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Producing the materials the world needs relies on access to land, and we recognise that this comes with responsibility. The places where we operate are home to thriving ecosystems, many of which hold deep cultural and spiritual significance for Indigenous and land-connected Peoples.  

Mining is temporary, and requires long-term care and stewardship of the areas where we operate. We aim to manage our landholdings responsibly by planning for sustainable outcomes after mining ends. Nature loss is a global challenge that threatens ecosystems, livelihoods, and economies. We have a responsibility to manage land in a way that’s sustainable and considerate of the past, present and future values of the land.

Managing land risks

Our Environment Standard sets out the requirements for responsible land management across our managed assets. The standard includes our position and commitment to responsible land management and environmental stewardship. Learn more about our approach to environment and nature.

We have developed a framework that provides a consistent approach to identify, assess, manage and communicate land-related risk across our portfolio. It builds on our Environment Standard and includes a library of controls. This risk framework informs our assets’ approach to operational risk management. 

Our approach covers 3 categories:

• Land disturbance (issues relating to how and where we conduct ground disturbance)  
  “Has disturbance been minimised, occurred as planned, and are impacts as predicted?” 
• Rehabilitation pace (issues relating to how soon we rehabilitate disturbed areas that are no longer required) 
  “Is rehabilitation being implemented at an appropriate pace and scale?"
• Rehabilitation quality (issues relating to the quality of rehabilitation and success in meeting defined criteria or objectives) 
  “Is rehabilitation design and implementation achieving target objectives and / or criteria?”  

We use the framework to understand land-related risk across our portfolio at a point in time. We also collect specific metrics from each asset annually on: 

• land holdings
• new disturbance
• development progress
• quantity and quality of rehabilitation undertaken
• acceptance and tracking towards completion criteria.

View the Sustainability Fact Book for more detailed information.

Every operation interacts with land differently. Some sites, such as open-cut mines create a dynamic, changing footprint while a smelter retains a largely fixed footprint over time. These differences shape the way we manage land and plan for rehabilitation. Mining methods also matter. For example, bauxite and mineral sands mining allow for progressive rehabilitation—restoring areas as we develop—while open-cut and underground mines often require more complex, long-term rehabilitation strategies.   

Today, the largest share of our land footprint is in Australia, followed by the United States, Canada, Mongolia and South Africa. Our responsibility to minimise our impacts and protect landscapes goes beyond our operational footprint. Our standard applies across our managed landholdings, which we classify into 2 categories:   

• operational areas (land where we have created disturbance through our activities), and
• non-operational areas (land with no direct disturbance impact).

In operational areas, we track progress by measuring how much land has been rehabilitated compared to how much remains disturbed. This approach supports transparency and accountability in how we manage and restore the environments entrusted to us. 

We work with practitioners, environmental scientists, cultural heritage experts, academic institutions, Indigenous organisations and businesses, and other stakeholders in an effort to deliver outcomes that are self-sustaining and aligned with regulatory and community expectations. Methods can be tailored to the local geography and climate, as well as the desired rehabilitation outcomes. In most cases, our aim is to re-establish functional and stable ecosystems.   

Land stewardship has many interfaces. We’re careful to align and integrate our approach with how we manage communities and social performance, closure, human rights (land access and use) and mineral and non-mineral materials management, including tailings.