In this SDG Awards 2017 entry:
Voting Category: Large Organization
SDG Action
Kinross is committed to help achieve the following SDGs:
- SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being
- SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- SDG 4: Quality Education
Note: All page references are from the 2015 Kinross Corporate Responsibility Report
- #3: Kinross ensures that employees and their families have access to quality health care. In cases
of remote operations this means providing well-equipped health clinics, such as at Round Mountain, Nevada (p.92). Risk from mosquito-borne disease is mitigated through extensive efforts at our sites in tropical climates (Paracatu, Brazil p.36; Chirano, Ghana p.35 and video) Our efforts extend into the broader community such as in Mauritania where mobile clinics support semi-nomadic desert peoples and Ghana where medical supplies and training are delivered to local clinics and hospitals through our partnership with Project C.U.R.E.. Our employees also volunteer their time, such as every single one of our employees in Russia coming together to build prosthetic hands for land mine victims. (http://www.kinrossworld.kinross.com/en/articles/employees-russia- build-prosthetic- hands). - #8: Since 2011 Kinross has published its Benefit Footprint (p. 41) which for 2015 showed that 87% of revenues remained in the countries where we produce gold. 17% was used to pay employees while 59% was spent on goods and services. Across Kinross sites on average 24% of all spending is within local communities. Accompanying the direct economic benefit from our operations is a strong focus on skills training for employees at all levels plus local communities and businesses. Employee training ranges from Emergency Response certification at Round Mountain (p. 91) to maintenance courses for technicians at Paracatu (p.50) and development of leadership skills (p.51). We use our mine site facilities to assist with community training such as the carpenters training program at our Kupol, Russia facility (p.93). In addition, we work with local partners to provide training for community business initiatives such as a brick-producing Co-operative in Chami, a town near to our Tasiast mine, Mauritania (p.100).
- #4: Kinross is actively involved in supporting students and improving education, from primary school to university level across all of its operating regions. At Paracatu, almost 1,000 students
are involved in our Integrar program which strengthens basic education, but also includes cultural and environmental components (p.82) (See video at: http://www.kinross.com/corporate-responsibility/community/default.aspx). In Chile, Kinross has been awarding scholarships to students from the Colla Indigenous communities for the past 25 years (p.73) and also has started a program for adult members of the Colla community to recover their studies (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ri4jFFrBc0). Our support also covers infrastructure where needed. At Chirano, Ghana we built a modern library/ICT centre (p.96) which has become a focal point in the community for students. Extra-curricular activities are essential for development of youth: in Magadan, Far Eastern Russia we helped to improve the infrastructure of the Arts Centre which is the main location for music, dance, art, astronomy,and robotics for youth (p.93). We engage with Universities to support leading quality research,such as at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (p.85) and the Federal University of Minas Gerais (p.36). Our own employees also commit their time to either support student research or volunteer in local schools, such as in the town of Hadley, near Round Mountain where employees teach trades and coach sports teams (p.91).
SDG Impact
- #3: Our commitment to the health, safety, and well-being of our over 9,000 employees has a positive impact on them, their families, and those with whom they interact, including contractors and communities. Kinross has one of the best safety records in the industry, with a Total Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR) lower than many office-based professions (p.32). This extends out into host communities; at Fort Knox, Alaska for example, we committed over 5 years to provide 7,500 bike helmets as part of Annual Youth Safety Day (p.85 and see:http://www.kinrossworld.kinross.com/en/articles/keeping-kids-heads-safe-fort-knox). Our malaria program at Chirano, Ghana has caused an 88% reduction in incidence of cases among employees and a 46% reduction in cases in adjacent communities (p.35). When combined with our construction and equipping of local health clinics, plus training for nurses and community health talks, we have helped tens of thousands of people around Chirano to have healthier lives. A similar story can be told for Mauritania (http://www.kinrossworld.kinross.com/en/articles/latest-shipment-project-cure-medical-supplies-delivered-mauritania). In Brazil at Paracatu the results of multi-year research investigation on Arsenic in the local environment have been presented to local communities and authorities, showing that the risk to public health is very low, a key outcome and contribution to public health awareness.
- #8: Socio-economic metrics from studies around our mines demonstrate strong job multiplier effects. A recent socio-economic study for Fort Knox, Alaska identified these multiplier effects (p.87) with indirect and induced payroll almost equivalent to mine payroll. Kinross works with more than 2,000 local suppliers across its operations, providing a very significant leveraging of its direct economic benefit through indirect and induced activity. Looking at outcomes from the Human development Perspective public data for municipalities across Brazil show that the Human development Index in Paracatu has advanced faster from 2000 to 2010 than the State of Minas Gerais and the country, reflecting in significant part the positive outcomes from our economic inputs through jobs and local business, plus our involvement in the community (p.42).
- #4: In schools in Paracatu, Brazil where the Integrar program is active, 83% of students achieve standardized test scores above the national average (http://www.kinrossworld.kinross.com/en/articles/video-paracatu-supports-education-community). Participation in the activities of the Integrar program has grown steadily with more than 6,000 participants in 2015 (p.82). In Magadan our improvements to the Arts Centre resulted in a 20% increase in performances and student participation, plus increased participation in science and robotics competitions (p.93). An important outcome in Chirano, Ghana from construction of the ICT/Library was positive influence on local Government to build a senior high school in the same community.
Future Plans
Kinross has completed an initial mapping of the SDGs in order to identify which goals are of most relevance and where we are currently supporting advancement of the targets (p.19). We plan to further integrate the SDGs into our Sustainability reporting to make it easier for stakeholders to see our work from this perspective. In addition, we will work to increase awareness of the SDGs throughout our organization. At the same time, we are focusing more effort on measurement of community-based outcomes from our mining operations, both for specific projects and also through socio-economic and perception studies. In this sense we are using the Beyond Zero Harm framework as a guide (http://devonshireinitiative.org/beyond-zero-harm/) in order to develop a common set of metrics across our operations, in addition to our Benefit Footprint report.
SDG Partnerships
Partnerships are fundamental to our approach to engagement with our stakeholders, the most important being local authorities and stakeholder dialogue groups, along with local and international civil society organizations. Transparent and respectful dialogue is the foundation of these partnerships (eg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbs-kGbz5YE). In Ghana and Mauritania the central partnership through which dialogue occurs and activities are coordinated is the Community Consultative Committee, which is composed of both traditional and local authorities plus other stakeholders. In health, education, culture, and infrastructure community projects are implemented mostly with local civil society partners and sometimes with international groups such as our partnership with Project C.U.R.E in Mauritania which is coordinated with the Ministry of Health and which, over time, will deliver medical supplies to every region in the country. In Chile, for example, we support local cultural development through a partnership with the Regional Council for the Arts and Fundación Ser Humano, a local NGO. This partnership promotes artistic talent from the region while also providing access to cultural events for some of the most underserved communities in Copiapo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66fqYyIo6p4).