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TRANSFORMING TRANSFORMING TRANSFORMING
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT FY 2023 COMMUNITIES THE PLANET THE WORKPLACE

Assessment of risks associated with Tailings Storage Facilities

During FY 2023, we completed a • High: Actions should be implemented
comprehensive assessment of all risks within the next 6 months.
associated with the storage and • Moderate: Actions should be
management of tailings at all our sites. At the reviewed by the EoR and
site-level, this involved evaluating and implementation coordinated by the
analysing all potential risks through review of RTDE, within the business planning
the existing, site-level Tailings Management cycle. Implementation should occur
System (TMS), taking into account the within the next 12 months.
specific requirements outlined in the Global
Industry Standard on Tailings Management • Low: Actions should be reviewed by
(GISTM). The key aspects of the review relate the EoR and implementation
to the 6 broad areas and 15 principles related coordinated by the RTDE, within the
to the safe design and development, business planning cycle.
operation, emergency preparedness and Implementation should occur within
closure of TSF’s as defined in the GISTM. The the next 24 months.
desktop review then assessed the extent of
implementation of the TMS at the site against In addition to this standalone risk
the specific requirements of the principles of assessment, we also conduct regular
the GISTM. Each requirement was then audits of all our tailing dams in
assigned scores on a scale of I (low) to IV conformance with the performance
(high). standards established under the
Vedanta Standard.
Tailings Risk Potential FY 2023
After the successful completion of this
standalone risk assessment, we are better Total Number Number of facilities
able to align our TMS with the GISTM Managing slurry water for reuse and of Facilities categorized as
methodology. Certain gaps have been improved tailings compaction "high risk potential"
("extreme" and "very
exposed as a result of this exercise, and to high")
help individual sites improve the TMS, certain Tailing slurry consists of about 50-55%
actions have been prioritized. Given below is water, and at Hindustan Zinc Ltd, the dry Active Facilities 16 1
the priority ranking that will be followed to tailing plant system allows the filtration Inactive Facilities 9 0
action the changes required: process to lower the water content to ( including facilities
16%. The extracted water is then in care maintenance
• Critical: Actions should be implemented or closed)
with urgency and outside of the usual circulated into the milling operation, Planned Facilities 0 0
business planning cycle. Completion within therefore reducing overall water
90 days and with corporate oversight consumption. The remaining slurry is then
involved. used for compaction and plantation. Zero TSF failures (due to leakage, overflow, etc) in the past four years

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