Third-Party Mine Operators

Select ESG Highlights

Partner: Vale S.A.Asset: Salobo

Country:

Brazil

Select External Commitments & Memberships:

  • Global Reporting Initiative
  • International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM)
  • Carbon Disclosure Project
  • Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)

Integrated Report 2020

Website external

Environmental

  • In 2018, Vale established its 2030 Water Goal to reduce the use of water by 10% (base year 2017). By 2020, it had achieved an 8.7% reduction.
  • Actively participating in conserving 905 thousand hectares, in its own or third parties' areas. More than 80% of these areas are located in the Amazon, where Vale has been performing biodiversity conservation actions for more than 30 years.
  • Invested approximately USD69.7 million in operational improvements and adoption of new technologies to control and manage atmospheric emissions in 2020

Social

  • Wheaton continued to work with the Vale Foundation to support numerous programs focused on health, community engagement and income generation opportunities near the Salobo mine in Brazil as well as programs specific to addressing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Vale donated over US$109 million to local governments to combat COVID-19 in Brazil, representing the second largest volume of donations by a corporation to fight the pandemic in the country.
  • In 2020, in line with the international principles defined by the United Nations and the International Council on Mining and Metals Council, Vale established a standard with guidelines and requirements to operationalize the company’s Listening and Response [grievance] mechanism. During the year, Vale trained various Community Relations representatives responsible for grievance channels in Brazil to adhere to the formalized standards and to support a pilot research project to assess stakeholder satisfaction.
  • Vale has developed a Social Relationship and Investment Plan (an engagement strategy created to prioritize and mobilize social action) for 236 priority communities in Brazil, totaling 57% coverage. For 2021, the coverage rate is expected to increase to 62%. The expectation is that 100% of the priority communities have Relationship and Investment Plans by 2030.

Governance

  • Vale has been investing in evolving its governance, seeking references in the best national and international practices, deepening the understanding of the investors’ perspective on such topics, as well as adapting to the new requirements of the Novo Mercado regulation and to become a dispersed ownership company.
  • By determination of the Board of Directors, with the recommendation of the Extraordinary Independent Consulting Committee for Investigation, Vale created the Compliance Board in March 2020. In 2020, the Compliance Board reinforced the internal audit activities with the creation of a team focused on technical and operational safety issues, and restructured the functional activities of the Corporate Integrity and the Whistleblower Channel areas, implementing new methodologies and protocols.

Partner: Glencore via Compañía Minera Antamina S.A.Asset: Antamina

Country:

Peru

Select External Commitments & Memberships:

  • Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
  • Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)

Sustainability Report

Website external

Environmental

  • With the support of Joint Venture partners, the management at Antamina has mapped their processes and standards against the requirements of the International Council on Mining & Metals (ICMM). In 2019 the analysis was completed and a workshop with shareholders’ representatives identified no significant gaps in its alignment of corporate practices with the ICMM expectations. The process recommended formalising relevant documents and existing practices for human rights, closure, water stewardship, waste management and climate change to support improved internal communication and understanding. Antamina is working on the recommendations.
  • Over 98.53% of water is reused in the concentrator plant, representing one of the highest levels of water reuse in the industry.

Social

  • Wheaton continues to partner with Antamina on the Enseña Peru program focused on improving children’s literacy and math levels.
  • In 2019, over 42% of employees and contractors came from the region of Ancash, where Antamina operates. Over US$48 million was spent on local procurement from suppliers in the Ancash region. In 2019, the company committed to investing 223.1 million (PEN) in “Projects for Taxes”, community projects funded by both public and private sectors. These projects will benefit up to 22,000 people.
  • Antamina recently updated their Health and Safety protocols and redesigned their operations to ensure the safety of employees during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Health and Safety management systems is certified to the international standard of OHSAS 18001

Governance

  • Antamina updated its strategic framework to convey how the company creates value in a responsible manner, and how this supports the strong reputation the company has built. The framework is supported by several strategic priorities: Health and Safety, Sustainable Development, Development of Human Capital, Operational Excellence and Value Creation.

Partner: Newmont Asset: Peñasquito

Country:

Mexico

Select External Commitments & Memberships:

  • United Nations Global Compact
  • Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPSHR)
  • International Council on Mining & Metals (ICMM)
  • Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
  • Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)
  • Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) Solutions Dialogue
  • Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI)
  • World Gold Council (WGC)
  • Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)

2020 Sustainability Report

Website external

Environmental

  • Newmont is committed to an industry-leading climate target of more than 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 and to achieving net zero carbon by 2050. In late 2020, the company announced that it will direct $500 million between 2021 and 2025 to implement renewable energy projects, build energy efficiency into capital expenditures and adopt innovative new technologies.
  • In 2018 and 2019, Newmont collaborated with the World Resources Institute (WRI) to assess the catchment level risks in the areas where Newmont operates. This work included understanding baseline water stress, impacts to water quality, water governance and climatic conditions. In 2020, the company increased the amount of water recycled at operating sites in water-stressed areas to 78%.
  • Newmont has begun implementing the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management— the outcome of a review by the International Council on Mining and Metals, the United Nations Environment Program and the Principles for Responsible Investment to improve tailings safety and establish best practices.

Social

  • In 2020, Newmont achieved the best safety performance in the company’s 100-year history.
  • In 2020, the company invested US$20.5 million in community projects and programs (in addition to US$10.7 million in COVID-19 related contributions).
  • Achieved local/Indigenous employment targets at 10 operating sites.
  • In 2020, Peñasquito developed a local procurement strategy to create new businesses in the state of Zacatecas and increase its spend with local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Components of the strategy include tailoring Newmont’s supply chain processes to support local procurement, building capacity for local MSMEs to meet Newmont’s performance standards, diversifying the economy by linking local MSMEs to other market opportunities, and engaging with other suppliers and institutions to promote the development of entrepreneurs.

Governance

  • More than 70% of Board members are gender or ethnically diverse.
  • To support ethical behavior and empower Newmont personnel to take personal accountability and responsibility in identifying, addressing, and resolving situations in which ethical conduct is critical, a new internal publication launched in 2020: the quarterly Organizational Justice and Integrity Dashboard (OJID), which shares key integrity messages and sheds additional light on quarterly activities and Integrity Helpline case details including outcomes.
  • During 2020, The Business Integrity and Compliance (BI&C) team worked with internal leaders to advise on strategy and issues involving COVID-19 donation and support requests from government officials. These efforts included revising policies and procedures, establishing a global donations approval committee led by senior leaders and deploying software tools to manage the donation process.

Partner: Hudbay Minerals Asset: Constancia

Country:

Peru

Select External Commitments & Memberships:

  • Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
  • Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)
  • Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPSHR)
  • Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)
  • IFC Performance Standards
  • Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB)

2020 Annual Sustainability Report

Website external

Environmental

  • Hudbay’s Constancia mine progressed its tailings management practices to rise to the “AA” level in the Mining Association of Canada’s Towards Sustainable Mining program.
  • One of Hudbay’s public targets for 2020 was to pilot water treatment technologies and progress detailed engineering for Constancia’s tailings water treatment facility, which will allow Hudbay to safely discharge tailings water in line with a water balance regulatory requirement. During the year, the company completed the first phase of the pilot and initiated a second phase to assess alternative technologies, such as evaporation systems, that can complement other water treatment solutions. The pilot is expected to be completed in 2021, with the final technologies selected soon after.
  • Constancia continued to identify opportunities to reduce, reuse and recycle the waste produced at the mine site. Among the key activities in 2020: recycled 185 haul truck tires; increased solid waste recycling to 54% in 2020, a 7% increase from 2019; and used 3,668 kilograms of organic waste to test anaerobic composting processes.

Social

  • In 2020, through Wheaton Community Support & Response Fund for COVID-19, Wheaton and Hudbay provided test kits, PPE, hygienic items, and blankets and jackets for families in need near the Constancia mine.
  • At Constancia, Hudbay has formalized short-term and long-term commitments through stakeholder agreements at all levels – national, regional, provincial, district, local and community. These agreements go beyond providing local jobs and business opportunities and articulate the long-term vision for the communities. This includes supporting efforts to bring the resources of the national, regional and local governments closer to the communities, and partnering with organizations that have the expertise needed to deliver the programs the communities have prioritized.
  • The “Tikary: Bordando el futuro” (“Embroidering the future”) project – a collaboration among Hudbay, Compañía de Minas Buenaventura and three social entrepreneurs – was launched in 2020 to help reactivate the economies of the communities near our Constancia operation. The project, which was coordinated through the Peru Mining Innovation Hub with resources from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), built capacity among women in the communities through a new mask manufacturing business.
  • Hudbay’s approach to helping Peru mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 includes strengthening the broader health system for generations to come. The company is working with Peru’s Ministry of Health to build a more robust telemedicine system, which is one of the objectives under our second “Projects for Taxes” project – an integrated health system for the province of Chumbivilcas.

Governance

  • In 2020, Hudbay ranked seventh among mining companies in the Globe and Mail’s 2020 Board Games, the publication’s annual assessment of the governance quality of Canada’s corporate boards. Hudbay ranked first among base metal mining companies and was the only base metal company in the top 100. Moody’s Investor Services assessed Hudbay’s overall governance practices at GA-1 – the highest level of the scoring framework.
  • In 2020, the company expanded compliance training beyond policy compliance topics to delve more into the diversity and inclusion aspects of our Code of Business Conduct. The training aimed to create a dialogue around how Hudbay defines diversity and inclusion, and how better to include and advance marginalized groups within the workplace.

Partner: Sibanye-StillwaterAsset: Stillwater Mines

Country:

USA

Select External Commitments & Memberships:

  • Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
  • International Council on Mining & Metals (ICMM)
  • United Nations Global Compact
  • World Gold Council (WGC)

Integrated Annual Report 2020

Website external

Environmental

  • Appointed a Vice President of Tailings Engineering and established an internationally recognised Independent Tailings Review Board to drive compliance in accordance with the Global Tailings Management Standard.
  • Implemented an Adaptive Management Plan as part of the US PGM operations’ Good Neighbour Agreement, which established tiered trigger levels for water quality that are more protective than state and federal standards.
  • Continued to implement the recommendations from the 2019 TCFD “Climate Change Risk and Vulnerability Scenario Analysis” aimed at identifying and assessing various climate change related risks and opportunities that may have a substantive financial impact on our business model. The assessment included an analysis of all operations for both the physical risks (acute and chronic) as well as the transitional risks (regulatory, markets and technology and reputational) that climate change presents for the Sibanya-Stillwater’s direct operations based on three scenarios (no mitigation scenario, medium mitigation scenario and high mitigation scenario).
  • Committed to be a carbon neutral company by 2040.

Social

  • In 2020, the Good Neighbor Agreement (GNA) at the US PGM operations marked 20 years of environmental and community collaboration. The GNA legally binds Sibanye-Stillwater to certain commitments and holds the company to a higher standard than that required by federal and state regulatory processes. Sibanye-Stillwater’s commitments include transparent and productive interaction with all affected stakeholders, using the GNA as a vehicle for dispute resolution and positive stakeholder engagement.
  • The US PGM operations contribute to its communities through CSI initiatives and an employee-led Community Giving Team. In 2020, the Community Giving Team focused its efforts on COVID-19 relief in local communities and supported numerous other community gifts, including: the installation of solar panels as part of a high school environmental club initiative, the provision of mental health services to local counties, an upgrade to neonatal intensive care unit cameras to allow families of hospitalised babies to connect while unable to visit in person, collaboration with a local environmental education entity to encourage environmental outreach in local schools, and support to a local organisation that has replaced in-person kids’ cancer camps with remote engagement opportunities.
  • Wheaton supported several of the above mentioned initiatives through the Partner CSR program.

Governance

  • The company’s ESG Committee, a dedicated sub-committee of the Group Executive Committee, was established in 2019 and is primarily responsible for the organisation’s ESG performance and reporting.
  • Following the update to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange Listings Requirements, effective for years ending on or after 31 December 2020, the Board, through the Nominating and Governance Committee, amended its diversity policy to focus not only on gender and race but also on culture, age, fields of knowledge, skills and experience.
  • In 2020, to promote understanding of inclusivity and diversity, the Group encouraged the adoption of a ‘diversity and inclusivity moment’ at the start of every meeting throughout the organisation. This is a brief discussion at the start of every meeting to address and educate each other on diversity-related issues
  • Sibanye-Stillwater was accepted as an ICMM member in February 2020, following a rigorous third-party assurance of the ICMM principles, performance expectations and the mandatory commitments of the ICMM position statements (available at https://www. icmm.com). The Group has a two-year period to address the gaps identified during the review process.

Additional Partner Resources

Partner Assets Reports & Websites
Alexco Resource Keno Hill Alexco Website
Aris Gold Marmato 2020 Sustainability Report
Barrick Gold Pascua Lama 2020 Sustainability Report Barrick Website
Capstone Mining Cozamin, Santo Domingo 2020 Sustainability Report
Eldorado Gold Stratoni 2020 Sustainability Report Eldorado Gold Website
Equinox Gold Los Filos 2020 ESG Report Equinox Gold Website
First Majestic San Dimas 2019 Sustainability Report First Majestic Website
Glencore Antamina, Yauliyacu 2020 Sustainability Report Glencore Website 2020 Antamina Sustainability Report
Gran Colombia Toroparu 2020 Sustainability Report
Hudbay Constancia, 777, Rosemont 2020 Annual Sustainability Report Hudbay Website
Kutcho Copper Kutcho Kutcho Copper Website
Lundin Mining Zinkgruvan, Neves-Corvo 2020 Sustainability Report Lundin Website
Newmont Peñasquito 2020 Sustainability Report Newmont Website
Pan American Silver Navidad (Loma de La Plata) 2020 Sustainability Report Pan American Website
Panoro Minerals Cotabambas Panoro Website
Pembridge Minto Pembridge Website
Sibanye-Stillwater Stillwater Integrated Annual Report 2020 Sibanye-Stillwater Website
Vale Salobo, Sudbury, Voisey’s Bay Integrated Report 2020 Vale Website

1. This information is based on the public disclosure of the Third‐Party Operator and has not been independently verified by Wheaton Precious Metals. For full details on Third-Party Operators, including the risks associated with their operations, please refer to Third-Party Operator public disclosure documents. Please note this page was updated September 15, 2021.