SCG’s Smart Green Mining: A Mining Model for harmonious co-existence of Local Community and Environment through biodiversity preservation and environmental protection approach with cutting-edge technology under the philosophy of “Where there is a cement plant, there is a green forest”. The mining practices incorporate SCG’s sustainable development guidelines and circular economy into operational and environmental management in alignment with legal requirements and international practices to preserve natural resources and minimize adverse environmental impacts.

Environmentally Friendly Quarry Design 

SCG has developed innovative quarry design called “Semi-Open Cut” method that combines the mining techniques of “Open Cut” and “Open Pit” by leaving quarry boundary line as green wall or buffer zone around the quarry. The method is to maintain the visual aesthetic of the natural landscape and healthy forest ecosystem functions, as well as being a reference for mine rehabilitation. 

In addition, “Minesight” processing software is employed to optimize resource planning for maximum efficiency, along with drone technology for surveying, production planning, and seed dispersal to restore biodiversity.

Mining process 

SCG has taken environmental and safety issues into consideration in all stages of the operations to establish appropriate operational practices for business, environment, and society. The SCG mining stages are as follows: 

1. Mine Planning.  Implement mining engineering information technology to develop a plan for the long-term and short-term mining that utilizes natural resources in the most efficient manner. 

2. Blasting. Improve mining pattern and technique to reduce adverse impacts, particularly noise and vibration, by modifying blasting patterns in line with the geological structure to launch the most efficient blasting with the lowest environmental impacts possible.  The Company communicates with surrounding communities of the blasting schedules and send staff to observe impacts occurred in the community each time. 

3. Crushing. Use technology to prevent and solve dust pollution with the closed crushing system in all operational stages ranging from classifying, crushing, conveying, loading to stockpiling. Bag Filter is installed to prevent dust particles from spreading into the environment. 

4. Hauling. The haul road in the quarry is designed to minimize dust with the automated water spray system along with the water spraying trucks. The speed of all vehicles in the quarry is limited to not exceed 30 kilometers/hour to ensure transportation safety and prevent dust blow-off during transport. Furthermore, EV trucks are employed to support Net Zero transition.

The mining operations utilize water from rainwater reserve without leveraging external water sources.  The stored rainwater is used for controlling dust, quarry rehabilitation purpose, and supporting the community.

A notable success in mine rainwater management is the Mae Than Mine, a lignite and ball clay mine in Lampang that operated from 1983 to 2019. The 490-rai, 200-meter-deep mine pit has since been transformed into a reservoir with a maximum capacity of 50 million cubic meters. In 2020, a floating solar farm and a solar-power pumping system were installed to pump water to nearby community reservoirs for agricultural use, thus increasing productivity and generating income for local communities.

Mining Rehabilitation and Biodiversity Conservation 

SCG strives to become a role model for conducting business operations along with biodiversity conservation on top of providing knowledge for other stakeholders and involving the society as part of biodiversity conservation efforts as follows: 

1. Establish mine rehabilitation framework by implementing forest restoration with silviculture, framework species method combined with mining engineering technology. 

2. Determine the biodiversity conservation plan which divided into 3 phases: 

• Phase 1: Conducting a biodiversity baseline study to survey and document all plant and animal species in the area  
• Phase 2:  Conducting an In-depth plant species study to select and plant pioneer species suitable for ecosystem restoration that attract native animals and create a suitable environment for other plant species to thrive, along with setting key indicators to measure project outcomes. 
• Phase 3: Collecting data of naturally increasing biodiversity in the area resulting from bird and insect-mediated dispersal

3. Conduct Quarry Rehabilitation Report. The Quarry Rehabilitation Committee of SCG has been active in mine rehabilitation efforts for a substantial time. The committee conducted research studies and experimented several techniques as well as collaborating with academic organizations, including WWF, Kasetsart University’s  Forestry Faculty, Forest Restoration Research Unit of Chiang Mai University’s Science Faculty, Prince of Songkla University’s Science Faculty, and Biodiversity-Based Economy Development Office (Public Organization), to systematically recover ecosystem and biodiversity. The committee extracted knowledge and lesson learnt in a report named “Quarry Rehabilitation” with the objective to share pivotal findings and knowledge to interested agencies and individuals. 

Download the “Quarry Rehabilitation” report here for more information