Water

Value of Water

Water management is a critical aspect of Tacora’s sustainable mining practices, as water plays a vital role in both mining and mineral processing operations. Recognizing the importance of this shared resource, Tacora ensures that water used in its operations is responsibly managed and discharged back into the natural environment in compliance with regulatory standards.

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Tacora proactively addresses potential water-related impacts, including water availability, ecosystem value, and community needs. Comprehensive water quality monitoring procedures are in place to detect changes in water quality or aquatic biodiversity resulting from operational activities.

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18,743, 461 m³ Water withdrawn

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0 m³ municipal water used

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Monitoring and Compliance

Tacora conducts routine effluent and water quality monitoring at specified intervals—weekly, monthly, and quarterly—in accordance with federal and provincial regulatory requirements, including the Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations and the provincial Certificate of Approval. The monitoring program includes the following activities:

• Sampling at Final Discharge Points (FDPs): Sampling sites include the Tailing Line Emergency Dump Basin #1, East Pit 2 Dewatering, West Pit Dewatering, Knoll Lake Discharge, and Flora Lake Discharge
• Field measurements: On-site measurements of pH, temperature, effluent velocity, and depth to support accurate volume calculations
• Laboratory Analysis: Testing for parameters such as metals (arsenic, copper, lead, nickel, zinc), total suspended solids, radium-226, un-ionized ammonia, hydrocarbons, and acute lethality

Monitoring results are reported to the appropriate regulatory agencies, ensuring transparency and regulatory compliance in effluent management.

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Expanded Sampling Framework

Tacora’s water quality assessments extend beyond FDPs to include environmental exposure and reference areas. A total of twelve monitoring sites, including Flora Outlet Arm, Wabush Narrows, Long Lake, Walsh River, Jean River, Virot Lake, West Pit Deep Well, and the FDPs, are sampled four times per calendar year, during the summer Environmental Effects Monitoring program (June-September). These sites provide data on water quality across operational, reference, and environmental effects monitoring zones.

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Water Management

Tacora is committed to responsible water stewardship, implementing a comprehensive water management planning process to minimize any negative impact on water sources, other water users and receiving environments. Our operations continuously seek to improve site water balances and water management plans, with inputs, internal flows and outputs being routinely measured to inform management, planning and reporting. Tacora actively monitors the impacts of all water withdrawals and discharges, focusing on aspects such as recreational value of water resources and receiving environments, water quality and aquatic biodiversity.

Tacora continues to prioritize water stewardship by monitoring surface water, groundwater, and discharges to confirm the effectiveness of our environmental protection procedures and enable timely identification of any issues that may arise.

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Number and type of samples collected:

• Final Discharge Points - 216
• Field Duplicates - 28
• Field Blanks - 31
• Exposure Areas - 15
• Reference Areas - 10
• EEM Sites - 10

310 samples collected.