Environmental sustainability in mining is discussed in the latest 'Two for a Few' video series.

IGS Vice President Edoardo Zannoni caught up with Michel Julien, Vice President for Environment and Critical Infrastructures at Agnico Eagle Mines, following his participation at a plenary session on mining at the recent 5^th GeoAmericas conference.

In the session, which asked, 'Mining and geomembranes: what are the challenges [and] where do we go from here?' Mr Julien offered his perspective as a mine owner, with fellow panellists Harvey McLeod, of Klohn Crippen Berger, giving the consultant's viewpoint, and Professor Kerry Rowe, of Queen's University, offering an academic take.

In the 'Two for a Few' video, which further explores the thoughts shared during the plenary, Mr Julien says for Agnico Eagle, geosynthetics were instrumental in meeting their environmental protection obligations including as a key tool in water preservation and containment.

He added: "Geosynthetics will continue to have an ever-growing importance in this industry. It's a very attractive solution and very competitive in terms of cost but in other cases it's the only solution we have. We're going more and more as an industry into remote areas that are characterized by significant challenges so these products are very well suited for some of these operations."

** View another 'Two for a Few' chat from GeoAmericas2024 here, where IGS North America President Elect Kristin Sample-Lord discusses how the IGS is improving inclusion and equity, with IGS Diversity lead Laura Carbone.