Prioritizing local hiring

Local community members rightly expect to share the benefits of our operations in their neighborhood. One of the essential ways we live up to their expectations is to commit to the recruitment, training and development of local and host country workers.

In addition to directly supporting the economic development of our local communities, this approach provides material benefits for our business. It helps our operations build an efficient and effective workforce, secure and efficient supply chains and plays a critical role in building strong community relations.

Prioritizing local buying

Every year, Barrick purchases billions of dollars’ worth of supplies, equipment, and services. These products range from diesel fuel and chemical reagents to IT equipment and haul trucks from more than 20,000 vendors worldwide. When properly structured, our supply chain is one of the most direct ways that our operations improve the prosperity and economic opportunities of host communities and individuals. This in turn supports our license to operate as well as creating stable and effective supply chains close to our mines.

Helping Benefits Flow to Local Suppliers like ESMIMSA and IOB

Both legacy Barrick and former Randgold sites were committed to upskilling and building the capacity of local suppliers. We are passionate about building on this tradition.

For example in rural Peru, where we operate the Lagunas Norte and Pierina mines, we contracted a local training organization, APRENDA, to create tailored skills provision for our suppliers. This focuses on those struggling with key business skills such as administration, management, finances or certification requirements. The objective of the training was to help local suppliers develop their skill sets and business capabilities, to allow them to win additional contracts beyond the mine and reduce reliance on the mine.

One local contractor who benefited from these training programs is Próspero Zarzosa, the General Manager of ESMIMSA, an eight-person water system repair and maintenance company. Based in Peru’s Ancash region near our Pierina mine, ESMIMSA has provided services to Pierina for over four years.

“To help us bid for contracts, Barrick supported my training through workshops, and that has been a great benefit to us,” Zarzosa says. “Initially we only planned to look for contracts with Barrick but through the training we gained the confidence to look for other work too. Now we also work with another big company installing and maintaining spray systems in Ancash, and we have also been brought in as a subcontractor to a mining service company to help with the construction of local public infrastructure.”

Similarly, across Africa the former Randgold supply chain team has worked to build capacity with local suppliers including Inter Oriental Builders (IOB).

IOB is a Congolese business that has used the opportunities provided by our Kibali mine to rapidly grow its business and capabilities. IOB initially began working with Kibali during the construction phase building houses and schools, supplying concrete for mine construction and building the large catholic church. More recently IOB was one of three lead local contractors for the construction of the 10MW Azambi hydrostation. Azambi is the third hydrostation the former Randgold built at Kibali, and notably the entire project was completed using only local contractors.

The support Randgold provided to IOB included funding a university masters in Engineering for Capital Projects in Johannesburg for a key consultant and training for all IOB Shutter Hands specific to the requirements of the project.

IOB is now a thriving business with many other customers across the region and with several contracts nationally and internationally, including Canadian gold mining firm Banro Corporation.

Community engagement

Communities expect and deserve the opportunity to have a voice in decisions that affect them. Effective, two-way engagement mechanisms enable local communities to have meaningful and timely information about our operations, and access to Company officials who will listen to and act on community concerns. Effective engagement also provides a forum for the resolution of community grievances or to discuss risks and opportunities derived from our mines in a fair and open manner. This is essential to developing and maintaining our license to operate.

Our Ongoing Partnership with the Western Shoshone Community

Much of the mining activity at our Nevada mines in the US takes place on the traditional lands of the Western Shoshone. Our CEO Mark Bristow and senior management attended a banquet with Western Shoshone leaders in early 2019. This opportunity to both introduce himself and to start to get to know the tribal leadership is important in engaging with Native American communities. This was the most recent in what has been a long-running extensive engagement process with eight Western Shoshone partner communities over the past 10 years.

As with all relationships, ongoing dialogue is key to maintaining open communication and deepening understanding. Some of the ways we engage include:
Formal mechanisms such as a Quarterly Dialogue, discussions with the Elders Circle and via the Western Shoshone Scholarship Foundation and Western Shoshone Cultural Advisory Group.
Informal mechanisms such as everyday time in the communities and local events such as Fandangos, Earth Day celebrations, Wellness Fairs and rodeos.
When our Shoshone partners explained years ago that education and employment were among their highest priorities, we were listening. When they said cultural and language preservation was equally critical, we heard that too. The result has been a corporate social responsibility program intensely focused on these priorities.

Some of the achievements of our partnerships include:
Education: We have invested $3.7 million since 2008 in the Western Shoshone Scholarship Fund, which provides funding for post-secondary education and has supported over 1,600 students to pursue their professional goals through attaining higher education.

Employment: Supporting thriving communities in the places where we operate is a key objective of Barrick’s Community Affairs strategy. This includes cultivating skilled and work-ready educators, health care providers, regulators and miners. Since 2013 our Company has provided over $500,000 per year to support youth employment. In the summer of 2018, for example, our Summer Youth Employment Program provided 136 Western Shoshone students between the ages of 14-18 with jobs in their communities to develop soft skills key for success in education and employment.

Cultural activities: Preservation of cultural heritage is among the highest priorities for the Western Shoshone. Identifying meaningful partnerships to support cultural heritage and language preservation is also significant for Barrick. In July 2018, for example, we sponsored a two- day annual career and cultural fair for the youth from the eight Western Shoshone partner tribes where they were exposed to long-held Western Shoshone traditions like hand games, tribal songs and dance and storytelling.

Language preservation: In the past decade, more than 100 students have participated in the Barrick-funded Shoshone language and cultural program. We also support a language program in three communities and at Great Basin College. Barrick has also supported the establishment of the Great Basin Indian Archives where it is hoped recordings of stories and songs can be accessible for generations to come.

One highlight of 2018 for our Company was receiving the ‘Best partner company of the year’ award by the Nevada Indian Commission.

Community development

One of Barrick’s first priorities following its merger with Randgold was to establish an overarching Sustainable Development Policy describing our commitment to catalyzing socio-economic development for local communities. By investing in development projects for our host communities we help build the strong local partnerships that underpin our business success.

THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT MODEL

With more than 20 years of operations in emerging Africa, Randgold demonstrated excellence in all aspects of its business, including community development. We pioneered an innovative model to drive sustainable development outcomes through rigorous engagement and community input to harness the transformative economic opportunities that came with hosting Randgold mines through CDCs.

How does it work?

At the pre-construction or construction stage in our projects we ask the communities to select representatives for a local Community Liaison Committee (CLC). A public participation process is launched and the CLC members are selected. These CLC members are then taken on a visit to an operating mine, so they get a deep understanding of our proposed project. The CLC assists us with local recruitment of construction employees, our communications and other actions around our projects.

When the project becomes operational an election is held and the CLC, changes its name to the CDC and focus on community economic development by harnessing the opportunities offered by the mine. Members of a CDC include heads of local Government authority, village-level traditional leaders and representatives from majority, minority or vulnerable groups such as women or youth spokespeople. Company representatives from Barrick sit in meetings in an advisory role.

The mandate of the CDC is to prioritize community development projects and decide how its own budget will be spent. CDCs are free to allocate as they see fit, although projects must fit within five broad long-term sustainable development criteria: Education, health, food, water and local (non-mining) economic development. This ‘sustainable development filter’ helps align all projects with national and international guidelines and our own corporate policies.

CDCs in action

An example of a successful implementation of the CDC model can be found at our Loulo mine in Mali. In the last three years alone the CDC has allocated over $2.9 million to projects including the construction of new schools, health centers and water access points at surrounding villages. It has also funded town planning studies and the provision of grinding mills for community women to help them establish businesses.

Perhaps most notably, it is working in partnership with other agencies to invest in a cutting edge agri-college with incubator farms to lay the foundation for a thriving post-mine economy.

Community Water Management Across Our Global Regions

From Africa to America, water is one of the most important elements of any partnership between a mine and its host communities. These three short case studies illustrate our Company mindset of finding sustainable solutions to community water needs.

Africa and Middle East:
Upgrading the water system at Tongon, Côte d’Ivoire

Many of the water pumps in the area around our Tongon mine were damaged or destroyed during the 2002 civil war. As a result, access to safe water has been one of the highest priorities for the communities closest to our mine in Northern Côte d’Ivoire.

Each village has a water management committee, facilitated by former Randgold, to oversee and manage the running and maintenance of each system and our Tongon mine has worked with these stakeholders to rehabilitate water pumps, drill boreholes and build water towers.

In 2016, the mine entered a public-private partnership with the Ivorian Government to further upgrade the water system for Tongon village. This will result in a water system that meets the requirement of SODECI – Côte d’Ivoire’s water distribution agency. It will also mean water can be provided directly into people’s homes rather than to community fountains.

Under the terms of the agreement, we are responsible for the construction of the water tower, the drilling of boreholes and the associated equipment and the Ivorian Government is responsible for the improvement and expansion of the water pipeline. To date, the construction of the water tower and the drilling of the boreholes have been completed. The community is now waiting on a Government agency to begin work to improve and expand the pipe network. Similar steps have been taken at nearby Poungbe with the hope of establishing a similar public-private partnership there.

Latin American and Pacific:
Water access for Las Achiras, Peru

In 2018, Barrick delivered a potable water system to 52 families in Las Achiras, a host community of the Lagunas Norte mine in Peru. Barrick took a lead in constructing catchments, distribution network installations and a chlorination system.

This system will give the community drinking water access 24 hours a day. As well as providing water for human consumption, the new system aims to improve local sanitation conditions and help prevent water-borne diseases especially among children and the elderly.

The project was a partnership between Barrick, the families in Las Achiras sector of the Chuyugual Community and their authorities.

North America: Restoring Willow Creek, USA

The Willow Creek reservoir in Nevada, owned by our Goldstrike property, was built in the 1920s but drained in December 2017. Since then, Barrick has invested $1.7 million and 20,000 working hours to put the man-made lake back into public use.

Barrick volunteers also partnered with Nevada Bighorns Unlimited, a local sportsmen’s group helping to facilitate the restocking of the fish habitats of the reservoir.

The public have now been given access to the reservoir and Barrick and the Nevada Department of Wildlife have formed a partnership to manage the maintenance of the reservoir and the restoration of fish stocks and habitats.

Artisinal and small-scale mining

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) can be an important source of economic activity for local communities. However, when ASM occurs on land within mining permits that belong to companies it is illegal. ASM is also linked to environmental and social risks including child labor and water or land contamination through poor environmental and safety practices.

Management approach

ASM activity is present near six of our sites: Lagunas Norte and Pierina (Peru), Loulo-Gounkoto (Mali), Tongon (Côte d’Ivoire), Kibali (DRC) and Porgera (Papua New Guinea). As recommended by IFC guidelines our approach to instances of illegal ASM within our permits or near host communities is one of ‘no conflicts and no invasions’. Instead we seek to work with local communities, NGOs and the Government to offer alternative livelihoods or to help ASM communities to legitimize their activity and make it safer, healthier and more profitable.

Wherever possible we do this through formal partnerships between host communities, NGOs and host Governments. For example, our Lagunas Norte mine in Peru entered a partnership agreement with the Peruvian Government and the ASM community that enables artisanal mining to take place legitimately. Through a Government-approved artisanal mining formalization process the mine helps the ASM community access credit and markets, along with providing for safer working conditions.

2018 Performance

At Kibali in DRC in 2016, former Randgold worked with the Congolese Government and specialist NGO PAX to set out an area of land adjacent to our permit - known as an ASM corridor - where the local ASM community is able to operate, and did so throughout 2018. Alongside the ASM corridor at Kibali we are also working with the local provincial Government and the German development finance organization GIZ to increase agriculture and agribusiness initiatives in the region and provide alternative livelihoods for the ASM community.

Similarly, at our Loulo-Gounkoto complex in Mali, we have identified land within our permit for the creation of an ASM corridor and are currently awaiting further assistance from the Malian Government, so it can be transferred to the ASM community.

Resettlement

The development or expansion of a mine sometimes necessitates the relocation or resettlement of communities or livelihoods. Community resettlement is one of the most sensitive activities a mining company can undertake, and if not well planned and carefully managed can lead to community discord and lasting damage to our license to operate.

Management approach

Our policy is to work to avoid the need for resettlement. When resettlement cannot be avoided, our Community Relations teams work with affected households, communities and host Governments to manage resettlement in a manner consistent with local laws and international best practice, including the IFC Performance Standards.

Any resettlement undertaken requires a detailed Resettlement Action Plan (RAP). RAPs are developed with input from the affected communities and local authorities who are encouraged to express their opinions and any grievances at an early stage in the process to ensure they are fed into the RAP and its compensation process. RAPs include comprehensive compensation standards, livelihood development programs and ongoing monitoring and evaluation.

When resettlement takes place, we commit to improve or, at least, restore the livelihoods and living standards of the affected households and communities. As part of the RAP we also aim to maintain any community structures wherever possible, respect sites of cultural and religious significance and to have independent third parties monitor its implementation.

2018 Performance

No new resettlement programs were started in 2018, and our resettlement focused on the completion or progression of existing RAPs. In total, 986 households were resettled in 2018.

All these households were resettled at our Kibali mine in the DRC, where we completed the relocation of a total of 1,500 households from Gorumbwa to the village of Kokiza. The Gorumbwa RAP began in 2017 and cost a total of $29 million. As part of the RAP, all affected households were given the choice of a new home built by the mine and cash compensation for any lost crops, or a cash settlement to build their own home. In line with IFC Performance Standards, all relocated people also received training in areas such as house construction, financial management, human and civil rights, agriculture and livestock management, environmental training and waste management.

At our Porgera mine in Papua New Guinea, we continued discussions with communities and officials regarding the resettlement of the Pakien and Panandaka Ridge communities. No RAP has yet been drawn up and as part of addressing social concerns we conducted a Resettlement Human Rights Impact Assessment in 2018 to inform the process.

Training our talent

Our people are our most important asset, and it is essential to our long-term success that they are highly skilled. To meet our operational goals we constantly invest in training to develop and enhance the knowledge and abilities of our workforce.

Management approach

We encourage a culture of continuous learning throughout our expanded Group and, due to the geographic and cultural diversity of our workforce, use a blend of global, country-based and site-based policies and programs to manage our training requirements.

Core elements of our talent management approach include:

• A country-based approach to training, compensation and benefits and employee relations. This allows us to address the unique labor markets and social conditions in the various countries where we operate.
• Providing training in both technical and behavioral needs. Technical training enables proficiency in the equipment and disciplines that must be mastered across our global portfolio of mines. Behavioral training provides leadership and management skills at all levels. Part of our behavioral training provision includes scholarships to universities such as Harvard and the University of Cape Town for management and leadership development courses.
• Merging together the best expertise from both previous Companies. For example, our CFO Development Program has been expanded to now offer former Randgold’s ‘Finance for Non-Financial Managers’ course and ‘Finance for Business Leaders’. This is creating a homogenized and best-in-class approach to help our people integrate financial and business needs into their everyday thinking.
• Using informal training such as shadowing and mentorship, as an integral part of the learning culture.

2018 Performance

Both legacy Barrick and former Randgold sites placed considerable time and financial investment in staff development during 2018. Taken together, the two Companies provided an average of 40 hours of training to each full-time employee (FTE) in 2018 and invested over $32 million, or approximately $1,600 per FTE, in formal staff training. This represents 45 hours per FTE at legacy Barrick sites, and approximately 23 average hours per FTE at former Randgold sites.

This total does not include the number of informal training hours, such as on the job mentoring and skills shadowing that each employee receives every year and which are often a key part of skills development.

Compass: Providing Direction and Development for New Talent

Investing in our employees helps our people feel engaged, valued and motivated to help us deliver on our strategic priorities. It also prepares our next generation of leaders and is a crucial part of our succession planning.

One example of the employee training we provide is the Compass Development Program (Compass) which has been employed at legacy Barrick sites since 2009. Compass is a company-wide professional development initiative for employees with less than three years’ industry experience. The program provides participants with the opportunity to build a solid foundation of technical and professional knowledge while also working and shadowing others on the mine site and advancing their careers. Specifically, Compass teaches participants about cross-functional areas such as exploration, mine geology, metallurgy, mining, processing and health and safety.

Compass is a self-driven program and takes approximately two to three years to complete. Through structured on- the-job learning and mentoring, participants learn the key skills necessary to successfully perform their roles. They also learn how an expert in their field makes decisions, tackles challenges and capitalizes on opportunities.

In 2018, six of our employees graduated from the program to bring its total graduates since 2009 to 173. This includes many superintendents in our Nevada engineering departments and the Acting Mine Manager at Turquoise Ridge (at the time of writing).

“Aside from individual development, Compass is designed to integrate new professionals into all aspects of operations and teach them how each part is dependent on the other. This knowledge, paired with key networking opportunities, provide early-career professionals a great start to a career in Barrick.”

Dan Hain,
Talent Management Manager for Barrick Nevada

Closure

How we close our mines is just as important as how we build and operate them. Mine closure, if poorly managed and executed, can result in unproductive land, permanent damage to the natural environment and financial liabilities for our Company. But, when done well, we leave a positive sustainable legacy for communities.

Management approach

How we manage both the environmental and social aspects of closure is set out in our revised Closure Standard. The Standard commits us to leave all sites with land that supports productive post-mining use including revegetating disturbed areas with indigenous species and transferring infrastructure that can be meaningfully used to local communities. We have a clear aim: To maximize the value of the asset for the local community.

Key elements of our closure approach include:

• We establish a closure plan before construction of a mine even begins. This is regularly updated and ensures enough financial resources are available to meet closure obligations.
• We invest in non-mining related economic activity and training to support alternative livelihoods throughout the life of a mine. This includes support for local companies through ‘local first’ procurement, investment in long-term economic development projects through our community development work and, where appropriate, working with regional and Government economic development committees to help suppliers diversify.
• We provide our people with assistance during closure to identify new potential career opportunities. Where possible, our goal is to offer continuing employment opportunities at other Barrick operations. We also offer out-placement services for people who are unable to relocate.
• We restore biodiversity and healthy ecosystems at the earliest stage possible and aim to keep our overall mine footprint to a minimum. This is done through ongoing concurrent rehabilitation and the treatment of all disturbed lands at closure. Comprehensive environment-related actions at closure include checking the stability of all land, the re-vegetation of waste rock, heap leach and tailings facilities and monitoring or restoring the health of soils and natural capital.
• We protect water resources at closure, including treating any mine-impacted waters as appropriate and creating ongoing monitoring programs to test water quality and hydrology post-closure. This is undertaken in close consultation with regulators and stakeholders.