Eldorado’s Second SIMS Compliance Verification at Olympias
The verification measured the site’s progress on implementing Eldorado’s performance standards across health, safety, environment, social, security and general sustainability topics, as well as compliance with jurisdictional regulatory requirements and internationally recognized voluntary standards.
The verification provided us with another opportunity to bring our operational and corporate teams together for a week of collaboration and learning after months of preparation. The Hellas Gold team welcomed professionals and subject matter experts from Efemçukuru and Kışladağ in Türkiye and Lamaque in Québec, who comprised the Verification Team. The SIMS Control Team, composed of corporate SIMS Leadership, oversaw the verification process. We also hosted a team of external auditors tasked with independently verifying the Olympias mine’s self-assessed conformance with the RGMP requirements and MAC-TSM Protocols.
Our SIMS Compliance Verifications consist of document and database reviews, interviews with key site and management personnel, and involve comprehensive tours and inspections of the mine site. The effectiveness of corrective actions implemented as a result of previous self-assessments was also evaluated. Our SIMS Compliance Verifications consist of document and database reviews, interviews with key site and management personnel, and involve comprehensive tours and inspections of the mine site. The effectiveness of corrective actions implemented as a result of previous self-assessments was also evaluated.
At the end of each day, the Verification Team documented and debriefed on their findings and discussed key learnings. The verification concluded with a presentation of findings that included the identification of many notable and best practices. The Hellas Gold team was open, transparent and happy to receive recommendations. Despite the comprehensiveness and level of rigour exercised during the verification, all participants agreed that the regular process is lending to a positive culture shift of continuous improvement and that one of our greatest opportunities with SIMS is interdisciplinary collaboration.
Olympias (currently the Kassandra Mines’ only operational site) achieved minimum Level A or Yes across nearly all TSM performance indicators in 2023, including Level AAA for Biodiversity Conservation Management and Tailings Management, with the exception of Level B for one indicator regarding community impact and benefit management. These results are based on a verified assessment by the external verifiers. Olympias’ complete TSM results for 2023 are available at www.mining.ca/companies/eldorado-gold. As part of our integrated process, we also received verification of full conformance against the Year 3 requirements of the RGMPs.
The next SIMS Compliance Verification will be held at our Turkish operations, Efemçukuru and Kışladağ, in 2024. We are excited to continue bringing our people together through the implementation of SIMS across our global operations toward excellence in sustainability.