General: NYA will apply specific resource efficiency, pollution prevention and control measures plus waste management practices that are supported by robust procedures and consistent with good practice. The effectiveness of these practices and procedures will be subject to continuous monitoring and review, in response to changing circumstances as well as internal practices. Some of these measures and management plans are highlighted in the sections below.

Resource Efficiency: Power supply for the project will be obtained from the DRC national energy grid. This will be achieved through the installation, by the public utility company, SNEL, of a new 6.6 km, 220kV power line from the Kwilu substation to the plant site. The electricity will be mainly used in the cement production, namely; cement production plant, cement grinding, clinker production, packing and dispatch, etc. In addition to this, an 800 kVA 400 Volts 50 Hz diesel generator will be installed for emergency power supply in the event of a power failure from the grid. The standby generator will only support essential plant equipment and emergency lighting and will not maintain operation of the plant as a whole (including the kiln). 

The proposed clinker production and cement grinding facilities will be built according to the Best Available Technologies defined for the cement industry (as provided by the supplier), which include the adoption of preheating and pre-calcining technology in the clinker production and de-dusting bag filters for gases. The clinker production plant will consume approximately 396 tons/day or 118 800 ton/yr of coal which will be imported from South Africa through the port of Matadi. The coal will be consumed exclusively in the calcining process ? no coal will be used for electricity generation as all electricity required for the plant?s operations will be sourced from the grid. The clinker plant has a predicted thermal energy efficiency performance of 730 Kcal/kg of clinker and an electrical power consumption of 57.0 kWh/ton clinker, which is within industry standards established by the European Union. In addition to coal, provision has been made to use HFO for start-up and in emergency. 

The Company estimates that the combined electricity consumption per ton of bagged cement, including clinker production, grinding, blending and bagging will be 90 kWh per ton of cement, which compares favorably to the industry standard of up to 105 kWh/ton cement.

The plant is based on a dry process with water only needed for cooling purposes, dust suppression on roads, and domestic water usage. The estimated water consumption is 1 080 m3 per day. This consumption can be sourced from mine/quarry dewatering, surface runoff and extraction from local rivers. Surface and groundwater investigations are currently ongoing to determine the best method of sourcing the water needs without causing aquifer draw down or too low flow in the local river.

Pollution Prevention: NYA will produce a wide range of waste from its operations. This includes office and household solid waste and non-hazardous industrial waste (paper, packaging material, kitchen waste, building rubble, non-hydrocarbon filters, etc.); salvageable/recyclable material (scrap metal, pipes and scrap wood); hazardous waste (used hydrocarbons, expired chemicals, paints, lead batteries etc.); medical waste; waste water; and top soil and overburden. All waste will be managed according to the company?s waste management plan which will be incorporated in the ESMP. In future, co-processing of certain categories of waste as alternative fuels and materials will be considered and supported via a detailed feasibility study. If feasible, this could significantly reduce the volume of coal required for the production of cement.

Appropriate waste management infrastructure will be installed as part of the Waste Management Plan. This will include a waste management facility (WMF) with separate compartments for different types of wastes, i.e.; an unlined non-hazardous waste landfill and a salvageable material yard. Used oil, lubricants, cotton rugs and small quantities of greases will be used as fuel of calciner/burner. Expired chemicals and chemical containers will be returned to the suppliers and recycled/reused as appropriate. There will also be an incinerator for medical waste; a packaged sewage treatment plant; a wastewater treatment plant; and a top soil and overburden stockpile. The WMF will be designed and constructed in accordance with the relevant national and international guidelines, and will include measures for storm-water management and dust suppression. 

A packaged sewage treatment plant will be used for the treatment of sewage from the site camps during the construction phase and all toilet facilities during the operational phase. The sewage treatment plant will be designed and operated to meet the WBG EHS Guideline for discharge of wastewater. Details of the nature and amounts of process/industrial wastewater from the cement plant and quarry have not yet been confirmed, and will be addressed via the additional water studies currently in progress. This will inform the design and operation of the necessary industrial wastewater management infrastructure as specified in the ESAP.

Topsoil and overburden from the quarry will be stored and reused for quarry reclamation as the quarry operation proceeds. The site for topsoil and overburden has not yet been identified. Thus NYA will commission a suitably qualified engineering consultancy firm to identify, design and establish topsoil and overburden storage facility. 

To prevent potential contamination from the coal and fuel storage areas, covered coal storage of 40 000 tons capacity with water sprays will be provided, and all fuel will be stored in underground storage tanks, designed in accordance with recognized industry standards. The underground storage tanks will be double skinned and will be equipped with a continuous leak detection system. Approximately 27 000 liters and 3 000 kg of oils and greases respectively (of various types) will be required on an annual basis for operation of the plant. These will be stored in enclosed containers at the plant site, as per the manufacturer?s instructions, and disposed of in accordance with the Waste Management Plan. A hazardous chemicals store to be located within the plant area will be designed in accordance with good industry practice. The quarry operation will require the use of explosives. Explosive usage is strictly regulated by the authorities, and NYA will follow all rules in this respect. The storage for explosives will be established in a remote location to avoid any interference with routine operations.

NYA has a Mine Closure plan which focuses on the end state of the operations for closure. The plan, which will be implemented at the start of production and thereafter updated on a regular basis, was prepared in accordance with the DRC requirements and WBG EHS Guidelines for mining. The closure plan includes details on decommissioning and restoration. According to the closure plan project infrastructure that has no post-closure use (such as the plant equipment) will be removed whilst the quarry and overburden site will be appropriately re-vegetated and secured to prevent inadvertent access by humans and animals. NYA will update its closure plan to include: i) a tentative full quarry utilization plan with tentative final contours, overburden and top soil application and vegetation; ii) an overburden and top soil storage and reapplication plan for the full operational life of the quarry; iii) a five year rolling quarry management and rehabilitation plan including quarry contours, overburden reapplication and top soil needs, and replanting goals; and iv) one year rolling detailed quarry utilization, contouring, overburden and top soil application plans, including re-vegetation details and targets. The updated closure plan should be ready before the production usage of the quarry starts.

There are currently limited sources of environmental pollution in the project site which can contribute in the deterioration of air quality. There is neither an industrial nor commercial or any other activity around the project site other than the new PPC cement plant to be located some 30 km distant and the existing CILU facility. Primary sources of air emissions from the implementation of the project will include particulates from quarrying, raw and finished materials as well as fuel combustion. Water based dust control measures will be implemented within the perimeters of the quarry, on access roads and at the plant, where evacuation and filtration systems are not practical. Watering will be conducted to reduce the dust concentrations to below the WBG EHS Guidelines for Cement and Lime threshold of 50 mg/Nm3 within the quarry area. All plant units will have dust control measures installed (e.g., bag filters at all emission points and electrostatic precipitators for the clinker cooler with guaranteed emissions of 20mg/Nm3 and 30mg/Nm3 respectively). The equipment supplier has guaranteed that these filters will achieve maximum emissions of 20 as well as 30 mg particulate/Nm3 which is consistent with WBG EHS Guidelines. 

Apart from particulate emissions, other major point source pollutants in the cement manufacturing process are sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which are related to the operation of the clinker kiln. Sulfur dioxide emissions will be low, as the alkaline conditions in the clinker kiln will result in the absorption of the majority of the sulfur entering the systems either through the raw materials or the fuel. The sulfur dioxide emissions are not expected to exceed WBG EHS Guidelines value of 400 mg/Nm3. However, a detailed baseline monitoring over a full 12 months is planned to inform baseline air quality and assist in predicting routine and upset impacts that require management. The baseline air quality study will also assess the potential for cumulative impacts on air quality taking into account the new PPC plant; though this is considered unlikely at this stage taking into consideration it is located some 30 km distant. Thereafter, IFC will require NYA to continuously monitor particulate, SOx and NOx emissions at the main stack and develop and implement an ambient air quality monitoring program with a specific focus on communities. NYA will include the results in the Annual Monitoring Report to IFC. 

Formation of nitrogen oxides (NOx) is caused by fuel burning at high temperatures in the kiln. To minimize the formation of nitrogen oxides, the kiln will be operated following advanced combustion principles, including the use of low-NOx burners, which by controlling the flame shape are able to ensure a relative low core flame temperature. By applying these techniques, the NOx emissions will be kept below the 600 mg/Nm3, as stipulated in the WBG EHS Guidelines. An alternative way of lowering the NOx emissions is through the application of Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction (SNCR). This technology does, however, require a supply of concentrated ammonia and the transport of concentrated ammonia on the roads of DRC is not considered a safe practice at this time. Should the plant therefore experience difficulties in achieving the 600 mg/Nm3, the first corrective actions will be to explore further burners and staged-combustion optimizations, to be followed by ambient air studies for acceptability of the achieved emissions, and only as a last resort the inclusion of SNCR.

Based on an estimation performed by a Greenhouse Gas Specialist, NYA?s cement plant will produce approximately 950 000 tons of CO2e per year. A number of GHG mitigation initiatives were recommended by the specialist and formalized in a GHG Management Plan. These include energy efficiency improvements, raw material substitution, and use of alternative fuels. NYA will implement the GHG Management Plan as appropriate and quantify and report its greenhouse gas emissions in the AMR to be submitted to IFC on an annual basis.

Primary sources of noise at NYA?s quarry and clinker operations will include excavation, blasting, drilling, road vehicles engine and movement, stockpiling, loading and unloading of rock into dumper trucks. Apart from Yuku village (and possibly Mbamba village) which will be relocated, there are no other communities or community use areas close to the quarry area. All quarry operation activities will be carried out during day-light only. In-plant shielding of noise emissions will be adopted to ensure that noise levels at the boundaries are within the regulatory limits. In addition to this, NYA will adopt good practice methods in the prevention and control of noise. This will include having all equipment for the plant designed to operate with low noise levels, without exceeding the maximum allowable noise level for the surrounding receiving land use.