Sustainability

Workplace Safety and Health

• Over 75,000 critical control verifications undertaken across sites to prevent incidents
• LTIFRLTIFR is a ratio calculated as follows: number of lost time injuries x 1,000,000 hours divided by the total number of hours worked. reduced by 47% year-on-year
• Four months of zero lost-time injuries across all operations recorded (from June-September)

Nothing matters more at Barrick than for everyone to go home safe and well each day. We are wholly committed to building the programs, training, and culture of care to become an injury-free business.

Details of our formal health and safety policies, standards, commitment to the international ISO 14001 management system and accountability mechanisms — including clearly connecting executive remuneration to safety performance — are all available online and kept under regular review. These group-level approaches sit alongside site-specific safety management plans, and all operational sites have the dedicated safety resources they need including PPE, senior leadership, emergency response teams, training facilities and communication systems that keep risk mitigation front of mind.

Two years ago, we launched our Journey to Zero program to drive a phased approach to zero-harm at each individual site and while clear progress was made in 2024, we unfortunately did not become a fatality free business last year. We were deeply saddened to lose three colleagues in the AME region.

Each incident was thoroughly investigated and corrective actions implemented not just on site but across the group. For example, a consequence of the fatality at Kibali was the introduction of a more advanced forklift truck fleet, with new emergency braking systems, across our global operations.

It’s why a key focus throughout 2024 has been the implementation of a ‘Fatal Risks Program’, to ensure a dedicated senior leader champions the execution of critical control verifications (CCVs) for each of the most severe risks in our operations. In every part of the mine, we are clear that no work should proceed unless all CCVs have been assessed, and in 2024 we recorded more than 75,000 CCVs across our sites.

Reducing the number and severity of injuries

Across the group, we saw a significant reductions in the number and severity of injuries with the frequency of Lost Time Injuries down by 64% since 2019. From June to September we recorded zero lost-time injuries across all 16 operations, and half of those operations remaining lost time injury free for 2024, underlining that our injury-free goals are achievable.

Components of our Journey to Zero program driving these reductions include:

• Courageous and visible leadership: We place great emphasis on visible felt leadership – with supervisors and senior leaders completing Safety Leadership Interactions (SLIs) on the ground at all sites. This puts senior experience in the field checking critical control verifications, looking for fresh sets of safety actions and inspiring others to do likewise. But Safety leadership is not just for supervisors. Every individual in our workforce, no matter how junior, is encouraged to be a leader on safety by speaking up to stop work if they observe something unsafe. We actively celebrate workers who use this ‘Stop Unsafe Work Responsibility’ including individuals like Jay Denoncort.
• Prevention and risk management: Prevention is key to our approach and all field jobs require a hazard assessment to identify, eliminate and mitigate hazards before work can commence. We also track and act on High Potential Incidents (HPIs) and encourage HPI reporting as a good habit. We analyze the root causes of all HPIs, and lessons learned are shared globally to build a group-wide culture of care.
• Intensifying safety training: We increased our safety-related training in 2024. This covered the full gamut of technical skills and safety awareness guidance including working with heavy machinery, handling mobile equipment and understanding risks at specific locations – such as altitude training for Veladero which reaches up to 4,850 meters above sea level. Training advancements in 2024 included the launch of the Barrick Academy at the repurposed Buzwagi mine in Tanzania, which incorporates safety leadership as a core module and follows the success of the Nevada Training Mine as a training center of excellence (see box on next page).

Where appropriate we also aim to harness new technology to enhance our safety culture. In 2024, for example, we trialed the use of AI-equipped dashcams in vehicles to combat fatigue that detect drivers who are drowsy and trigger alarms.

Jay Denoncort is an Electrical Engineer at NGM and received our 2024 Nevada DNA Zero Harm Award for exercising her ‘Stop Unsafe Work Responsibility’ during a critical lift involving a 70,000-pound generator at the Turquoise Ridge Main substation. During a CCV Jay saw that the number of lifting points for the heavy machinery lift did not match the instructions and promptly halted the lift.

Occupational health and well-being

All our workers (100%) are covered by occupational health and safety programs that apply a systematic approach to anticipating, identifying, evaluating, controlling and monitoring occupational health hazards and exposures across all operations. These sit alongside a mine-level focus on personal wellbeing and most of our sites have fit-for-work programs that consider the importance of mental health, adequate sleep, diet and exercise.

Beyond the mine fence, we aim to improve health and safety in communities through, for example, first aid training, motorbike safety workshops and safety workshops in schools and community centers. Most notably in 2024 we registered a 51% year-on-year reduction in malaria incidence rates at affected mines in Africa. This is our lowest rate on record and followed a concerted campaign in communities to distribute insecticide impregnated mosquito nets and to undertake anti-malaria spraying, after updated entomology studies pinpointed the right chemicals to use within each specific community.

NEVADA’S CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR SAFETY TRAINING

The Nevada Training Mine is a world-leading training facility established in 2022, for all new hires to experience safety hazards in a controlled environment under the direction of experienced trainers.

It is equipped with simulators and training sites to recreate real-mine situations in key procedures across surface, underground and processing. It trained approximately 590 hires in 2024 in subjects from hazard recognition to truck driving to crushing and grinding circuits.

The success of the training mine means we are now investigating the development of similar facilities in other regions.

Environmental Stewardship

• 200MW solar plant commissions at TS Power Plant, NGM
• 824 ha land reclaimed and rehabilitated, exceeding target for the year
• 85% water reuse and recycle rate
• 16 white rhinos relocated to the Garamba National Park, DRC

The extraction of gold and copper provides the critical minerals for products from cars to currency, smart phones to solar panels. But like with all human activity, its extraction has an environmental footprint.

We are committed to managing this footprint, as responsible stewards of the many environments in which our mines operate globally. We work in partnership with local stakeholders, using policies and standards informed by global best-practices and with a holistic philosophy that binds environmental conservation to sustainable socio-economic development.

Our approach to the environment is codified in our Environmental Policy, with responsibility for implementation overseen by the Group Sustainability Executive and the Board. In 2024, all our operational mines were certified to the ISO 14001:2015 environmental management system, and for the sixth consecutive year our sites recorded zero Class 1Class 1 – High Significance is defined as an incident that causes significant negative impacts on human health or the environment or an incident that extends onto publicly accessible land and has the potential to cause significant adverse impact to surrounding communities, livestock or wildlife. environmental incidents.

Climate resilience

We are clear about the risks and opportunities from climate change facing our business and have programs in place to mitigate threats such as more extreme weather, and to leverage opportunities such as clean energy to power the needs of our mines and host communities.

At the heart of our approach to climate change is our Roadmap to Net Zero, which is an emissions reduction plan grounded in technological realities and commercially-sound ambition. Originally published in 2020, we are currently updating the plan to take into account our growing operational footprint, changes to our mine plans and the operational lives of our assets, most notably the significant expansion at Lumwana and the new Reko Diq operation.

The nature of mining means over an asset’s life there are many variables in grades, hauling distances by depth and distance, rock type and energy needs, which results in non-linear emissions profiles. In 2024 we saw an uptick in Scope 1 and 2 emissions, due predominantly to the Porgera restart, Pueblo Viejo expansion ramp up, and maintenance at TS Power Plant (NGM) in 2023. Much of the reduction in direct emissions is driven by our continued investment in renewable energy, which in 2024 included an expansion of solar power at Loulo-Gounkoto (Mali), Kibali (DRC) and NGM (US) and an allocation to build 150MW of solar capacity at Reko Diq. We also piloted innovations such as the use of electric trucks, and the fitting of lightweight aluminium buckets to dump trucks to investigate opportunities for further reduction in diesel usage and thereby emission reductions.

Since 2019 we have driven the installation of over 4.4 million MWH of renewable energy capacity across all our regions — enough to power half a million US homes for a year, with most sources providing renewable power to remote communities, as-well as mining operations. We continue to refine the measurement of our Scope 3 emissions and are working with suppliers to improve data quality and accuracy of emissions reported.

We also understand the growing risks from climate change to our sites, and their neighboring communities, including the likelihood of more frequent and severe storms and flood events, droughts and increased water stress.

To help manage climate risks we conduct climate change risk and vulnerability assessments (CCRVA) as part of our ESIA (Environmental and Social Impact Assessments) updates, and for any significant expansion or new project. We have also undertaken a climate scenario analysis in line with the recommendations of the TCFD and considered the range of risks, and potential mitigating actions for our Tier One sites. Further details of this are in our Sustainability Report 2023.

Water stewardship

Responsible water management is a top priority for our business. We seek to conserve and protect high quality water resources wherever we operate. In 2024 we reused or recycled 85% of all water used to help achieve this, exceeding our ambitious target of 80%.

We are also deeply committed to considering other water users through using basin-wide water balances. One of the first milestones of our feasibility work at Reko Diq has been to undertake hydrological studies to find suitable water sources for the project, all the while building water infrastructure that provides local communities with potable water. In Tanzania we are expanding our potable water infrastructure to reach more households in the 11 villages around our North Mara mine.

Each mine has its own site-specific water management plan, tailored to its own operations and ecosystem. Our water disclosure reports against the market-leading ICMM Water Accounting Framework and we also host participatory monitoring programs for community members across many sites, especially where water is a key community concern.

Our commitment to responsible water use is set out in our Environmental Policy and further details of our water management can be found in our Sustainability Report.

Waste and tailings management

Our mines produce various waste materials — including tailings, waste rock, and non-processing waste — and we are committed to dealing responsibly with this waste, and where possible to turn operational waste into economic value.

Our approach to waste management is codified in our Environment Policy, and we follow a rigorous approach to the management of all hazardous chemicals and reagents. We are aligned with the ICMM position statement on Mercury Risk Management, are a signatory to the International Cyanide Management Code (ICMC) and a member of the International Cyanide Management Institute (ICMI).

The most high-profile waste management issue for the mining sector is the management and storage of tailings (ie processed mineral residue). Our comprehensive approach to tailings management is set out in our group-wide Tailings and Heap Leach Management Standard and we are committed to the requirements of the Global Industry Standard for Tailings Management (GISTM). We were a member of the industry representatives that worked with the ICMM and UN-backed Principles of Responsible Investment to help develop the standard.

We currently manage 18 active and 43 closed tailings facilities and, in line with GISTM requirements, we have ensured all 14 facilities categorized as ‘Extreme’ or ‘Very High consequence’ are already in conformance with the standard. In 2024, we continued work to ensure all other facilities will conform by the end of 2025. This included independent reviews in 2024 at Carlin (Goldstrike and Gold Quarry), Cortez and Phoenix mines, Jabal Sayid, North Mara, Loulo-Gounkoto, Kibali, Tongon, Lumwana, Bulyanhulu and Pueblo Viejo as well as the Giant Nickel, Bicroft, Mercur, Buzwagi, El Indio and Tambo closure sites. We also moved five TSFs into Safe Closure during 2024, bringing our total facilities in Safe Closure to seven with a further five TSFs planned in Safe Closure during 2025.

Further details regarding our approach to tailings management including an inventory of our facilities are available on our website.

Protecting natural capital

Our standalone Biodiversity Policy underlines our commitment to play a positive role in the protection of biodiversity and to use nature conservation as a tool to help drive community development.

We have a Biodiversity Action Plan at all sites and an ambition to have a net neutral impact on any Key Biodiversity Features (KBFs) identified at our sites, as well as to make a positive contribution to the conservation of high-risk biodiversity features in the regions in which we operate.

Every mine exists in, and depends on, a unique habitat and ecosystem with different granular and complex conservation priorities and it is imperative that we measure both our impacts and our contributions to biodiversity. We have developed our own biodiversity measurement tool – the Biodiversity Residual Impact Assessment (BRIA).

BRIA adds to information available from global data sources with on-site habitat mapping, satellite imaging and other granular studies to set specific KPIs that will protect the most important KBFs at each site. The tool was piloted in 2024 at several sites and is being rolled out globally.

In 2024, we continued to support critical national conservation projects in some of our host countries including the protection of sage-grouse habitat in Nevada, REDD+ work in Lumwana and the Garamba National Park (DRC). The latter saw the introduction of 16 rhinos in 2023, and we plan to introduce a further 64 during 2025, which will be enough to foster a self-sustaining population in the park.

In 2024 we reclaimed and rehabilitated 824 hectares of land in total on site and Kibali continues its annual project to plant 10,000 trees each year in and around the mine. As part of this initiative, some 4000 indigenous trees were planted in the Avokala Host Site during the year.

Sustainability is closing safely

How we close our mines is more than just a phase — it's a fundamental part of how we design and operate the mine and how we deliver long-term value to all stakeholders.

This work aims to leave a safe and stable closed site while also returning value to the business by removing long-term liabilities and environmental risks. A continued focus is to implement solutions that remove the need for long-term active water treatment in our North American legacy portfolio.