GAC helps clean community in Kamsar on International Environment Day

Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC) SA, a major player in the mining sector in Guinea, conducted a clean-up day in the Kamsar district of Filima for International Environment Day.

GAC employees worked with community members and the Filima sanitation committee in a concerted effort to clear drainage channels. GAC also provided information for the community about the importance of waste management, including the damage discarded plastics can cause in the environment.

GAC aspires to be measured amongst the world’s leading mining companies in meeting its environmental and social responsibilities. GAC's environmental controls include specific management plans for bio-diversity, erosion and sediment control, water, rehabilitation and reforestation, dredging and waste disposal, air quality, and noise and vibration control.

GAC worked with the sanitation committee at Filima to create a comprehensive plan to minimise environmental impact. This included the clean-up of storm water drainage channels before the wet season starts, which helps reduce waste being carried by rain water into sensitive mangroves.

The clean-up operation on International Environment Day covered all eight blocks of Filima.

GAC provided the Filima sanitation committee with cleaning equipment, and 25 GAC volunteers helped with the effort.

GAC also arranged for a local water sachet supplier to attend the clean-up to purchase used plastic sachets for recycling.

Other GAC environmental projects in Kamsar so far this year include reforesting 68 ha of mangroves, nearly 200,000 plants in total, that have been impacted by port construction. GAC also helped develop rice fields salt farming in the area
GAC has also provided 460 solar power kits to members of the Filima community to reduce reliance on unsustainable energy sources.

In May 2018, GAC was again issued a Certificate of Environmental Compliance from the Guinean Ministry of the Environment, Water and Forests, through the Guinean Bureau of Environmental Studies and Evaluation.