Company: Newmont Mining
Background: We will discuss with Newmont which of the many robust and substantive recommendations from the Community Relationships Review and from the Independent Advisory Panel report it will implement in the short and long term, how it will evaluate success, and which policies it will choose to revise and/or create. Importantly, the company must demonstrate that it is incorporating stakeholder feedback, that it is designing programs in conjunction with and to benefit impacted communities, and that it is making improvements in its environmental and social management systems. CBIS looks to the company to create new and/or clarify existing standards on such things as free, prior and informed consent, water use and quality, stakeholder engagement, and Indigenous Peoples.
Our dialogue with Newmont is part of our environmental justice work that encourages collaborative approaches to environmental and human rights issues between corporations and local communities. After CBIS raised concerns about community resistance to Newmont's operations in Peru, Indonesia, and Ghana, over such things as mining waste disposal, the potential for water pollution, cyanide use, and development on sacred sites, Newmont’s board agreed to support a resolution and write a report about ways to strengthen company policies to reduce potential opposition from local communities to Newmont’s operations.
Here is the latest information on our work with the company:
May 2010
Shareholders were disappointed with the release in April by Newmont Mining of a report on the first year of implementation of the Community Relationships Review. Although investors have pressed the company repeatedly to detail the programs and policies that will be created and/or revised and to outline the recommendations that will be implemented over the short and long-term, this type of specificity was not provided. We will continue to engage with Newmont to encourage the disclosure of this information and other metrics and benchmarks that will demonstrate responsiveness to shareholders and, importantly, to the communities that host the company’s mines. Based on preliminary discussions, we are hopeful that more substantive reporting will be forthcoming.
February 2010
The shareholder dialogue group expects that a report to stakeholders will be released at Newmont’s annual meeting sometime at the end of April 2010. It is an important year for the company now that one year has passed since consultants from Foley Hoag completed interviews with stakeholders at some of its most contentious mine sites and developed recommendations for the company to reduce community opposition to its operations. The company needs to disclose to shareholders which of the many robust and substantive recommendations it will implement in the short and long term, how it will evaluate success, and which policies it will choose to revise and/or create. Importantly, the company must demonstrate that it is incorporating stakeholder feedback, that it is designing programs in conjunction with and to benefit impacted communities, and that it is making improvements in its environmental and social management systems. CBIS looks to the company to create new and/or clarify existing standards on such things as free, prior and informed consent, water use and quality, stakeholder engagement, and Indigenous Peoples. See entry for August 2009 for a list of expectations for reporting by the shareholder dialogue group.
Given the recent change in board leadership for the Environment and Social Risk Committee, members of our shareholder dialogue group will be sending a letter to the new Chair of the Committee outlining what we seek in terms of elements for the forthcoming report. We greatly thank Board Member Jim Taranik, who will remain on the Committee, for his excellent leadership and commitment to the Community Relationships Review.
December 2009
CBIS participated in a workshop in November with a select group of experts and stakeholders in Washington, D.C. to review and reflect on the learning and findings from Newmont’s Community Relationships Review (CRR). The purpose of the workshop was to discuss opportunities and ideas for moving forward, and share leading practices related to recommendations in the CRR. Newmont's environment staff from the U.S., Ghana, Peru, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand participated as did members of senior management and the board, NGOs, SRI firms (Calvert, Seamus and I), and some community representatives. Objectives included identifying global good practice and integrating conflict management into engagement practices, defining metrics for internal performance management, understanding free prior and informed consent, and community outcomes, and developing core competencies needed to improve performance. It was an unusual gathering and the company should be complimented for bringing together employees and stakeholders to discuss these complex and important issues. The group had varying levels of knowledge and experience such that substantive discussion was difficult at times but we hope Newmont will continue these efforts internally and externally.
August 2009
CBIS met with the Vice President of Environmental Affairs and with the head of the board committee on Environment and Social Risk at CBIS’ office in New York City in July with members of ICCR. Shareholders would like to better understand how the company is proceeding since the release six months ago of the Community Relationship Review (CRR). Shareholders believe it is critical for Newmont to create and disclose its action plan for implementation and to specify the recommendations from the CRR that will be implemented and in what time frame. In addition, we encourage the company to provide the following information to stakeholders:
• The recommendations that are viewed as most vital for implementation and the company and boards’ priorities, both long and short term
• Recommendations from the Advisory Panel that are under consideration, including conducting a more thorough analysis regarding interactions with Indigenous Peoples, and for clarifying Newmont’s commitment to free, prior, and informed consent
• Development of plans and priorities by and with communities, and how two-way communication can be consistently integrated into work plans
• Commitments to ongoing transparency and disclosure: Plans to report findings back to the communities and to those interviewed, and how to work together with communities to take their feedback and incorporate their recommendations into the Action Plan. The types and frequency of information posted to Newmont’s website to update stakeholders
• Major concerns outlined in the site reports and how they will be addressed. For example:
1. Reducing the level of conflict in Peru
2. Ensuring the sustainability of the resettlement and livelihood programs at Ahafo
3. Strengthening relationships with the Western Shoshone Defense Project
• The draft timetable for implementation, benchmarks and indicators that will be used to assess progress, and how success will be measured
• Oversight mechanisms, assignment of responsibilities, and accountability mechanisms
• Status of the items outlined in the board response under “Next Steps”
May 2009
Christian Brothers traveled to Delaware on April 29th for the annual shareholder meeting of Newmont Mining to commend the board and staff for its efforts to understand the root causes of community opposition with the release of the report, “Community Relationships Review Global Summary Report.” The report included an extensive review of recommendations to improve Newmont’s policies and practices relating to its relationships with local communities, including aspects of potential conflict and opposition. (http://www.beyondthemine.com/2007/pdf/CRR_Final_Global_Summary_Report_March_2009.pdf).
The findings revealed that the company must manage community relationships more effectively and encouraged the development of a comprehensive management plan for community relations, assigning accountability to local managers for implementing policies, conducting regular social impact and risk assessments, and managing community concerns before conflict arises.
The report grew out of a shareholder resolution filed in 2007 by CBIS and colleagues from the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), including Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Catholic Health East, Tri-State Coalition of Responsible Investing, Catholic Healthcare West, and The Fetzer Institute.
CBIS and ICCR shareholders look to Newmont to augment local participation and ensure there is two-way communication, to further analyze its interactions with indigenous peoples, to clarify its commitment to Free Prior Informed Consent, and to release updates on its progress every 6 months. A timetable for implementation of the recommendations, assignment of responsibilities and oversight, and development of measurements of success are also needed.
The Independent Advisory Panel that included CBIS also complimented Newmont and its board for its commitment to an innovative and robust process and called on the company to strengthen its engagement policies and procedures in its report, "Building Effective Community Relationships: Final Report of the Advisory Panel to Newmont's Community Relationships Review," with recommendations to the board. (http://www.beyondthemine.com/2007/pdf/CRR_Advisory_Panel_Report_Feb09.pdf).
We look forward to working with the board and the company in the months ahead.
January 2009
CBIS continues its year long participation as a member of the Newmont board-created independent advisory panel. In December 2008, panel members provided feedback to Newmont on the Community Relationships Review report written by the law firm Foley Hoag that was commissioned by the board to review Newmont’s relationships with several communities where it operates. The panel made recommendations on ways Newmont can better understand the causes of conflict and how relationships with local communities can be improved. The panel will be writing its own report to the Board over the next several months that will include an evaluation of the integrity of the research process. The panel’s report will also encourage improvement in the company’s stakeholder engagement process, grievance mechanisms, and policies, including the recommendation to create a robust and substantive policy on free prior informed consent. The panel’s report will be released at the 2009 annual shareholder meeting.
June 2008
Last year, Newmont’s board of directors agreed to create an independent advisory panel and to interview impacted communities at some of their most controversial mining sites, including Nevada, Peru and Ghana, and to consider how successful relationships between the company and stakeholders could be built. Panel members include highly regarded NGOs such as Oxfam and Earthworks, a member of a mining-impacted community, an artisanal mining association from Columbia, a Harvard fellow with an expertise on grievance mechanisms, and Christian Brothers Investment Services. We were pleased to be included on this prestigious panel. The main role of the panel is to attest to the integrity of the process that Newmont developed. At the completion of the process in late 2008, the advisory panel will draft a report to the board with its recommendations, also noting areas of concern and opportunities.
The company is keeping stakeholders informed through a specially constructed section of its website. There is a description of the project, objectives, the panel, an estimated timeline and other information at www.newmont.com/ en/CRR/.
While this process is groundbreaking and unique to the industry, it has also faced challenges. Due its complexity and the ambitious plan by Newmont to capture feedback from impacted communities (including conducting hundreds of interviews around the globe), the report to shareholders that was intended to be released in April has been delayed until late 2008. There have also been research delays since a new research director was appointed mid-process. CBIS believes the effort will yield important information that will help the company create new policies and procedures that benefit the communities that host its projects, while better protecting people and the environment.
February 2008
After receiving the support of the board and 95% of shareholders of Newmont Mining for our human rights resolution, CBIS has joined an external independent advisory panel that will provide advice to the company on strengthening its environmental and social policies and practices. The panel includes community groups and environmental organizations, such as OxFam. Together we will provide a report to the Board with our recommendations. We will meet in February with Newmont management and members of the board to continue discussions. CBIS and ICCR colleagues successfully engaged with Newmont Mining in 2006-2007 so a resolution will not be filed.
January 2008
CBIS and ICCR colleagues successfully engaged with Newmont Mining in 2006-2007 so a resolution will not be filed. We will continue to work with the company to strengthen its policies and practices to encourage greater community acceptance to its projects.
October 2007
The board of Newmont Mining has established an Advisory Panel to assist its efforts in providing a report to shareholders by the time of the April Annual General Meeting. Christian Brothers has been asked to join the panel and has accepted. We look forward to working on this process which stems from the Newmont-endorsed shareholder resolution filed by CBIS last year. The resolution asked the company to evaluate ways to work more effectively with local communities impacted by its projects and reduce community opposition.
May 2007
CBIS traveled to the Newmont Annual Shareholder Meeting on April 24th in Wilmington, Delaware to present our resolution that requests from the independent members of the board a report that assesses the ways the company can strengthen its policies and practices related to community opposition to its projects. Not only did the board support our resolution and recommend that shareholders vote in favor, but the leading proxy voting service, Institutional Shareholder Services, also recommended that its clients support it. Given this favorable environment, our resolution received a preliminary vote of 91.6% in favor, one of the highest votes registered for a CBIS-sponsored resolution.
At the annual meeting, we were approached by the board member charged with writing the report and he agreed to meet with CBIS and our ICCR shareholders in June to discuss the elements of the report. We are looking forward to working with Newmont management and its board on producing what we hope will be a groundbreaking report.
April 2007
We are pleased that Newmont’s board has agreed to support our resolution and write a report requested by CBIS and other ICCR shareholders about ways to strengthen company policies to reduce potential opposition from local communities to Newmont’s operations. The board will also create a committee of independent, non-executive directors who will meet twice a year to review the effectiveness of the policies and systems for managing community risks associated with the company’s activities.
This is the first time a mining company has supported a social resolution.
We believe the board should incorporate a variety of viewpoints and input from a range of internal and external stakeholders to ensure that the report is credible. This group can evaluate the company’s capacity to understand and manage the conflicts that are generated and/or exacerbated within the communities in which it operates. We expect this will include independent experts with internationally-recognized expertise and/or local experience in areas such as resettlement, human rights and rural livelihoods. We also believe there would be much value in direct consultation with affected communities.
In addition, the report should include a review of the issues most often associated with community opposition, with special consideration given to the company’s operations in Ghana, Indonesia, Peru and Western Shoshone lands in Nevada. Information should be provided about the environmental practices and concerns about potential environmental risks, adequacy of timeframes set aside for community engagement from project identification to start up, job creation, revenue sharing, and the development of community investment programs — all with a view to understanding how best to work with communities so they prosper from, rather than oppose, Newmont’s activities.
January 2007
CBIS is primary filer on a resolution at Newmont Mining asking the company to develop a process for community engagement and stakeholder consultation under which all Newmont sites would operate. Following community protests that have occurred at Newmont sites in Peru, Ghana, and Indonesia, we believe that the company will benefit from creating proactive policies that encourage meaningful two-way communication to address community concerns about Newmont projects. As the company begins this process, we plan to encourage transparent negotiations, advance communication to communities, and compensation and benefits to those most impacted. Last year fierce community protests resulted in the death of local residents at sites in both Peru and Ghana. Issues that have been raised at both locations concern access to more jobs, the need for education and job training, and inadequate compensation for community resettlement.
August 2006
Shareholders will be holding a conference call with representatives from Newmont Mining next week due to continued community unrest at the company’s mining sites in Peru and Ghana. In both instances, communities in the area are very poor and lack electricity and clean water for drinking. In early August, Peruvian peasants took two mine workers hostage to demand jobs at the company’s gold pit in Northern Peru, the largest in Latin America. This followed protests at the mine when about a hundred people clashed with police and a farmer was killed. Some Peruvians living near the mine believe they deserve more benefits from the project and that the government is not using the taxes and royalties derived from mining to help the poor. Newmont employs 120 local villagers and has allocated over $1 million for community development programs. At Newmont’s mine in Ghana, three people were killed and several injured when violence erupted after villagers were denied access to areas of their land adjacent to the mining site and were angered by pay that was perceived to be inadequate as compensation for their palm oil crop.
April 2006
Newmont’s operations continue to cause great concern. In April its exploration camp in Indonesia was torched and four people were shot by police. Exploration work was suspended at the camp, which is 30 miles from the company's main gold and copper mining site. While full information is not yet known, it has been reported that local residents were demanding funds from the company for community development programs. There was also a strike at the company’s Yanacocha gold mine in northern Peru. Approximately 100 of 1000 workers walked out and blocked a highway entrance to the mine to secure work contracts that include health, education and housing benefits. We believe it is in Newmont’s long- term interest to better understand the roots of community resistance, to encourage meaningful communication and interaction with affected stakeholders, and to develop effective mechanisms to address these concerns.
Newmont's annual meeting is in Denver on April 25, 2006. Representatives from communities in Peru and Ghana will be in attendance, including Father Marco Arana who leads the community movement for social and environmental accountability at Newmont’s Yanacocha mine and Daniel Owusu-Koranteng who will represent the concerns of mining-affected communities throughout Ghana We hope that the company will commit to policies and practices that respect a community’s culture, heritage and environment wherever it does business.
January 2006
Shareholders will continue to work with Newmont Mining to develop a process for community engagement and stakeholder consultation under which all Newmont sites would operate. Following community protests that have occurred at Newmont sites in Peru and Indonesia, we believe that the company will benefit from creating proactive policies that encourage meaningful two-way communication to address community concerns about Newmont projects. As the company begins this process, we plan to encourage transparent negotiations, advance communication to communities, and compensation and benefits to those most impacted.
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