Sustainability has been providing consulting services in Mongolia since 2002 when we commenced environmental and social baseline studies at the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project in the southern Gobi region of Mongolia. At that time, Oyu Tolgoi was in the early exploration and development phase and it is now one of the largest mines of its type globally and a major contributor to Mongolia’s emerging economy.
Sustainability has provided a range of environment, training and corporate social responsibility services to Oyu Tolgoi throughout the exploration, construction and operational phases and our services have included: –
- Environmental and social impact assessments.
- Professional development of national personnel.
- Cultural heritage studies
- Assisting the mine to achieve leading international practice in environmental management and corporate social responsibility.
Sustainability also completed a comprehensive Cultural Heritage Study of the southern Gobi region and this was conducted in partnership with an international team of specialists focused on strategies to ensure the protection of the unique archaeological, paleontological, and ethnographic heritage of the region. The Study provided a framework for the integration of traditional customs and the protection of heritage values with the development of the Oyu Tolgoi mine and represented an important initiative that had broad scale support within the Mongolian community.
Since 2012, Sustainability has led an international team in a regional biodiversity monitoring program aimed at verifying Oyu Tolgoi’s biodiversity management initiatives and providing data that will support the Project’s aim of achieving a net positive impact on biodiversity. The program is the largest of its type in Mongolia and is helping to provide a better understating of the unique environmental values of the region, including a number of species whose last remaining significant populations are restricted to the Gobi regions of Mongolia.
Sustainability’s international and Mongolian national consultants comprise a range of specialists who assist Oyu Tolgoi with environmental management of its operations to meet their commitment to implement leading international practice and achieving international standards. These services include supporting Oyu Tolgoi’s Environment Department with management and monitoring of air quality, waste, hazardous materials and noise. Sustainability’s team contributes innovative environmental solutions that reflect the challenges posed in a remote desert environment where an extreme climate and isolation require simple and effective monitoring and management methods.
Through establishing a permanent office in Ulaanbaatar, Sustainability has been successful in developing Mongolian environmental professionals who provide environmental consulting services to Oyu Tolgoi under the guidance of Sustainability’s international Principal consultants. The Mongolian office allows Sustainability to be responsive to client needs and to rapidly mobilise services to the Oyu Tolgoi mine.