitoring programmes and biodiversity is taken into account in both mining and exploration activities, for example by mapping endangered species in advance and, if necessary, making alternative plans to conserve them.

In Finland, mine closures are regulated by the mining and environmental legislation and EU guidelines. They define detailed mine closure guidelines regarding, for example, the best available techniques to be applied during closure.

In addition, mine closures are regulated by good practices, experiences obtained from studies and tests, as well as control and management systems based on companies’ quality and environmental standards. Globally, a single goal has been set as a mine closure standard: restoring the area in as stable a physical, chemical and biological state as possible so that it does not present any hazards to the environment or human health. At Endomines, closure plans are updated at regular intervals.