Sustainability
Our Commitment

Sustainability at all stages

Gold mining is a complex activity and the sustainability challenges that need to be managed vary depending on the social and environmental context of each mine. For example, water management issues in Mali – where water is an extremely limited resource, are very different to those in the DRC – which often has an oversupply of water.

Another layer of complexity to consider relates to the different stages of the mining life cycle.

RANDGOLD’S APPROACH TO SUSTAINABILITY AT ALL STAGES OF A MINE’S LIFE

EXPLORATION

  • Make smallest possible social and environmental impact.
  • Priority to establish good community relations.
  • Set up grievance mechanism and emergency response plan for all community concerns.
  • Locally staffed exploration teams consider potential social and environmental issues in their research.

FEASIBILITY

  • Full and independent social, public health and environmental baseline studies, included in environmental and social impact assessments (ESIAs).
  • Site-specific plan for environmental management produced in compliance with IFC Performance Standards.
  • Launch public participation programmes to outline all likely positive and negative impacts to local communities.
  • Form community liaison committee.
  • Discussions with host governments on issues such as infrastructure and security.
  • Draw up resettlement action plans (RAPs) as required.

CONSTRUCTION

  • Launch recruitment process prioritising directly affected communities.
  • Aptitude testing for construction workers to help ‘parachute’ into skilled work at operational phase.
  • Increase communications with local communities.
  • Allocate budgets to local committee for community development projects.
  • Implement environmental management system (EMS) in full, with regular monitoring and quarterly updates to board.
  • Implement environmental management programmes (EMPs), mitigating impacts on social and biophysical surroundings.

OPERATIONAL

  • Human capital management takes priority ensuring respect for workplace rights, employee development and a healthy and safe workplace.
  • Priority given to employment from most affected communities, followed by host country nationals.
  • Optimisation of use of energy, water and other natural resources, with regular monitoring to check compliance and track improvements.
  • Boost waste management resources to cope with increased consumption levels.
  • Continuous rehabilitation of land wherever possible.
  • Clearly advertise and manage grievance mechanisms.
  • Ensure sufficient financial resources set aside to meet closure obligations.

CLOSURE

  • Ensure economic and social infrastructure in place to maintain the long term health of the communities.
  • Put into practice viable economic strategies, such as our agribusiness strategy for Morila.
  • Extra training for local people, previously employed at the mine, to enable alternative employment and ensurefinancial support to start alternative livelihoods.
  • Land remediation and restoration using indigenous plant species as detailed in original baseline studies.