Strategy

We are working towards fully integrating sustainable development (SD) into our strategy and the way we manage our business. The concept of sustainable mining and its achievement is both complex and challenging.

Without careful management, mining can have significant negative environmental and social impacts, including pollution, habitat disturbance, occupational injuries and disruption to local communities. However, responsible development of a nation’s mineral wealth in a manner that addresses economic, environmental and social considerations can provide significant and lasting social and economic benefits, raising standards of living for existing and future generations in a sustainable manner.

We recognise that our long-term success depends on securing broad-based support for our activities. That means demonstrating that we are responsible stewards of the natural resources we mine and use in our operations, and the broader natural environment in which we operate, and that our presence delivers sustainable benefits to communities and nations that extend beyond job creation and paying taxes.

Our SD principles are integral to achieving our core business objectives of:

• gaining access to new resources
• maintaining a ‘licence to operate’ from society
• managing risk and reducing cost
• attracting and retaining the best people
• accessing diverse and low-cost sources of capital
• identifying new business opportunities

Our underlying strategic approach to sustainability focuses on establishing clear commitments, including risk management and performance targets aligned to our material issues and industry-leading standards.

Strategy to deliver organic growth

We are in the midst of an extensive period of organic growth, which will see production volumes increase significantly. The successful delivery of this growth depends on our ability to manage the inherent SD risks and opportunities. Risks include:

• health and safety risks associated with construction projects
• safety risks associated with managing significant numbers of temporary contractors on-site, particularly when multiple languages and cultures are present
• competition for skilled and experienced workers
• additional noise and dust impacts for local communities
• potential social impacts from the influx of a large, temporary workforce into a region or community
• potential displacement of communities or impacts on access to resources or livelihoods
• habitat disturbance and impacts on ecosystems, particularly for greenfield projects
• water, air and land pollution from construction, mining or drilling
• potential cumulative environmental and social impacts, particularly in regions with a significant number of existing mines or mining developments

We have reviewed our governance and assurance processes to ensure effective oversight of the risks and opportunities that arise. We have also amended our SD Framework, introducing additional, separate audit protocols for the pre-approval and post-approval phases of major project developments.

We have enhanced progress reporting on major projects at Executive Committee and Board level to track the expenditure and risk management. Our Internal Audit programme has focused on assessing the existing controls to enable the successful execution of major projects. We also employ external auditors to assess specific SD risks that have been selected as part of our annual risk reviews.