Hindustan Zinc : Water Security CDP 2022-2023

Hindustan Zinc CDP Water Security Questionnaire 2023 Tuesday, August 1, 2023

Welcome to your CDP Water Security Questionnaire 2023

W0. Introduction

W0.1

(W0.1) Give a general description of and introduction to your organization.

Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL) is one of the largest mining and metal production company in India and the second largest zinc-lead miner globally. It was established in 1966 and is headquartered in Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. The company boasts a significant Reserves and Resources (R&R) base of 460.1 million metric tons (MT) with an average zinc-lead grade of 7.18%. HZL's fully integrated zinc operations currently hold an impressive 80% market share. The company stands as the fifth largest silver producer globally, with an annual production capacity of 800 MT. HZL operates as a subsidiary of Vedanta Limited, with the latter owning a 64.9% stake, while the GoI retains a 29.5% stake.

HZL has an ore production capacity of 16.74 million MT per annum and is actively expanding its mining capabilities through five ongoing major underground mining operations. The silver bullion produced at HZL's Pantnagar unit boasts a remarkable purity of 99.9% and is listed on the LBMA Good Delivery List (LGD). To support its mining and smelting processes and achieve its vision of being the lowest-cost producer, HZL relies on its Captive Power Plants (CPPs), which provide low-cost and reliable power. Moreover, Hindustan Zinc is deeply committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which focuses on ensuring the sustainable development and management of resources for all.

Aligned with our commitment to achieving SDG goal 6, we are directing our efforts towards two primary focus areas: reducing dependency on fresh water and improving water efficiency. Our ambitious target is to attain a Water Positive status five times over, building on our current water-positive ratio of 2.41 times. Concurrently, we are firmly committed to reducing our freshwater withdrawal by 25% by the year 2025, relative to the base-year 2020. This reduction objective reflects our responsible approach to water management and signifies our drive to utilize water resources more effectively.

To accomplish these objectives, we have introduced comprehensive water management programs throughout our operations. Embracing cutting-edge technologies and practices, we prioritize water efficiency by incorporating water recycling measures, optimizing water consumption in our processes, investing in water-saving equipment and maintaining Zero discharge across locations.

In addition, we firmly believe in the strength of collaboration, actively engaging with stakeholders, including local communities, governmental bodies, and non-profit organizations,

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Hindustan Zinc CDP Water Security Questionnaire 2023 Tuesday, August 1, 2023

to promote water stewardship programs. Recognizing the equal importance of water to our business, we have made the following commitments and implemented initiatives in this regard:

1. Committed to adopt and implement the strategic framework as outlined by the UN Global Compact Water Action Platform (CEO Water Mandate).
2. Dedicated to constructing rainwater harvesting structures in nearby villages to ensure water self-sufficiency.
   3.Initiated project of Zero Liquid Discharge at RAM and ZM and rainwater harvesting project at RAM with ground water augmentation of 87 lacs m3.
   4.Commissioned Dry tailing plant at Zawar. This plant recirculates over 80% of the process water from tailings. A dry tailing plant at RDM is in final stages of commissioning. 5.Commissioned Zero Liquid Discharge plant at our Debari and Dariba smelter. 6.Celebrated World Water Day on 22nd March and conducted lake cleaning drive at Fatehsagar lake.

1. Provided clean drinking water to the community through RO/ATMs established across 4 locations & 3 districts in Rajasthan.
   Our approach to water management is reinforced by policies and standards implemented across all levels, from corporate to site-specific. The Sustainability & ESG Committee, established at the Board level, takes charge of formulating the Sustainability Strategy, as well as set long-term goals and targets related to water management. Given our operations are in water-stressed regions, we acknowledge the critical importance of efficient water usage and adopt a collaborative approach to manage it as a shared resource, involving relevant stakeholders. During the FY 2023, HZL received several accolades and recognitions related to its efforts in water management, which are listed below:

1. Ranked 3rd Globally in Metal & Mining sector and 1st in Asia Pacific in S&P Corporate Sustainability Assessment, 2022 (DJSI)
2. Won the 'Industry Leadership Award - Base, Precious and Specialty Metals' and 'Corporate Social Responsibility' at the prestigious S&P Global Platts Global Metal Awards.

1. Amongst the top 5% of most sustainable organizations by S&P, included in Sustainability Yearbook 2023.
2. Four mines received 5 Star Rated Mines' award by the Ministry of Mines, Govt. of India.
3. Scored 'A' in CDP Climate Change and 'A-'in CDP Water Security

W-MM0.1a/W-CO0.1a

(W-MM0.1a/W-CO0.1a) Which activities in the metals and mining and coal sectors does your organization engage in?

Activity

Mining

Processing

Details of activity

Zinc

Lead

Silver

Zinc

Lead

W0.2

(W0.2) State the start and end date of the year for which you are reporting data.

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Hindustan Zinc CDP Water Security Questionnaire 2023 Tuesday, August 1, 2023

	Start date	End date
Reporting year	April 1, 2022	March 31, 2023

W0.3

(W0.3) Select the countries/areas in which you operate.

India

W0.4

(W0.4) Select the currency used for all financial information disclosed throughout your response.

INR

W0.5

(W0.5) Select the option that best describes the reporting boundary for companies, entities, or groups for which water impacts on your business are being reported.

Companies, entities or groups over which operational control is exercised

W0.6

(W0.6) Within this boundary, are there any geographies, facilities, water aspects, or other exclusions from your disclosure?

Yes

W0.6a

(W0.6a) Please report the exclusions.

Exclusion	Please explain
Marketing	We have excluded marketing offices where we consider our water footprint to be
offices	0.34% and risks to be very small and they do not have a direct association with an
	operation

W0.7

(W0.7) Does your organization have an ISIN code or another unique identifier (e.g., Ticker, CUSIP, etc.)?

Indicate whether you are able to provide a unique identifier for	Provide your unique
your organization.	identifier
Yes, an ISIN code	INE267A01025

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Hindustan Zinc CDP Water Security Questionnaire 2023 Tuesday, August 1, 2023

W1. Current state

W1.1

(W1.1) Rate the importance (current and future) of water quality and water quantity to the success of your business.

	Direct use	Indirect use	Please explain
	importance	importance
	rating	rating
Sufficient	Vital	Important	We use good quality of freshwater for our direct
amounts of			operations primarily required for drilling, mining &
good quality			beneficiation, smelting, refining process, dust
freshwater			suppression, sanitation, hygiene and cooling
available for use			activities etc. Good quality freshwater is "Vital" for
			our operation as good quality water results in more
			metal recovery in the beneficiation plants whereas
			bad quality water results in high O&M costs
			because of presence of high chloride content in
			water that results in corrosion. Quality of water also
			directly influences the treatment costs i.e.; Use of
			better-quality water leads to lower treatment cost
			and vice versa. Good quality freshwater is also
			required for drinking purposes in our offices and at
			sites.
			HZL operations rely on indirect freshwater use for
			building strong relations with the community. An
			"important" value is assigned as water is a shared
			resource and influences our social license to
			operate. Freshwater is consumed for meeting the
			domestic, sanitation & agriculture need of
			community residing nearby.
			We are implementing projects to enhance the water
			availability through rainwater harvesting, in and
			around our operations.
			Future: Future dependency on freshwater in direct
			operations is expected to reduce as we implement
			initiatives to meet our reduction targets. Our target
			is to reduce our water withdrawal by 25% by
			2025.To achieve this HZL has adopted a
			multipronged approach to manage water resources
			and consumption by implementing technologies
			such as by Multiple Effective evaporator/Mechanical
			Vapor Recompression (MVR) at all Smelters in
			place of conventional evaporators which in turn will
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Hindustan Zinc CDP Water Security Questionnaire 2023 Tuesday, August 1, 2023

			strengthen the Zero Liquid Discharge with improved
			water recovery. Example: In FY 2022-23 we
			undertook recycling of RO reject water in ZLD plants
			leading to increase in recycling rate of 42%. We
			also undertook rainwater harvesting to reduce
			freshwater consumption at Pant Nagar metal plant
			which resulted in 14228m3 of freshwater savings.
Sufficient	Vital	Not very	We use recycled and produced water primarily for
amounts of		important	dust suppression, power generation, and ore
recycled,			processing, etc. HZL's operations are in water
brackish and/or			stressed regions, accentuating the importance of
produced water			relying on lower quality water. Thus, a "vital" value
available for use			was assigned for direct use of recycled and brackish
			water, as this reduces our need for good quality
			freshwater and is vital to maintain water security at
			our operations. Increased water conservation,
			demand management and use of third-party grey
			water as opposed to fresh or potable water use is
			key to our strategy.
			The indirect use of recycled, brackish and/or
			produced water has been rated as "not so
			important", as communities surrounding our
			operations only use freshwater for meeting their
			domestic, agricultural and sanitation needs.
			Future: As per the water risk physical climate risk
			assessment study, 100% of our operations are likely
			to get impacted by the unavailability of water- both
			in quantity & quality in 2030 & 2050 scenario time
			frames. Hence, we are taking measures to increase
			our dependency on recycled water in direct
			operations.
			Example: We have established Udaipur STP with a
			capacity to treat 60 MLD sewage and ~40 MLD
			treated water is being utilized at our operational
			units as alternative water resource instead of fresh
			water. This year overall consumption from STP is
			32%.

W1.2

(W1.2) Across all your operations, what proportion of the following water aspects are regularly measured and monitored?

	% of	Frequency of	Method of	Please explain
	sites/facilities/operations	measurement	measurement

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