Social Responsibility Policy
Newmont is an international mining company, primarily producing gold. The company has active operations, explorations and projects in North and South America, Central Asia, Australasia, Europe, and West Africa.
Newmont's future is dependent on its ability to develop, operate and close mines consistent with our commitment to sustainable development, protection of human life, health, the environment, and to adding value to the communities in which we operate.
To realize these commitments, every Newmont operation will:
We understand the actions and conduct of every Newmont employee and contractor are the basis on which our stakeholders will evaluate our commitment to achieving the highest standards of social responsibility.
Since environmental, health and safety issues can affect the communities where we operate, we will carry out our Social Responsibility Policy in conjunction with Newmont's Environmental and Health and Safety Policies.
Wayne W Murdy
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Social Responsibility Guidelines
These guidelines are intended to explain and clarify each
of the principles in Newmont’s Social Responsibility
Policy. Statements of principle are in bold with the explanation
below.
I. Newmont’s Operating Goals
Newmont's future is dependent on its ability to develop, operate and close mines in a manner consistent with our commitment to sustainable development, protection of human life, health, and the environment, and to adding value to the communities in which we operate.
Along with standard business considerations and the Newmont values, our social responsibility commitments form an integral part of our operations.
We believe the principles of sustainable development encompass these widely recognized principles:
In particular, we must make every effort to ensure we add
value to host communities and that those communities believe
they are better off as a result of Newmont operating in their
area.
Our objective is to provide increased returns to our shareholders
while creating value for our wider set of stakeholders through
the fulfillment of our social responsibilities. We believe
failure to fulfill those responsibilities could compromise
our capacity to create value of any kind.
We must develop and use systems to identify and manage
risks, and provide accurate information to support effective
decision making.
Newmont has developed a unified approach to risk management which utilizes teambased risk assessment for the identification of potential risks and opportunities, and the implementation of control measures. This approach ensures the Company has a reasonable level of confidence that risks are identified and adequately managed. We have also developed a set of corporate management and performance standards for community relations that prescribe the systems required for each Newmont operation to manage community-related risks.
We must train our people and provide the resources needed to meet our objectives and targets.
Newmont is committed to providing the training and resources needed to ensure that our people are able to meet the requirements of our social responsibility policy. Specific developmental programs are being provided to employees who have a role in the management of community relations will receive. All employees and contractors will receive the training and direction they need to ensure they understand our policy and how our business affects our external stakeholders.
Newmont’s operational procedures make specific reference to training and resources to ensure our performance is consistent with these commitments.
II. The Standards We Adhere To
Newmont is committed to respecting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in its business operations.
Newmont makes every effort to operate its business in way that is consistent with and promotes the principles articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). We will work toward achieving the ability to assure that we do not breach the principles underlying the UDHR and are not otherwise complicit in human rights abuses.
Newmont respects the social, economic and cultural rights of indigenous people.
We recognize that respect for fundamental human rights must include social, economic and cultural rights. Our extraction operations are frequently in the vicinity of indigenous communities, and we are sensitive to the impact our business has on them. We believe that success in our business is integrally linked to the capacity of local indigenous communities to develop and maintain sustainable livelihoods. We are committed to supporting and promoting the rights and cultures of these communities.
We adopt policies, standards, and operating practices that ensure ongoing improvement.
Newmont is a signatory to several documents that articulate specific standards governing our business operations. We are a signatory of the Publish What You Pay / EITI Statement of Principles and Agreed Actions, which recognizes the need to work with our industry counterparts and to cooperate with host governments to implement an effective framework for disclosure of payments we make in all countries where we operate. We have also signed the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, which sets forth guidelines for maintaining the safety and security of our operations within a framework that ensures respect for human rights.
The Company uses internationally-recognized standards - such as the Global Reporting Initiative and the Institute of Social and Ethical Accountabilities standard on stakeholder engagement (AA 1000) – to guide the formation of its policies and standards. This information is used in reviewing the elements of our management system - policies, standards and operating practices - to help drive and deliver improved performance.
Wherever appropriate and feasible, we set operating standards that exceed the requirements of local law.
Newmont recognizes that laws differ greatly from country to country, and that the laws in some countries governing the environment, health and safety and similar issues are less rigorous than others. Because we believe that social expectations should be a key driver in the setting of standards, we endeavor wherever we can to set standards governing our operations that are the highest attainable, even where they exceed what local laws require.
We assess our performance against our policies and standards.
The regular monitoring of our performance is necessary for us to evaluate whether we are meeting our policies and standards. External auditors annually assess each operation. The auditors evaluate the effectiveness of each operation's management systems and their performance in managing key risks. An important element of these assessments are interviews with local stakeholders, so that the Company is aware of how our local stakeholders think the operation is performing.
III. Engaging our Stakeholders
We demand leadership from all our people.
Newmont requires all its employees and contractors to take responsibility for working with our neighbors, and to know and understand that in all places and at all times we are all ambassadors for the Company.
We seek to share our success by partnering with stakeholders in appropriate community development programs.
Newmont seeks to maximize employment, training and business opportunities for our local stakeholders, using fair, open and transparent selection processes. We are committed to contributing to community projects that are identified using community need analysis. We will also proactively identify opportunities to leverage community development projects and empower other sectors through partnerships.
We consult stakeholders in matters that affect them.
Newmont makes every effort to know and understand the culture of the communities in which we operate and to engage with our local stakeholders so that we have a clear understanding of their needs and interests in relation to any matters that may affect them. We make every effort to incorporate the knowledge gained though engagement and consultation into the decision-making processes of our business.
We strive to communicate our performance in an accurate, transparent and timely manner.
We are committed to regularly communicating with our stakeholders on the important issues affecting our business using a range of methods, media and languages. Newmont annually produces social performance reports (Now and Beyond) for most of its operations, development projects and closure projects, as well as a corporate overview report. These reports focus on five key areas critical to the Company’s operations, its future and its commitment to sustainable development: The environment, health and safety, our employees, the communities in which we operate, and our economic contribution.
We understand that the actions and conduct of every Newmont employee and contractor are the basis on which our stakeholders will evaluate our commitment to achieving the highest standards of social responsibility.
We understand that the Company’s performance in the area of social responsibility will be judged on the basis of the actions and conduct of our employees and contractors. We have provided all our employees and contractors with tools – including policies, guidelines, standards, commitments and training – to ensure that their conduct is in all ways consistent with Newmont’s values. We are always alert to opportunities to improve these tools, and welcome any comments or suggestions to that end.
Since environmental, health and safety issues can affect the communities where we operate, we will carry out our Social Responsibility Policy in conjunction with Newmont's Environment and Health and Safety Policies.
Issues of the environment, health and safety and community relations are integrally linked in terms of their impact on external stakeholders. Consequently, we recognize that the management of these three areas must be integrated to minimize adverse impact and maximize benefit. 3
October 2003
