Water stewardship

Water

We understand that access to clean water is a fundamental human right, and we must use it responsibly. Our goal is to reduce fresh water use intensity and increase our use of low quality or recycled water. We will report on the success of these reductions compared to consumption in our 2021 baseline year and compared to reported reductions by our peers.

Managing a Critical Resource

We have committed to reduce freshwater use intensity and increase low-quality or recycled water as a proportion of total water consumed by 2030 against our 2021 baseline year. We aim to practice good water stewardship by using water efficiently, reusing water whenever possible and avoiding impacts to water. This includes tailings technology to reuse more water, expanding our use of desalinated water, and continually improving storm water management infrastructure.

We recognize the impact of climate change on water resources, and operate in water-scarce regions where water availability may be affected by climate change.

Responsible Water Use

We treat water as a scarce resource and only use what’s needed. We prioritize good operational practices and investments in technology to improve our water use efficiency and minimize water withdrawal. All of our sites maintain water balance models that allow us to proactively identify water savings.

Prioritization of Low-Quality Water

To minimize impact on freshwater sources, we prioritize the use of low-quality water wherever possible. This includes using desalinated water, reclaimed process water, water from underground and open-pit mines, and wastewater from municipal water treatment plants.

Impact Avoidance and Monitoring

We aim to mitigate negative impacts to water. We monitor both surface and groundwater quality, conduct daily team surveillance, and report results to regulators. We avoid impacts to water quality through strict compliance with environmental regulations.

Watershed Health

Capstone considers the health of the watershed by working with and responding to communities and stakeholders that have a shared interest in watershed health.