Treat, Rehabilitate and Return

Large mining operations and their supporting infrastructure of roads, railways and port facilities present inherent dangers to wildlife. For this reason, just as we keep medical teams on hand to treat injured workers, our value of care also extends to treating wounded animals in the areas where we operate.

At our mine in Juruti, Brazil, an on-site Wildlife Rehabilitation Center treats turtles, eagles and jaguars, providing professional care and rehabilitation, regardless of what may have caused their injuries or where they received them. Since its founding in 2020, the clinic has substantially improved the region's capacity to treat and and save injured animals.

The Center’s predecessor was a simple on-site facility staffed by one veterinarian and an assistant and only had the capacity to treat low-complexity, non-surgical injuries during limited hours. In contrast, the 24-hour Rehabilitation Center has a nine-person staff of veterinarians and technicians who can perform surgeries, radiographic and ultrasound examinations, and other specialized procedures quickly and effectively.

This initiative has substantially improved the region’s capacity to treat and save injured animals. It has increased the number of animals receiving care by 98 percent since it opened, and raised the survival rate of treated animals from about 43 percent in 2018 to 67 percent at the end of 2022.

An important part of our environmental stewardship, the wildlife health program illustrates efforts to minimize our environmental impact and sustain local animal populations within our sites and surrounding regions.