Glencore, a global diversified natural resource company and producer of copper and cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), expects its social investment in the country to increase to over $50-million over the next five years.

This would be through the combined 'Cahiers des Charges' of the Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) – a partnership with Gécamines – and Mutanda Mining (MUMI) – in which the DRC government owns 5%.

Glencore also highlights that it was pleased to take part in this year’s DRC Mining Week, with representatives participating in various panel discussions covering topics such as ‘Making mining safer for women: A crucial factor in integration and social inclusion’ and ‘Environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors: Planning future events today’.

“Glencore believes a diverse and inclusive culture is crucial to helping grow the business and attract, develop and retain talent. A diverse workforce strengthens our culture and our ability to deliver our business objectives. Specifically, we want to see more women join the mining sector.

“Like many of our industry peers, Glencore is trialling a number of approaches to improve gender diversity across the business. We want to encourage more women to enter the industry by creating an inclusive culture, and by being a great place to work – for all,” says Glencore Copper Africa head Clint Donkin.

Glencore DRC president Marie-Chantal Kaninda chaired a panel discussion focused on ESG factors and the overall impact of the Sustainable Development Goals.

“Glencore’s sustainability framework – focused on four core pillars: health, safety, environment, and social performance and human rights – supports us in gathering data and reporting on sustainability risks, opportunities, and performance to inform business strategy. Our approach is to integrate sustainability throughout our business,” she says.

“Across the business, we take our responsibilities to our people, to society and to the environment seriously, and are committed to aligning our activities with the relevant international standards. DRC Mining Week offers our industry the opportunity to not only focus on the most pressing issues facing our sector, but to also seek out the most productive, collaborative solutions,” she adds.