PanAust Limited is proud to announce that the Company has received the 2013 Sustainability Leadership Award at the Asia Mining Congress in Singapore. The Sustainability Leadership Award recognises PanAust’s program to create and support business opportunities within the villages closest to the Company’s mining operations in Laos. Laos won the Emerging Mining Destination of the Year Award. The panel of judges comprised: Pippa Howard from Flora and Fauna International; Professor Steve Hall from Western Australian School of Mines; Professor Frances Wall from Camborne School of Mines; Dorothee Gizenga from Diamond Development Initiative; Claire White from International Council on Mining and Metals; and, Emma Blackmore from International Institute for Environment and Development.

PanAust’s business development program benefits female entrepreneurship amongst three ethnic groups and literacy through company-sponsored training and access to microfinance credit. During 2012, PanAust’s micro-finance scheme (the Village Savings and Credit Fund) provided over US$210,000 in loans, and collected savings deposits of close to US$138,000 for its 743 members. Additionally, PanAust’s small community business initiatives generated revenue in excess of US$768,000 for local families comprising local production of vegetables, drinking water, cloth bags, fruit and fish. Adrian Bell, PanAust’s General Manager Human Resources and Risk Management, said: “PanAust is committed to making a meaningful contribution to the long-term development of the communities in which we operate, particularly amongst minority groups and women, and we are delighted to be recognised by the Asia Mining Congress.

“We are proud of this program and the other initiatives that we undertake, which are borne of the strong belief that the success of PanAust will be measured not only by our financial performance but also by our social performance,” Adrian Bell said. “This is the third time that PanAust has received an award at the Asia Mining Congress. In 2010, our Livelihood Improvement Program received the Award for Best Community Development Initiative and in 2011 our Technical Trades Training Program received an award in the same category,” he said.