Sustainability

As a natural resource company, we recognize the very nature of our business depends on and impacts the natural environment. Our goal has always been to conduct our mining operations to minimize impacts to the environment and leave our mine sites in good condition for future use or as self-sustaining ecosystems. Particularly as water is a shared critical resource for our communities and our operations, we aim to protect existing water sources by conserving and recycling 100% of the water used in our mining process.

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We are committed to providing rewarding work opportunities and a workplace that protects the health and safety of all employees; does not use forced or child labor; respects the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining; is free from harassment and discrimination; fairly compensates our employees; and promotes transferable skills through appropriate training. We are committed to equal pay for equal work and promote diversity and inclusion across our operations.

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We recognize that the arrival and presence of a large-scale operation can have disruptive effects on local communities. We perform social impact assessments where we operate and socioeconomic baseline assessments on all new projects. We engage municipalities in local hiring practices that aim to limit the influx of outside workers. We support institutional strengthening to combat negative social impacts. We are revisiting our social investment and development strategies to broaden the economic impacts in the regions where we operate.

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We are committed to ensuring a fair and equitable land acquisition process when acquiring individual or communal lands in accordance with IFC Performance Standard 5. Our aim is to develop project designs that minimize and avoid displacements and ensure that individuals are better off after any resettlement. We also are committed to improving the lands that we do use, through reforestation and agricultural-use programs. We have benefit sharing agreements with former land owners incentivizing them to invest in their new properties and in community improvement projects.

We are committed to recognizing, respecting, and seeking to understand the rights, cultures, heritage, interests and aspirations of Indigenous Peoples. We endeavor to always recognize the individual and collective rights of indigenous groups in our decision-making processes. We support indigenous social and cultural practices, and we engage and consult local communities regarding our operations. Our commitments will be captured in a comprehensive Indigenous Peoples Policy being developed in 2018.

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Ethical business is a cornerstone of our company and we recognize the importance of mitigating corruption risks and operating responsibly and ethically. We perform anti-corruption assessments of our subsidiaries and perform third party due diligence on our vendors and suppliers. In 2018, we developed a stand-alone anti-corruption policy and comprehensive training program to further reduce corruption risks across our operating jurisdictions. We also provide 24 hour per day access to a whistleblower reporting hotline.

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We are cognizant that we may have impacts either through our own activities or as a result of our business relationships. We perform due diligence on our suppliers and contractors in order to prevent and mitigate negative social impacts in our supply chain. We require that all suppliers comply with the laws and regulations of the countries in which they operate and we monitor their adherence to our Code of Business Conduct, Human Rights, Whistleblower and other policies. We prioritize the use of local suppliers in order to generate employment opportunities and local economic development for neighboring communities.

One of our most important stakeholder engagement tools is our UN Guiding Principles-aligned grievance mechanism which helps us to identify negative impacts and provide a timely remedy. After several years of use, the mechanism has become a source of continuous learning and company improvement. Our programs encourage all stakeholders to communicate their concerns, questions and suggestions. We take all concerns and feedback seriously and commit to addressing concerns and supporting any community member seeking protection of their human rights.

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We are committed to managing the security of our operations in a socially responsible manner for the protection of employees, local stakeholders and site assets. We recognize that effective security is a combination of physical security measures and strong community support. The security framework employed across our operations demonstrates our commitment to international standards – specifically the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights – which is embodied throughout our operational security structure. The framework employs a stringent process of assessment, training, evaluation and auditing of all security providers.

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Whether we are operating in historical mining jurisdictions like Canada and Peru, or in countries new to mining like Guatemala, we recognize that mining companies, and the private sector more generally, can have a collective impact larger than one mine alone. We take responsibility for mitigating the impacts of our operations and are committed to driving initiatives that bring positive cumulative impacts to the countries in which we operate. We promote the Voluntary Principles and the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative and we seek collaborations with our peer companies and suppliers to limit the impacts from production, processing and transport of minerals.