What do birds, wind turbines and corporate culture have in common?
Not much, but they’ve become symbols of the deep care for others that I was privileged to experience at Gold Fields’ Agnew mine in Western Australia. There’s a lesson in each that we could all use.
By Rohitesh Dhawan, President & CEO, ICMM.
Birds are the few animals that are visible in the Australian outback (besides those pesky flies!), and the team has gone to great lengths to protect them from the impacts of mining. For instance, they love dipping in Tailings return ponds (who wouldn’t like a shimmering lake on a hot afternoon!) which contain naturally occurring arsenic that can be harmful to them.
Rather than “let nature take its course” especially as the particular bird populations there are plentiful, they’ve covered the ponds in netting from end-to-end which isn’t cheap, but is the best possible protection for birds.
They’re not required to do this, and many companies don’t - and that’s why this is what it means to walk the talk in their commitment to responsible mining and the spirit of ICMM’s nature commitment. Side note: my own mental bandwidth was consumed not by the visible fauna, but by the snakes and spiders I couldn’t see that I was convinced were out to kill me!
Wind turbines are now common in many mine sites in Australia, but Agnew led the way. Their five massive turbines were among the first installations of their kind, and together with a vast solar farm and rows of battery storage, the mine is completely off-grid with renewable power meeting up to 90% of its ~22 MW needs (they’ve also got natural gas for when the sun isn’t shining / wind isn’t blowing).
That’s impressive in itself, but being one of the first operators to do this meant they were literally and figuratively breaking new ground, which is what you do if you’re serious about a commitment to responsible operations.
And finally, Gold Fields was one of the first companies to act in in the wake of the Everyday Resect report into workplace culture by Elizabeth Broderick by commissioning a similar exercise of their own. They recognised that bullying and harassment rear their ugly heads in workplaces everywhere and, having understood the extent of it, they embarked on a cultural change journey.
The remarkable thing is how palpable their commitment to creating a respectful and diverse culture really was; from a gender balanced site leadership team led by their first female Mine General Manager in Australia to visible posters of expected behaviours everywhere on site. A wonderful example of being the change you want to see in the world.
Agnew is a relatively small operation (albeit not without its technical challenges!) but is, in my opinion, a leader in responsible mining and one that I hope will inspire many others.
