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Community Engagement and Social & Economic Development

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Involving Host Communities in Value Creation

Transparency drives our community engagement approach.

How we create value and deliver social and economic development for our host countries and communities is based on four key pillars: paying our fair share of taxes; prioritizing local hiring; prioritizing local buying; and investing in community-led development initiatives. We believe that no one knows the needs of local communities better than the communities themselves. That is why at each of our mine sites we aim to establish Community Development Committees (CDCs) with the local community.

Our communities rightly expect the opportunity to contribute and participate in decisions that may affect them. We therefore work to establish transparent and participatory engagement mechanisms which help deliver timely information regarding mining operations, and provide access to company representatives who listen to, and act on, community concerns.

A Value Network That Extends Beyond Our Mines

Our sustainability principles set out a commitment to contribute to the social and economic development of our host countries and communities.

$9.3 billion
Total economic contributions in 2019

$4.4 billion
to local and national vendors in 2019

$1.3 billion
in taxes and other payments to governments

$25.5 million
invested in community development projects

6%
our economic contributions to Mali ~ 6% of GDP

4%
We are the larger payer of corporate income tax in the Dominican Republic, contributing 4% of the country’s total tax revenue in 2019.

Our commitment to social and economic development is set out in our overarching Sustainable Development Policy and our Social Performance Policy.

How we create value and deliver social and economic development for our host countries and communities is based on four key pillars:

  • Paying our fair share of taxes: The taxes royalties and dividends we pay provide significant income for our host countries and help fund vital services and infrastructure. Our approach is to pay the right amount of tax, in the right place, at the right time, and to transparently report all payments we make.
  • Prioritizing local hiring: The jobs we create provide valuable training and employment in regions where opportunities are often scarce. We recruit wherever possible from the communities nearest our mines. If we are unable to find staff with the appropriate skills or qualifications in the community, we look to the wider region, neighbouring provinces and states, before looking to national employees or expatriates.
  • Prioritizing local buying: We see our supply chain as a powerful lever to drive local economic development. Our procurement strategy prioritizes local companies, followed by those from the larger region or host country. We also believe that it is critical that our suppliers also follow safe and ethical practices, and so we work with our suppliers to build capacity and improve standards.
  • Investing in community-led development initiatives: We believe that no one knows the needs of local communities better than the communities themselves. That is why at each of our mine sites we aim to establish Community Development Committees (CDCs) with the local community. The role of the CDC is to allocate the community investment budget to those projects and initiatives most needed and desired by the local communities.

Engaging Constructively in Labour Relations

Engagement, inclusion, and respect guide our interactions with unionized and non-unionized employees.

At Barrick, we see the provision of fair wages, benefits and reasonable working hours not only as part of a commitment to human rights but critical to the creation of a motivated and dedicated workforce and we respect the right to unionize.

We recognize and respect the right of our workers to join a union and to participate in collective bargaining without interference or fear of retaliation. Our Human Rights Policy commits us to upholding the ILO Core Conventions and we seek to engage with trade unions in an honest and constructive way. We have a range of communication channels for workers, unionized or not. These include public forums such as the CEO town hall meetings at each site, digital platforms such as the intranet or third-party platforms, such as our whistleblower hotline. At our mines in Mali, Côte d’Ivoire and the DRC, we invite labor representatives and trade unions to attend the mine’s quarterly Board meetings and we consult with them on many key business decisions, including cost reviews.

We also encourage our Senior Executives, including our Human Resource Executives, General Managers and our CEO to be involved in key industrial relations discussions.

Driving Local Economic Growth

From employees to local suppliers, we work to ensure our local investments stay in our home country while building local leadership.

Economic Value Statement

Economic Value Statement

  1. Please note that the basis for preparation and disclosure of this information may differ from methodologies used by Barrick for other purposes, such as our ESTMA report. Some totals may not sum due to rounding.
  2. Includes royalties paid to third-parties, political contributions, compensation payments and payments to local communities as part of land use agreements.
  3. Payments to providers of capital was not calculated as part of the economic value statement in 2018.

 

Employment

Local Employment

Senior Site Leaders

Senior Site Leaders

Purchases

Local Purchases

 

Community Development Initiatives ($ millions)

Community Development Initiatives

Competitive Compensation Everywhere We Operate

We take a country-based approach to salaries, compensation and benefits.

We offer competitive and locally appropriate benefits that range from healthcare to interest free loans. Our workers make more than the national minimum wage in the countries or regions we operate.

We have collective bargaining/enterprise agreements (covering wages, benefits and other employment terms) with unions.

  • Approximately 41 percent of our employees are union members or have collective bargaining agreements in place.

Developing Data-Backed Community Engagement Strategies

Resources and community approaches are informed by a variety of data-collecting activities and assessments.

Some of our community engagement activities include:

  • Annual risk, impact and opportunity assessments to provide mine management with enough information to design, develop and implement community engagement strategies. Dedicated site level resources, responsible for on the ground day to day implementation of our community engagement work. The number of resources varies based on the local context. Smaller sites may have just a single officer, while the community team at Porgera in Papua New Guinea has more than 140 members.
  • Annual stakeholder engagement plans to map local stakeholders, including vulnerable groups. Our mines aim to consult and inform our local stakeholders in a timely manner about activities and operational matters that may impact them.
  • Monitoring and reporting of our performance to both internal and external stakeholders. Internal channels through which community engagement is discussed includes daily briefings onsite with department heads, weekly calls with regional leads and the Group Sustainability Executive, a weekly Executive Committee meeting and the quarterly E&S Oversight Committee meetings. We also conduct annual stakeholder perception surveys at some of our Latin America sites, to help us better understand how our stakeholders view us and any emerging issues. Externally we report performance through channels such as community meetings and our annual Sustainability Report.
  • Grievance mechanisms to enable communities to formally lodge grievances. We track the number of community grievances lodged on a monthly and quarterly basis. This helps us to understand and address any community concerns before they escalate. Our goal is to respond to all grievances lodged within 30 days of receipt, and to resolve all grievances through our grievance mechanism.

Standing With Indigenous Peoples Everywhere We Operate

Our relationships with indigenous peoples are guided by our human rights policy and ICMM’s FPIC statement.

Considering the values, needs, and concerns of indigenous peoples in site activities is a fundamental part of our partnership approach and the way we do business.

We aim to support the development of long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with indigenous peoples that are affected by our activities. Partnerships with indigenous peoples can contribute to more sustainable land management, and a stable operating environment.

Our commitment to recognizing the unique rights and social, economic and cultural heritage of indigenous peoples and their distinct interests and concerns is set out in our Human Rights Policy, and is informed by the ICMM position statement to work to obtain free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of indigenous peoples.

We require these sites to develop and implement an Indigenous Peoples Plan that outlines specific actions to engage, address impacts and provide opportunities for Indigenous Peoples.

There were no major incidents or violations of rights involving indigenous people at our sites in 2019. The creation of the Nevada Gold Mines joint venture with Newmont increased both our operational footprint in Nevada and our exposure to indigenous peoples. As part of our integration work with the legacy Newmont sites, we undertook significant engagement to develop positive relationships with these communities.

A Variety of Perspectives are Necessary to Run the Best Business

Diversity and inclusion help us reach our maximum potential as a world-class company.

We believe a diverse workforce is a better workforce. It provides the wide range of thinking and problem-solving skills necessary to run a global company, and a deeper talent pool to select from.

Our approach to diversity is to foster a supportive working environment in which all individuals realize their maximum potential within the company. We don’t believe setting diversity targets is an effective way to deliver the skilled workforce we need to run a world-class mining company. Instead we commit to employing the best people to do the best job irrespective of gender, race, disability, ethnicity, religious belief or sexual orientation. This commitment is codified in our Diversity Policy.

A key focus of our diversity work goes to righting the gender imbalance in the mining industry, we do this by:

  • Encouraging and supporting working on the mines.
  • Working with governments to remove barriers to employment for women.
  • Working to change cultural norms and raise awareness among local communities about the importance and value of employment and economic empowerment for local women.
  • Working to support alternative livelihood opportunities for women. 
     
Gender

  1. Ms Loreto Silva was appointed to the Board in August 2019 and we are well-advanced in our search for a second highly qualified female candidate.

 

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