Environment managing all along the mining cycle: implementing an integrated and pro-active approach

Uranium mining is a niche business because of its production volume and the size of its market that have nothing to do with coal market or iron ore business. It is a very concentrated business with only a few players. New AREVA is one of them with an output of 11.186 tons of uranium representing 15% of the world production in 2016. New AREVA has committed oneself to preserve the environment during the exploitation phase of a mine. Environment samples (soil, water, plants...) are collected to draw an initial picture of a site before mining activities begin in order to minimize the environmental impact. In some sites, for instance in Mongolia, water is scarce and has to be spared, a recycling technology for the sludge recovered from drilling operations, has been tested with success. Another challenge is the adaptation to the climate warming as both a player and a victim because most sites are in zones that are very sensitive to climate change and because mining can release greenhouse effect gases. The final challenge that faces New AREVA at the end of a mining cycle is to succeed the remediation of the site, it does not mean a come back to the initial situation which is impossible to reach but to get an environmental state that is safe and durable. In 2011 AREVA joined the International Counsel for mines and metals (ICMM) in order to share a code of practice for a sustainable development. (A.C.)