ESG Certification

Independent, third-party review of our ESG and sustainability practices and objectives is a key component of our commitment to creating long-term value for all our stakeholders through integrating ESG best practice into the ongoing development of the Company.

Since 2021, Marimaca has completed an annual independent ESG performance assessment via the Digbee ESG reporting framework, to evaluate Company and project ESG credentials. The Digbee framework assessment includes the completion of a set of comprehensive corporate and project questionnaires appropriate to the scope of the Marimaca project and mapped to key Global Standards. The assessment required the provision of relevant corporate and project data, narrative and supporting evidence. Our disclosure was board-approved prior to submission and assessed by independent mining ESG experts to produce an impartial rating, resulting in a specific ESG certification. Scores are also peer-reviewed as part of the assessment, to ensure accuracy and credibility.

 Some of the global standards Digbee aligns to

For 2022, we achieved an overarching score of BBB with a range of CCC to AAA. This is a good improvement on 2021 when an overarching score of BB was awarded. Within this, many project and corporate scores were ranked at “A” and above. Full details of the report can be found here.

Overarching positive conclusions drawn from the 2022 assessment:

• Good progress has been made in the past 12 months regarding ESG governance with the appointment of a Chief Sustainability Officer and appropriate Committees of the Board.
• Good verification is in place for the permitting process used for the project.
• The geological characteristics of the Marimaca orebody will allow for it to be extracted and processed using simple, low cost and low ESG-impact methodologies.
• The location of the project means that existing infrastructure, inclusive of transportation, seawater and power, can be easily accessed. This is complimented by the presence and availability of relevant mining industry skills and robust Chilean mining industry governance.
• The Company is proactively resolving the water scarcity issue for future mining by designing a metallurgical process that uses seawater recycled from the local Mejillones power station. Recent additional work has reduced the preliminary estimations, ensuring a cost-efficient solution in a very arid region.