OUR SUSTAINABILITY SCORECARD

We believe in transparently measuring and reporting our performance to the market and to our stakeholders. As part of this work, we have developed a sustainability scorecard to rate our ESG performance over the past year.

The index includes key performance indicators aligned to priority areas set out in Barrick’s strategy. We intend to rank ourselves in quintiles against our peers, where applicable, as well as against our own internal metrics and roll up our performance to an aggregate score. The assessment is based on publicly available information, which at the time of this report was sourced from both 2018 and 2019 data. In some instances such as Community Development Committees, which are unique to Barrick, our assessment of performance also considers our performance against our own expectations.
 

While we expect these indicators will evolve over time, we believe this is an important first step. Based on our initial assessment, we received a B grade for 2019. This grade reflects an improvement in sustainability performance and progress against many of our key performance indicators. However, it also acknowledges that there is still work to be done. We plan to update this scorecard in Q2 2020 to assess ourselves against the 2019 performance of our peers. The scorecard’s methodology and findings are included in the Appendix.
 

1. This metric is based on 13 operational mines. Those sites in closure, or in care and maintenance will not be certified to ISO 45001.
2. Internal metrics.
3. In comparison to the 56 extractive companies assessed against the CHRB’s methodology, Barrick is ranked in the top 20% in the industry.

INTRODUCTION FROM MARK BRISTOW

A Sustainability Strategy Anchored in Strong Governance

Barrick’s sustainability vision, published last year, locked our contributions to social and economic development, health and safety, human rights and the environment into the heart of our business. As a modern mining company, we recognize that we must be a trusted long-term partner for our stakeholders to be sustainable; and that we must be sustainable to be successful.
 

Barrick respects the rights of its workers and promotes two-way communication. Here Mark Bristow engages with union members at Kibali, DRC.

Safety First

First and foremost, our success depends on a strong safety culture that protects people and nature. We operated with zero fatalities and saw lost time injuries reduce in the Africa and Middle East region as well as a reduction in total injuries in both North America and Africa and the Middle East in 2019.

However despite these improvements the overall total recordable injury frequency rate for the group rose slightly impacted in part by newly combined assets in Nevada. Identifying gaps and progressing continuous improvement on safety at all mines will be a key focus in 2020.

From a safety perspective strong leadership is vitally important and some of the steps taken this year, including an increase in visible safety leadership at the site level and improvements in our site risk guidance to reinforce safety as a top priority, will help us strive for a zero-harm workplace.

Our safety-first mindset doesn’t stop at human safety but also prioritizes environmental management and stewardship too.

I am pleased to report that in 2019, we recorded zero major environmental incidents and have worked diligently to reach our water efficiency target of 70%. We have set a long-term strategy to manage climate risk and to protect biodiversity, including threatened species in the US and Africa. We are constantly vigilant of our tailings dam facilities as we know that a failure would not only cause lasting environmental damage but could risk the safety of the local communities that are the bedrock of our workforce and our social license.

We have also edged close to achieving our target of certifying all mines against the global ISO 14001:2015 best practice standard. The only mines that remain to be certified are the Jabal Sayid Mine in Saudi Arabia and the recently acquired former Acacia mines of Buzwagi, Bulyanhulu and North Mara in Tanzania.

Poverty Reduction

Our success also depends on catalyzing the most significant contribution that any mining company can provide: creating long-lasting economic opportunity. At Barrick we see our ability to create jobs and thriving economies, that might benefit many of those left behind by society, as core to earning our license to operate.

Barrick distributed over $9.3 billion this year to our workforce, suppliers and host communities. Our cumulative impact is even greater. For example, in Mali our mines have contributed $7.2 billion to the greater economy through taxes, royalties and dividends in the last 23 years.

Our contribution is not only financial. We prioritize local recruitment and training, and provided direct employment to more than 21,800 host country nationals in 2019. We also support local entrepreneurship and this year spent over $4.4 billion on goods and services from businesses in our host countries. Our health and community-led development investments also make a tangible impact. This year they helped tackle the scourges of malaria, HIV and Ebola. We also provided supplementary access to water, helped reopen the Paiam hospital in Papua New Guinea, reduced plastic use in Africa, funded agricultural projects within the communities that surround our operations across Africa and Latin America and lifted educational standards in all the countries we operate, including in North America.

And our contribution is not only for the here and now. How we close our mines is just as important to modern Barrick as how we build and operate them, and we saw progress this year at sites from Mali to Montana that mean we will leave behind a positive long-term legacy for the local environment and surrounding communities.

At the time of writing we are engaged in managing the impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic on our people and our business. This includes the implementation of strict hygiene protocols at our mine gates and across our sites. We are also working closely with the clinics, hospital and medical professionals in our communities to ensure that they are properly resourced should an outbreak occur.

Managing Environmental Impacts

We are committed to understanding, managing and reducing our environmental impacts. This commitment is best demonstrated in the impact we have had at some of our new assets and in our approach to challenging environmental issues. For example, when we took control of North Mara, concerns regarding seepage meant that the Tanzanian government had shut down the Tailing Storage Facility (TSF). The facility was also holding more water than it was designed to. So, one of our first actions was to work with independent specialists to conduct extensive groundwater studies and draw up detailed short and long-term plans to manage water on the TSF and address government concerns. In doing this we were able to demonstrate to the government our commitment to environmental management, and restore the confidence needed for the TSF to become operational again.

At the Porgera joint venture, where riverine tailings disposal is used, we take great care to make sure we are managing and minimizing the impact. This means that prior to disposal, tailings are treated to comply with Papua New Guinea’s stringent discharge criteria. We also conduct extensive environmental monitoring to understand any impacts. Our monitoring program exceeds government requirements, is independently overseen and in line with our commitment to transparency as the results are fully disclosed online. We are also working to identify opportunities to further reduce the volume of tailings that enter the river.

Underpinning Governance

Our sustainability strategy is anchored in strong governance. Our Board provides leadership to make sure we operate our business sustainably and responsibly, and we have a full executive team responsible for sustainability, alongside executives for other fundamental business activities such as exploration and growth or capital projects. Every week I speak with the Executive Committee and discuss issues such as community engagement, TSF management and safety performance. Our internal sustainability policies and processes enable group level strategic leadership and oversight, while placing responsibility for implementation at the site-level.

As a modern mining company, we work to be thoroughly transparent about what we are doing, and the areas where we need to improve. This honest and open approach, including our participation with global initiatives like the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and GRI (formerly Global Reporting Initiative) Standards, underpins strong stakeholder relations and the partnerships that ultimately support our performance.

A Year of Change

It has been a significant year for Barrick, and this is the first report that will cover our new joint venture with Newmont in Nevada and the assets consolidated from Acacia. The assets in Tanzania come with significant social and environmental challenges and we are committed to tackling them in a transparent and effective way.

Throughout this year, Barrick has continued to build its reputation from the Democratic Republic of Congo to the Dominican Republic as a trusted partner, and through our work developing global standards such as the World Gold Council’s Responsible Gold Mining Principles, we have been a prominent voice in efforts to build a more sustainable sector fit to attract the next generation of industry leaders.

We will continue in the year ahead to work towards international best practice and to minimize our environmental impact and maximize our economic contributions. I hope you find this report of interest and welcome your feedback.

Mark Bristow
President and CEO