Mining & Metallurgical Society of America 2021 ESG WEBINAR SERIES
#1 ESG Experts Panel Discussion October 1, 2021
QP ENHANCEMENT COMMITTEE
A recent survey conducted by law firm White & Case found that 45% of key industry decision-makers expected Environmental/Social/Governance (ESG) issues to represent the largest risk to the industry and nearly 79% of those surveyed said they expect investors to push the industry more aggressively on ESG. The accepted standards of environmental stewardship, social license and governance of mineral endowments are constantly changing. QPs must know the issues of importance to society and be prepared to adapt and respond to changing societal norms.
The QP Enhancement Committee offers a series of webinars about ESG designed for the professionals working for mining companies and those involved in the preparation of studies and disclosure documents. The series will also be of interest to the legal, financial, management and academic sectors of the industry.
Five webinars are planned:
- ESG Panel of Experts Discussion – highlighting the broad ESG issues of today, and
- Environmental and permitting – meeting the standards demanded by
- Social issues – how to obtain and secure the “social license” to
- Governance – making the right ESG decisions in the Board
- ESG 101 for Investors – summarizes the preceding four
The first Webinar is a Panel session and assembles experts in all three ESG areas. Over the course of 90 minutes, the panel discussion will identify and introduce topics of importance that are faced by mining companies, mineral property developers and explorationists today.
The ESG Panel consists of the following experts:
Social – Lauren Meyer
- General topics: Prioritizing social considerations has become key to maintaining a social license to operate. With the help of existing standards and examples of unique sustainable solutions, mine designers and operators can take innovative steps to achieve sustainable development goals and meet sustainability pledges. However, in order to leverage the multiplicity of benefits that ESG provides, we must look at sustainability through a new lens one that shifts our focus from ticking boxes to meet ESG requirements, to truly designing with sustainability in mind. Sustainability should be incorporated into every phase of new or existing projects, making it a key element of the design, operations, and closure processes.
- Bio: Ms. Meyer is a Geotechnical Engineer certified as an Envision Sustainability Professional (ENV SP) since 2019. Lauren sits on the steering committee for Stantec’s Sustainable Mining by Design initiative and is actively pursuing ways to incorporate sustainability into the project management framework and project delivery. She is also currently serving as the president of the Northern Colorado Branch of ASCE, and as the Chair of the Women@Stantec Colorado
Environmental – Patrick Williamson
- General topics: Patrick will provide his perspective on industry best practices for environmental management, the environmental baseline studies required for different stages of mine development, and the operational requirements for characterizing and managing waste rock, tailing and water at mining projects.
- Bio: Patrick Williamson has over three decades of experience in managing geochemical and hydrogeologic investigations for mining projects, including water balances, water resource evaluation and development, waste rock characterization, mine dewatering, and permitting studies for due diligence, Preliminary Economic Assessments, Feasibility Studies, operations, and He is an experienced project manager/principal with a technical focus on mine waste geochemistry/hydrogeology and extensive experience in the mining sector in Mexico and Latin America. Prior to joining INTERA, Patrick established and managed two hydrogeology/ environmental practices in Mexico, where he developed business offerings for mine hydrogeology, geochemistry and social license for water and mining. Patrick has spoken extensively on the topic of best practices for environmental management for mining at conferences throughout Latin America.