Social & Economic Development

A diverse workforce encourages creativity and innovation. We draw our workforce from many countries around the world, and our global workforce is extremely diverse in terms of national and ethnic backgrounds.  However, we are also committed to the localization of our workforce, and many of our sites have explicit targets for local employment. To achieve these aims, Barrick requires sites to develop plans to guide local employment efforts over the life of the mine, and in 2017 approximately 60% of our workforce was from the local areas near our operations. In addition, approximately 97% of our people are nationals of the countries where we operate.

Our Human Resources teams develop and lead these local employment plans, supported by the Community Relations group. In general, these plans integrate recruitment and retention of local people into the broader human resources approach. This includes an assessment of the skills and capabilities available in the local community, the development of recruitment and retention programs targeted specifically at local communities, guidance on helping address skills shortages, and the creation of a culturally appropriate work environment.

In addition to the Local Procurement and Contracting Standard, we have also developed a Local Content Framework to further support the efforts of our Supply Chain and Human Resources teams. The Framework details the steps that sites can take to develop effective local employment and local procurement programs, which reflects international best practice.

Community development programs undertaken in collaboration with—and reflecting the interests of—host communities, governments, civil society, suppliers, and others can help mitigate social risk, improve our ability to sustain a license to operate, and generate long-term, sustainable value.

Barrick’s community development programs are designed to fulfill social obligations, mitigate social impacts and social risks, and support community priorities. Our community development activities are also planned with future closure in mind.

We take a partnership approach to our community investments, which relies on knowing what matters to our partners—including communities, governments, and NGOs—and reflecting those interests in our programs, partnerships, and initiatives. This means clearly defining roles, responsibilities and resources, and spelling these out in Memoranda of Understandings.

Paying the appropriate amount of tax under the law is essential to putting our sustainability vision into practice. The taxes and royalties we pay can be a significant source of revenue, helping to build infrastructure and fund social programs, driving both economic growth and social development.

Barrick believes in proactively building relationships with the local tax authorities on the basis of transparency and open communications. Barrick also seeks to organize its tax affairs in the most tax-effective and tax-efficient manner possible within the law and in relation to Barrick’s business operations and commercial objectives. We take advantage of any concessions offered to improve the attractiveness of investment.

To put these principles into action, Barrick has in place a Company-wide tax management policy. The policy sets out global standards and provides guidance on tax risk management. The aim is for Barrick to be a low-risk company by having tax analysis and factual due diligence completed on ongoing tax matters to mitigate any risk associated with interpretation of local tax laws, as well as political and reputational risks.

With operations and projects in multiple countries, Barrick is subject to various tax regimes. The taxes we pay each year can be affected by a number of factors including capital investment and allowances; gold and copper prices; operating costs; debt repayment; mining allowances; foreign currency exchange rates; and changes in the tax laws.

¹ For 2018 and 2019, the blended income tax and dividend withholding tax rate will be 34.9% and for 2020 and onwards, the blended income tax and dividend withholding tax rate will be 34.75%.

² For 2018 and onwards, the rate is 21%, and there is no alternative minimum tax after 2017.

Indirect economic impacts are the result of the interactions we have with stakeholders and are an important part of our overall economic contribution. While difficult to precisely quantify, these include the impacts of our people, contractors, and the employees of supplier industries spending their payments, wages, and salaries. They also reflect economic impacts associated with improvements in community health and livelihoods (e.g., access to clean water, medical support and education facilities). A recent study by the World Gold Council found that a median multiplier of 1 could be factored into mining’s indirect contribution to a country’s gross value added (GVA).¹ For example, in 2013, mining contributed about US$171.6 billion GVA globally – US$83.1 billion directly and US$88.6 billion indirectly. The same study identified that a median employment multiplier of 2.7 could be attributed to indirect job creation.  In other countries, for example Argentina, this employment multiplier can be as high as three (according to recent research by KPMG). This means that every job we create at one of our Argentinian mines, for example, could contribute to an additional three jobs in Argentina.

¹ Gross value added (GVA) is a term that refers to the value added to the goods and services produced in an area.