JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Gold mining company Newmont has established a $20-million community support fund to help host communities, governments and employees combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

The New York- and Toronto-listed company, with operations in North America, South America, Australia and Africa, is partnering with local governments, medical institutions, charities and nongovernmental organisations to serve as a catalyst for long-term resiliency and future community development.

“Around the globe, we’ve implemented controls at our operations and offices to put the health, safety, and overall wellbeing of our people and communities above all else,” Newmont CEO Tom Palmer said.

The company stated that the three areas of focus of the Newmont Global Community Support Fund were:

• employee and community health;
• food security; and
• local economic resilience.

Strict safety protocols with physical distancing and reduced workforce presence had been implemented at mine sites in eight countries.

Delivery of hygienic supplies and training and, in certain cases, pre-emptive operational ramp-down, and placing mines on care and maintenance, were under way to align with government efforts.

“Our employees, local contractors and their families live in the communities that host our operations and the health of our business is inextricably linked to the health of those communities.

“We not only want to protect our people and host communities from this pandemic, we want to build lasting resiliency so that our host communities thrive after the worst of this pandemic passes. We’re committed to doing our part to combat this disease and protect people and their livelihoods,” Palmer stated.

Progress and outcomes would be closely monitored and fine-tuned to improve results along the way.

The fund would be used to build upon efforts already under way and use would be made of the company’s global reach to amplify impact across host communities.

The core values of safety, sustainability and responsibility were, the company stated, integral to the creation of long-term value for investors, host governments and communities and employees.

“During this challenging time, where many of our people are worried about their own jobs and livelihoods, we’ve seen a commitment from across our organisation to join the fight in the communities where they live and work.

“While this pandemic is still evolving, we’ll continue to support our employees as best we can so that they in turn can continue to support their communities,” Palmer added in the company’s media release to Mining Weekly.