Barrick cited for top social, ecology plans

BARRICK Gold Corp has been named to the Dow Jones sustainability world index (DJSI), ranking the company as a top performer in corporate social responsibility worldwide for the second consecutive year.
Barrick, which has gold mining interests in Papua New Guinea, was first listed on the prestigious DJSI world index last year , and has been part of the North America listing since 2007.
The renewed listing on both indices reinforces Barrick’s position among the most sustainability-driven companies in the world.
“Earning this recognition for global leadership in sustainability is a great achievement and confirms that we continue to head in the right direction,” Aaron Regent, Barrick president and chief executive officer, said.
“Today, as public expectations of companies continue to rise, Barrick’s employees demonstrate a keen understanding of what it means to be a socially and environmentally responsible company.
“Responsible mining will always be a core part of Barrick’s operating philosophy, as we continue to make further improvements at both the corporate and site levels.”
This year, Barrick introduced a new community relations strategy and guidelines for local procurement.
These policies assist operations and projects in implementing world-class community relations programmes and help to maximise the company’s contribution to economic development.
Last year, Barrick purchased US$5.7 billion (K15.7 billion) in local and regional good and services – US$2 billion (K6 billion) in developing countries alone – which supports the growth of the business sector and creates employment.
Last year, over US$9 million (K25 million) was invested in community development infrastructure such as schools and hospitals.
Barrick is currently implementing a global climate change programme – one of the first in the gold mining industry – as well as water and energy conservation policies.
To date, the company had invested US$88.5 million (K243.1 million) in renewable energy projects in Chile, Argentina and Nevada, US.