Our ESG strategy

Sustainability is innate to our business, as our products are produced with far fewer harmful impacts on the environment.

Our approach to sustainability is evolving in the build-up to first production.

Every element of our strategy is driven by adherence to global standards governing ESG practices. By working as partners with diverse stakeholders, our commitment to sustainability remains resolute.

That means creating shared value with all our stakeholders by supporting the growing trend and best practice of “responsible sourcing” while keeping our people safe and healthy.

Risk management and the mitigation of our impacts will be driven and defined by our goal to achieve significant carbon reductions in nickel, copper and cobalt production.

Recycling

The Lifezone Hydromet Technology has the potential to advance its use in autocatalytic recycling.

In line with this ambition, Lifezone Metals has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding for a commercial scale platinum group metals recycling facility.

The Project aims to produce non-smelted refined PGMs from the recycling market, as well as to clean up the circular economy reducing likely the carbon footprint.

The Project’s PGM recycling facility (the “Facility”) is expected to be situated in the US. The Facility will recover PGMs from catalytic converters from spent automotive vehicles with the end products being refined platinum, palladium, and rhodium sponge products.

Lifezone will provide technical expertise and license its Hydromet Technology to the affiliated Project entity, as well as capital necessary to fund the Facility.

This will support our goal of creating value for all stakeholders, our aim to eliminate the need for smelting and to supply, greener, recycled metals in a shorter timeframe.

ESG breakdown

Environmental

We are developing our sustainability strategy which includes our approach to the environment and decarbonisation pathway.

We aim to set achievable environmental targets and goals, as we take action to responsibly, safely and efficiently manage our carbon footprint and all water, tailings, waste and materials.

We are also working to minimise the impacts of our operations on biodiversity, land, air, water and the communities in which we operate.

At present our Hydromet Technology which is innate to our sustainability approach includes a number of existing benefits1:

  • Lower CO2 equivalent emissions, eliminates SO2 emissions, cyanide free, less water and electricity used2, 3
  • Mining and refining processes reduce the project’s tailing’s footprint, as hydromet processes more deleterious material than smelting
  • Our tailings are planned to be used as backfill underground
  • Reviewing opportunities to reduce carbon in mining processes

1. Actual values, benefits and footprints will vary according to site specific site factors.
2. Nickel Class 1 downstream processing CO2 eq. emissions baseline from 2020 Nickel Institute LCA. Estimated Kabanga refinery expected emissions from internal Company analysis.
3 – Expected reductions are lower for PGMs, as they utilize a more complicated flowsheet and are more energy intensive. For example, a study from EY Cova (an independent South African National Accreditation System accredited energy Measurement and Verification inspection body) found 46% lower emissions utilizing our Hydromet Technology compared to traditional smelting and refining (EY Cova studied PGM metals at the originally proposed 110 ktpa concentrate feed rate refinery at the Sedibelo plant site in South Africa under the then-applicable conditions in 2020 and assuming reagents not manufactured on-site; actual results could differ). Results will vary for specific PGM projects.

Social

Our commitment is to share social benefits and build lasting stakeholder relationships across our operations. Making better choices for our partners, people, their communities and environment means rights, responsibilities and inclusion will always govern our decisions, and how we grow as a company.

  • In-country beneficiation, job creation and community development policies and programmes in place
  • Focus on local content via Tanzanian management, a goal to have a labour force with a low expat representation, focus on skills transfer and training
  • Security will be managed collaboratively and in partnership with communities and local government, and via training on the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights

Governance

We are committed to good governance, operating an ethical business, promoting a culture of compliance, and integrating sustainability across all our operations.

As we develop our governance structure, we are committed to ensuring a diverse and appropriately skilled Board of Directors to define and support both company culture and our sustainability strategy.

We have equipped ourselves with a skilled ESG team at a group and subsidiary level to ensure we embed ESG across our operations at all management levels.

These key benchmarks are being integrated into all decision-making and company structures.

  • Alignment with standards is informed by customer and stakeholder needs. OEMs are already looking at the asset, and their requirements will further inform our ESG and production approach.
  • Responsible sourcing requires verification. Our goal is to work towards our products being traceable and ethically produced via the Global Battery Alliance and the Global Battery Passport initiatives.
  • SASB, GRI, ESRS, TCFD and TNFD are key standards and frameworks which we are using to inform our approach to reporting on our impacts as a global resource.
  • Alignment with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, the World Bank’s Climate Smart Mining standards and relevant elements of the International Council for Metals and Mining’s guidelines.