At the fourth ESG Innovation Annual Meeting (2026) and the second ESG Expo held on September 19, Li Sheng, Vice President of China Railway Resources and Chairman of Huagang Mining, delivered a keynote speech at the "Global Vision, Shared Future" conference. He emphasized that the core of green mining lies in synergizing carbon reduction, pollution control, ecological expansion, and economic growth.
Through resource recycling and digital-intelligent upgrades, Huagang Mining is unlocking new emission-reduction potential, with copper produced via clean hydropower being recognized as the world's lowest-carbon copper. Li Sheng highlighted the company's status as a world-class ultra-large copper-cobalt mining enterprise, boasting an integrated green industrial chain spanning mining, beneficiation, smelting, and roasting-acid production.
At the heart of this effort is the Bushangai Hydropower Station, with a total installed capacity of 240 MW. Clean hydropower fully covers the production chain, generating an average of approximately 1.32 billion kWh annually, which accounts for about one-tenth of the DRC's national electricity output. By adopting the internationally leading "oxygen-enriched roasting and direct electro-winning hydrometallurgy technology," the company recovers sulfur dioxide from roasting into sulfuric acid for leaching, achieving both efficient copper-cobalt recovery and effective air pollution control.
Huagang Mining has achieved zero discharge of beneficiation and smelting wastewater, maintaining a stable water recycling rate above 90%. The vegetation coverage on the tailings dam embankment has surpassed 70%, transforming former tailings beaches into ecological green spaces.
In terms of ESG governance, Huagang Mining has established an ESG Management Committee under the direct leadership of the board of directors. The company has obtained ISO14001 environmental management system certification, and its copper and cobalt products have earned "AA" ratings in mineral supply chain due diligence management. The inaugural ESG report received an A-grade Wind ESG rating, while the company secured the "Social and Responsible Shared Contribution Award" at the Sedex Supply Chain Awards in August this year.
Li Sheng summarized three shifts in his perspective, from the first ESG report to international recognition: transforming ESG from a mere "compliance exercise" into "strategic consciousness," evolving from "isolated practices" to "systematic implementation," and moving from "benchmarking against international standards" to "co-creating global standards."
"The report is merely a starting point; governance is the foundation," he said. Practices such as green power substitution, technological carbon reduction, recycling, and localized employment were once fragmented, but the ESG framework now unifies them into a coherent pathway, providing governance with focus and improvement with measurable benchmarks. As Chinese mining enterprises expand globally, they should not always answer questions defined by others. Huagang Mining aims to translate its DRC experience into China's own ESG standards for mining, forging a channel for Chinese solutions to go global.