Global miner Barrick Gold Corporation has given itself a “B” scorecard rating on sustainability performance for 2021, which is measured against a range of metrics and the best practice of its peers. 

CE Mark Bristow on July 29 presented the company’s yearly Sustainability Update presentation to investors, reiterating the company’s commitment to reducing emissions by at least 30% by 2030 – with 2018 as a baseline – and to reach net zero by 2050.

In 2021, Barrick implemented biodiversity action plans at its 16 operating sites in 13 countries, completed ten independent tailings reviews, spent $5.5-billion with host country suppliers and committed about $850-million to decarbonisation projects.

Barrick says global prosperity and life is underpinned by healthy and functioning ecosystem services and, to this end, the company strives to achieve net-zero biodiversity impacts and actively participate in additional conservation actions to deliver positive biodiversity outcomes.

Moreover, the company generated and distributed about $14-billlion in economic value throughout its host countries in 2021, and invested more than $26-million on community development projects.

Its global workforce is comprised of 96% host country nationals.

Bristow highlighted how Barrick has, since its merger with Randgold Resources in 2019, combined the best practices from both companies to develop a comprehensive and industry-leading approach to sustainability. He added that while it continued to make progress on its sustainability initiatives in 2021, there was “still some way to go”.

The company’s internal sustainability scorecard is reportedly an industry first and used to drive performance, as well as to benchmark Barrick against its peers.

The A to E grading scorecard will include some new metrics for the 2022 full year, including addressing legacy issues on human rights and diversity, percentage of biodiversity action plan commitments completed and 30% female board composition.

Barrick’s approach is premised on creating economic benefits, protecting health and safety, respecting human rights and minimising environmental impacts.

On the environmental front, the company has a comprehensive greenhouse-gas emissions reduction roadmap, which involves transitioning from coal and heavy fuels to cleaner-burning natural gas and renewables.

Barrick’s total emissions in 2021 were 7.1-milllion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, which is a 5% decrease compared with its 2018 baseline emissions of 7.54-million tonnes.

The company reused and recycled 82% of its water used in 2021 and certified all of its mine sites to the ISO 14001 standard, which sets out the requirement for an environmental management system.

Barrick had no Class 1 (high significance) environmental incidents in 2021, and significantly reduced the number of Class 2 (medium significance) environmental incidents from 13 in 2019 to five in 2021.

The company’s focus through to 2030 is to decarbonise its current energy sources, while it will move to introduce electric vehicles into its mine fleet from 2025 onwards.

On the safety front, Barrick had its total recordable injury frequency rate improve almost 13% year-on-year and by more than a third since 2019.

However, Bristow deemed the company’s overall safety performance in 2021 disappointing, as the company recorded two fatalities during the year.

LEGACY ISSUES

When Barrick and Randgold merged, one of the enlarged group’s priorities was to deal with a range of legacy issues which required additional attention, research and energy.

Since then, the new management team and operational staff have worked to ensure these legacy issues are satisfactorily resolved through reviews and new management approaches.

Most issues have now been resolved, Barrick confirmed, however, some have continued to negatively impact the company’s reputation and social licence to operate.

For example, at the Porgera joint venture, in Papua New Guinea, concerns have been raised about the discharge of tailings in the Porgera river and lack of access to safe drinking water for local communities. There have also been alleged human rights abuses reported by the public and private security.

At the North Mara operation, in Tanzania, allegations of use of excessive force and human rights violations by public and private security forces are being investigated.

There are also allegations of environmental harm being done at the Pascua-Lama project, in the Andes mountains between Chile and Argentia, and reports of repeated cyanide spills at the Veladero operation, in Argentina.

The remedies to these issues that Barrick is implementing include appointing new management teams, as in Porgera’s case, re-stablishing community grievance mechanisms, improving access to water and holding more stakeholder engagements.