Centerra is committed to managing its GHG emissions. GHG emissions are predominantly caused by the use of fuel (in mobile vehicles and for stationary combustion), electricity consumption and the use of explosives at mine sites.

Centerra’s sites in British Columbia and its Kumtor Mine in the Kyrgyz Republic predominantly rely on renewable power for their electricity, which allows the Company to offset its GHG emissions. The province of British Columbia generates close to 95% of its electricity from renewables.¹ The Kyrgyz Republic, a leading producer and exporter of hydroelectric energy in the Central Asian region, generates more than 85% of its electricity through hydropower. In Turkey, our Öksüt Mine uses wind energy as part of its total electricity mix. In 2019, 6%–7% of Öksüt’s electricity consumption was from wind sources.

In 2019, we launched two electrification projects at Mount Milligan, one of which replaced the use of diesel generators that currently provide power to withdraw and convey water from Phillip Lake to Mount Milligan’s tailings storage facility (TSF). The electrification project for Phillip Lake will cut local air pollutants at the mine and is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by roughly 48,000 tonnes over the next decade. This is like taking more than 17,000 cars off the road for a year.

At our Kumtor Mine, power is provided by grid electricity and the mill accounts for 80% of our electricity consumption. Other operational activities, such as mine-site lighting, pump dewatering and equipment use, are being switched from diesel generators to grid electricity, wherever possible. In order to minimize energy use, we are transitioning to more fuel-efficient engines and have reduced the trend of running idle engines on parked vehicles. We have also implemented energy conservation measures ranging from installing low-wattage, high-efficiency lighting systems to using better insulation in camp buildings and encouraging behavioural changes by employees on mine sites.

¹ https://www.cer-rec.gc.ca/en/data-analysis/energy-commodities/electricity/report/2016-canadian-renewable-power/province/canadas-renewable-power-landscape-2016-energy-market-analysis-british-columbia.html

² The 2019 GHG emissions included Öksüt’s emissions for the first time. In addition, to create reporting accuracy and consistency across our operating sites and new mines coming online, namely the Öksüt Mine, in 2019 we standardized our global GHG emissions reporting. This means that our GHG emissions cannot be compared; nonetheless, this chart provides an accurate trend.