ICMM - International Council on Mining & Metals

In February 2008, ICMM and the Government of Ghana jointly hosted a Resource Endowment Workshop in Accra. The multi-stakeholder event brought together senior government representatives, and a broad cross-section of civil society, from district representatives, NGOs and environment agencies, to academics. The purpose was to establish priority goals and develop action plans for the benefit of the local community.

At the Sepon mine in South-Central Laos, OZ Minerals manages community development through the Sepon Development Trust Fund and Business Development programs. The Sepon Trust Fund has a goal of building an economy for the local community that is not dependant on the Sepon operations and which will continue to prosper well beyond eventual mine closure.

The earth around the Tuzigoot National Monument was left discoloured as a result of tailings disposal – material left over after copper production – from the former processing facilities at Clarkdale. But as a result of the Clarkdale Tailings Reclamation Project – launched by Freeport in 2007 – grasses are already growing in the fields surrounding this ancient Native American village.

The OZ Minerals Golden Grove is a zinc and copper mine located in the Murchison region of Western Australia. All OZ Minerals sites have environmental specialists available to monitor and provide advice to site management teams. Extensive use is made of specialist consultants to ensure they have access to the best possible information on managing environmental aspects across their diverse range of operations.

The Falcondo Foundation – the non-profit body that receives funding from the Xstrata Falcondo operation – sponsors a number of community development initiatives in the Dominican Republic. These include road maintenance, agricultural land development, medical clinics and improvements in schools. One of the agricultural initiatives provides greenhouses for local pepper and other produce farms.

Xstrata Zinc supports a range of initiatives to provide employment opportunities, bursaries, training and enterprise development to indigenous and previously disadvantaged people. For example, the McArthur River Mine supports the Borroloola Community Education Centre, where children from the indigenous community receive pre-school, primary and secondary education, as well as vocational training.

The Communities and Small-scale Mining (CASM) initiative was launched in 2001 by DfID and the World Bank in order to transform the industry into a positive resource for community development. ICMM supports CASM’s work to reduce poverty by improving the environmental, social and economic performance of artisanal and small-scale mining in developing countries.

OZ Minerals aims to provide a safe and healthy working environment for all people working in and visiting their operations. The company seeks continual improvements of its health and safety procedures, including the provision of expert training for its on-site rescue team.

Lonmin invests millions of dollars every year into their community development program. This includes a commitment to education, health and economic development in areas affected by their mining operations. The company aims to build 5,500 houses within the greater Lonmin community by the year 2011.

Alex Mayongo – an underground mine worker at Lonmin’s Marikana operations– was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in March 2004. With support from his family he has been managing his condition with the assistance of the Lonmin-sponsored anti-retroviral treatment. He is now a Workplace HIV Field Worker offering counselling, advice and training to his fellow employees at the mine.

Freeport continues to increase their support for education and training, from early childhood and primary school through high school and higher learning. In Chile and Peru, a number of schools are supported by local mining operations.

PT Freeport Indonesia’s Long-Term Envi­ronmental Monitoring Program is designed to measure the potential biological impacts of their mining operations. In a typical year, over 7,000 samples result­ing in over 50,000 separate analyses are utilized to develop the scientific informa­tion necessary to make responsible management decisions.

Regular wellness events are held for Lonmin employees. Participants are encouraged to take part in screening tests to detect abnormalities with regards to their HIV status, cholesterol, blood pressure and blood glucose levels. The majority of the full-time workforce has been tested for HIV/AIDS and other diseases.

Xstrata’s Sustainable Development Policy includes a commitment to mitigate the environmental impacts of the product life cycle and supply chain. This includes impacts that may occur at stages in the life cycle that are outside the company’s control, such as recovery, recycling and disposal.

Freeport’s Process Technology Center directs a technology development program that invests significant capital to improve the energy efficiency of its operations and the overall efficiency of copper recovery processes. The facility was established in 1996 to provide metallurgical services for the continuous improvement of technologies currently in use as well as to develop new cost-competitive technologies.

Globally, women comprise 11% of Xstrata’s total workforce and 7% of all managers. A number of initiatives are under way to increase diversity and achieve a better gender balance within their workforce. In Xstrata Nickel, a Diversity Council has been established to guide the company’s strategy in building an inclusive working environment.

Forty children of Freeport employees recently planted some 2,000 mangroves at Wai Island, Ajkwa Estuary in Indonesia. The seedlings are used as an effective method to improve tailings retention in the area. Since 2006, more than one million seedlings have been introduced in the surrounding area.

Vale protects more than 1.3 million of hectares of primary forests in the Amazonian and Atlantic regions of Brazil and plants about six million native trees per year in its various mining projects throughout the country.

PT Freeport conducts regular monitoring operations downstream of the tailings disposition area at Ajikawa Estuary. Data from biological sampling continues to demonstrate that the area is a function­ing ecosystem based both on the number of species and the number of specimens collected of nektonic, or free-swimming, organisms such as fish and shrimp.