Prioritise people, safety, health and sustainability
This strategic focus area embodies our corporate ethos and encompasses our sustainability performance. It underpins our business strategy and the delivery of sustained, long-term value creation and is aligned with our values and responsibilities as a corporate citizen. This strategic focus area covers our employees, their safety, health and wellbeing, our host communities and the environment.
Accounts for
24%
of DSP performance award
Also relevant in terms of this strategic focus area are our material sustainability issues, which are explained in our <SR> . Here, we indicate where these material sustainability issues apply as well as related risks – for more information on our risks, see Managing our risk and opportunities.
Below is a summary of our performance in terms of this strategic focus area in relation to our DSP performance metrics. More detail on this is provided in Rewarding delivery in this report and in the <SR> , with additional performance data presented in our <3S>, <OP> and the <ESGD> .
PEOPLE
Every company is only as good as the people who work in it, and AngloGold Ashanti is no exception. The contributions of the people associated with the organisation are invaluable and the Company has a duty to employees and community members whose health, safety and security require safeguarding.
Through our overarching strategy, core values and framework of policies and standards, we can provide appropriate support for the people associated with the organisation and help ensure the long-term sustainability and viability of our business.
People – key metrics, related targets and performance 2022 (4% of DSP performance award)
| Metrics | Aims, targets | Performance | Status |
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Other related metrics monitored:
* TEC: total employee costed |
Overall people aim:
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Other:
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Achieved
Progress still to be made
Related risk:
Risk 10 — Failure to attract and retain critical skills and talent
Related material sustainability issue:
- Increasing employee diversity, equity and inclusion
People management
A diverse culture that reflects both gender inclusivity and the demographics of the countries in which we operate is central to our people management strategy. Diversity, equity and inclusion, together with comprehensive talent development, retention and succession plans, are key in supporting the long-term viability of our operations as well as our global competitiveness.
Talent and succession review
In 2022, we embedded the new Operating Model and the annual talent and succession review allowed us to assess our succession plans in this new structure. As well as making sure we have the right people in the right roles we are now assessing talent across the business, and in particular looking for those who could work effectively across functions.
Key, too, was assessing what positions are vital for the execution of our strategy.
As part of the broader diversity, equity and inclusion focus, we identified female and young high-potential talent. We recognised successors through the talent and succession review, guided by our blended learning approach. For more details, see <SR>.
Diversity, equity and inclusion
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) is a particular focus of our people management team as we believe our efforts to be an equitable employer will support business growth, with diverse and inclusive workplaces winning the commitment of employees.
Respect for all ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, cultures and religious beliefs is at the core of our corporate culture and is vital to ensuring an equitable workplace.
We comply with local legislation and Company-specific DE&I policies and practices. We follow change management practices to address assumptions and unconscious bias, and performance incentives are structured to drive and support the right behaviours.
Female leadership
We use gender diversity as the basis for assessment of global diversity. It is the main diversity element across the countries in which we operate, and it is the focus of our DE&I framework.
Several interventions, designed to improve our diversity profile, include:
- Talent mapping with a focus on female successors in technical functions and countries where under-representation is more pronounced
- Leveraging workforce movements to change the diversity profile; accelerated development programmes
- Instituting DE&I committees in every country and tracking progress on a quarterly basis to give visibility to senior management and the Board
We have also set a target of 25% female representation in senior leadership by 2025. Related targets have also been set for recruitment, talent management and succession planning. For more information, please see <SR>.
Global Diversity and Inclusion Framework
Our Global Diversity and Inclusion Framework, which was launched in 2019, aligns Group objectives to foster the empowerment of all staff, irrespective of race, gender, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation. It acts as a guide in the application of diversity and inclusion principles across AngloGold Ashanti operations. The Framework is supported by our Diversity and Inclusion Policy, our Global Transformation Policy and our Gender and Empowerment of Women Policy.
Our leadership team has set DE&I targets and clearly defined priorities and actions for the next two to five years. To ensure that DE&I objectives are embedded in all processes, leadership teams are provided with implementation guidelines to assist in the rollout of these priorities and are encouraged to identify and manage barriers that may impede progress.
AngloGold Ashanti was listed in the Bloomberg GenderEquality Index (GEI) for a fourth consecutive year for 2023. The GEI is a standardised reporting tool used globally to acquire comprehensive workplace gender data from public companies featured in Bloomberg’s ESG dataset. We aim to systematically improve our diversity profile and are reviewing our guidelines and actions. See <SR>.
Values
Our 2020 culture survey which presented its results in 2022 provided the basis for the refreshing of AngloGold Ashanti’s values. Delivery and roll-out of these values began in the first quarter of 2023. See Revitalising our culture, refreshing our values.
Safety and health
AngloGold Ashanti continually strives to achieve zero harm across its operations. This, together with making sure the well-being of our employees and wider mine communities is assured, is a key tenet of what we do.
In 2022, we again sharpened our focus on safety at our operations introducing refreshed safety standards and working to protect the mental wellbeing of those who work for us. Just as we address safety and health, we also factor in security, in light of the rise in artisanal and small-scale mining, which in some instances makes our operating environments more complex.
Risk assessment is crucial when addressing these areas and we proactively identify and mitigate potential risk while our risk management and critical control modelling help us measure and manage our impacts.
Safety and health – key metrics, related targets and performance 2022
Safety (8% of DSP performance award):
| Metrics | Aims, targets | Performance | Status |
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Other key safety metrics monitored:
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Overall safety aim:
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Other:
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Health (2.5% of DSP performance award):
| Metrics | Aims, targets | Performance | Status |
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Other key safety metrics monitored:
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Overall health aim:
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Other:
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Achieved
Progress still to be made
Related risk:
Risk 5 — Failure to meet our operational and safety targets
Risk 9 — Inability to meet expectations on responsible mining (ESG performance)
Related material sustainability issue:
- Ensuring the health, safety and security of employees and communities
Safety strategy
As we work to achieve zero harm, consistently recording no fatalities at Company-operated mines, we constantly revisit our safety strategy to find areas for improvement. Our ability to operate as a safe and responsible mining company depends on all our actions and the best way to ensure the message is absorbed is by leadership and line managers taking full accountability for the process.
Refreshed major hazards standards
In terms of the Major Hazard Control Standard, managers are responsible for systemic critical control verification, inspections and coaching of operational verifications, as well as the monitoring of critical control compliance.
Line supervisors are responsible for operational critical control verification and operators are responsible for actual implementation of critical controls.
The newly refreshed Major Hazard Management Process was launched in June 2022 to rapidly reduce risk in order to save lives. To do this, supervisors and employees must ensure critical controls remain in place and if not, any employee has the ability — and the duty – to STOP work.
The new process is focused on simplification, visualisation and promoting understanding at all levels within AngloGold Ashanti. We reduced the number of major hazards, from 18 in 2021 to 10 in 2022, ensuring that priority major hazards receive priority attention.
To support supervisors during the rollout, a suite of documents was developed to remove ambiguity and provide tools for effective workplace communication on key major hazard topics. A dedicated toolkit explains the purpose and application of eachof the documents in the suite.
Critical controls
Critical controls must always be in place and if they are found to be missing this must be addressed as a priority. We plan to introduce a qualitative measurement for compliance using critical control verifications. This will be introduced at a supervisor level where every supervisor will have clearly defined, safety-related KPI.
To learn from and minimise high-potential incidents (HPIs), a review committee was established to study selected HPIs and determine the adequacy of implemented controls and identify actions that can be implemented Group-wide to prevent similar occurrences.
Certification
All contractors are trained in AngloGold Ashanti’s safety practices and all operating entities are ISO 45001:2018 certified.
Our priorities in 2023 will include introduction of the remaining iSIMS modules to enable full system functionality. The iSIMS system is in use in several areas across the business, allowing for the efficient and transparent recording of incidents and actions.
Systemic verifications will be rolled out in 2023 through iSIMS, as well as continual self-assessment and bow-tie risk modules.
We are also planning an in-person review of the safety strategy items that will be led by operational safety leads, selected senior management and technical discipline leads. The outcome of this review will be the focus of the 2024-2026 safety strategy.
Employee health and hygiene
New health management standard
We finalised a new health and management standard in the year that aligns with the four guiding pillars used to address health risks. The four pillars are: leadership and people; work processes; risk management; and technology and innovation.
The standard addresses requirements for occupational as well as non-occupational health and hygiene programmes. It is premised on the need to understand baseline and on-going community health risks while ensuring adequate medical emergency preparedness and response for all sites.
Our risk management platform focuses on 10 major occupational and non-occupational hazard categories. Included in the platform is work to improve oversight of our contractors’ medical surveillance, as well as to manage the emergence of musculoskeletal (ergonomic) disorders.
At the same time, we continue to focus on infectious disease outbreaks, and the lack of adequate occupational hygiene skills and chemical analysis capacity, especially at our African operations since they rely on overseas service providers.
Occupational hygiene
Prevention lies at the centre of our health strategy. We monitor major health hazards and have critical controls aimed at reducing exposure to crystalline silica dust.
We are seeing encouraging reductions in measured exposures to some of our priority health hazards like dust, following concerted and systematic efforts to implement critical controls to reduce health exposures. While performance varies among operations, we have recorded significant reductions in the number of people still exposed to silica levels above allowed occupational exposure limits.
Other identified major health hazards include additional airborne pollutants (diesel particulate matter and welding fumes), noise, mental well-being, infectious diseases, ergonomics and chemical exposure.
Mental health
We are developing our metal health programmes and have strengthened the related governance framework to provide an outline of systematic requirements to deliver preventive and curative services for mental wellbeing.
COVID-19 and other infectious diseases
Our COVID-19 crisis preparedness and response plan remains in place and we continue to educate on this and other emerging infectious disease epidemics, such as Marburg, Ebola and Mpox.
This work aligns with our public health strategy, and our operations in Africa continue to implement malaria control programmes to manage this endemic risk. In the year, a total of 2,151 new malaria cases were reported in the region, representing an incident rate of 12% for our Africa region’s workforce. See <SR> .
As we focus on reducing exposure to silica dust and mental wellbeing in 2023, sites will roll out organisational mental wellbeing surveys, which will inform our health strategy and procedures on how to address this.
Environment
Management of the environment
AngloGold Ashanti works to minimise any impact on the environment caused by its operations. In assessing environmental risk, we address the issues of air pollution, land use, biodiversity and water and tailings management.
We have environmental policies, supported by a set of environmental management standards in place that address the multitude of factors that impact our sites globally.
Our environmental management work extends well beyond the issues identified in this report of climate and energy, water, and tailings. Key data on the management of materials, hazardous waste, biodiversity and acid rock drainage is provided in our <ESDG>
Environment – key metrics, related targets and performance 2022 (7.5% of DSP performance award)
| Metrics | Aims, targets | Performance | Status |
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Other related metrics monitored:
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Overall aims:
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Other:
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Achieved
Progress still to be made
Related risk:
Risk 3 — Adverse future implications of event risks
Risk 7 — Loss of/threats to social licence to operate
Risk 9 — Inability to meet expectations on responsible mining (ESG performance)
Related material sustainability issue:
- Pathway to net zero and climate change resiliences
- Pathway to net zero and climate change resilience
- Ensuring the safety and integrity of our tailings storage facilities
Managing our energy and climate change impacts
We are well aware of the substantial risk posed by climate change. In 2022, we set a target to achieve net zero Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 2050. We have a Climate Change Strategy that will guide us on the journey to achieving net zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions and have set an intermediate target to reduce our absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 30% by 2030 as compared to 2021.
Our Climate Change Strategy supports our journey to net zero and will help us manage the impacts of a changing climate. Interventions will be made both at our sites and through the use of external power providers. We also aim to set Scope 3 GHG emission reduction targets in partnership with suppliers.
Initiatives to reduce GHG emissions will see us use cleaner grid power. We are completing a switch from diesel generated power at Geita in Tanzania to the country’s national power grid, which has a high proportion of power generated by gas and renewables. In Brazil, we will be certifying that the power drawn from the grid is fully renewable.
At an operational level, we will be introducing more renewable energy. Approximately 60% of the planned GHG emissions reductions will come from large renewable energy projects, including wind and solar initiatives at our Australian operations and solar-power plants at Siguiri in Guinea and the Iduapriem and Obuasi operations in Ghana.
Plans are also underway to partially electrify our fleet. In 2023, we will work with Sandvik to trial underground mining’s largest capacity battery electric truck at Sunrise Dam in Australia.
The anticipated cost to achieve these reductions by 2030 is around $1.1 billion, of which $350m will be funded by AngloGold Ashanti. The balance will be financed by third parties, including the providers of renewable energy infrastructure.
Managing and conserving water
We aim to use water in a responsibility manner and engage with stakeholders to develop systematic approaches to water stewardship.
We follow our water management standard mandates that commit us to:
- provide information about potential and actual water quality impacts
- optimise water use and maximise the reuse of water
- assess and manage any risks and avoid any negative impacts resulting from our water usage
- set targets for minimising new water withdrawals from the ground and surface water bodies
- prevent contamination of water resources
During 2022, we implemented several water-related initiatives. See <SR>.
Tailings management
We are moving towards compliance with the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM). And in line with our commitment to this, and through our membership of the ICMM, we aim to have implemented the standard at all our facilities by August 2025.
Engineers of record have been appointed at all operations and independent tailings review board inspections have been conducted at our operations in Africa and Australia. Bi-annual geotechnical stability and emergency plan certification by external consultants are a regulatory requirement for our Brazilian tailings storage facilities (TSFs) and we will formally appoint independent review boards for the Brazil and Argentina operations in 2023.
In Brazil, our conventional TSFs have transitioned to filtered tailings deposition and we have introduced new filtered tailings stacking areas. Operations at five TSFs in Brazil have been suspended as we work to obtain the necessary geotechnical stability or emergency plan certifications and prepare for additional buttressing work at the Calcinados TSF to align its post-liquefaction factor to international standards currently considered best practice.
In Ghana, the construction of the Beposo TSF at Iduapriem is on track for commissioning in 2023.
We are developing a Company-wide TSF monitoring portal and have successfully initiated the use of interferometric synthetic aperture radar (INSA) satellite technology for TSF displacement monitoring. The use of drones for survey and imaging is being implemented across all our operations.
For more on TSF management, see Regional performance – Americas in this report and the <SR>.
Integrated closure management
Our approach to integrated closure management is guided by our closure planning standard, which sets out how we identify and manage current and future risks and the liabilities associated with mine closure.
The aim is to leave the areas in a safe and stable condition, with minimal adverse impacts on people and the environment. This is achieved through multi-stakeholder engagement and executed in line with our closure planning standard. This is being updated to align with the ICMM’s Integrated Mine Closure Good Practice Guide 2019 and will also consider learnings from our experience since the approval of the current standard in 2013.
In 2022, we started using the ICMM Closure Maturity Framework for continuous improvement in mine closure planning throughout the life cycle of our assets. All operations have mine closure plans that comply with all applicable laws, regulations and requirements. In Australia, both Tropicana and Sunrise Dam submitted updated mine closure plans to the regulators in 2022 as did Iduapriem in Ghana.
We undertake quarterly reviews and updates of our mine closure liability estimates to comply with legislative changes and align with business and closure plans, facility designs and unit rates for implementation activities. As of 31 December 2022, the consolidated Group environmental liability estimate totalled $578m (2021: $673m).
COMMUNITIES
Supporting self-sustaining communities
AngloGold Ashanti’s values and its commitment to environmental, social and governance standards and the broader context of sustainability sees it working with all stakeholders on projects and initiatives in the areas of education, business development, health and infrastructure as it aims to help build sustainable futures for the communities in which it operates.
These environments are frequently complex and culturally diverse. They require our teams to work closely with all stakeholders at national, regional and local levels to deliver projects that will have meaningful impacts in these communities.
This work helps to ensure we maintain our social licence to operate and involves addressing a number of challenges that require constant engagement, transparent policies and adherence to set guidelines and grievance resolution.
The work is guided by our Social Performance Management Framework and, in 2022, we started to review and update our assessment of social risks across the Group, resulting in an improved understanding of our major social risks.
Communities – key metrics, related targets and performance 2022 (2% of DSP performance award)
| Metrics | Aims, targets | Performance | Status |
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Other related metrics monitored:
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Overall aims:
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Other:
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Achieved
Progress still to be made
Related risk:
Risk 7 — Loss of/threats to social licence to operate
Risk 9 — Inability to meet expectations on responsible mining (ESG performance)
Related material sustainability issue:
- Supporting self-sustaining communities
- Respecting and upholding human rights
- Addressing artisanal and small-scale mining
Addressing grievances
Implementation of community grievance mechanisms is guided by our Management Standard on Complaints and Grievances and Community Incident Management, which are aligned with the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC’s) performance standards and the United Nation’s guiding principles on business and human rights (UNGPs).
It is through these mechanisms that grievances are received and resolved. Most complaints in 2022 related to mining impacts on communities, such as structural impacts resulting from mine blasting activities and dust generated from our operations. These impacts are continuously being reduced, alleviated, and prevented.
Complaints and grievances are managed on iSIMS, the platform that provides transparency when recording, investigating and mitigating impacts, as well as when reporting and resolving complaints. We aim to resolve all complaints and grievance within 30 days. See <SR>.
Responsible land access and resettlement
Our Land Access and Resettlement Standard, which is aligned with the IFC’s Performance Standard 5, provides the basis for our approach to resettlement.
We ensure all land acquisition processes comply with applicable laws, regulations and international standard practice as stipulated by this standard, which aims to avoid resettlement whenever possible.
Our management standard requires Resettlement Action Plans (RAPs) and/or Livelihood Restoration Plans (LRP) be developed with the involvement of community and relevant stakeholders. The RAP and LRP are key in identifying and mitigating potential physical displacement and economic impacts before resettlements are undertaken.
Our Cultural Heritage and Sacred Sites Standard, indigenous peoples’ standard, and Human Rights Standard guide us in identifying, respecting, protecting, and preventing the unauthorised or undesired disturbance of cultural heritage assets by our business activities. These Standards were designed to facilitate partnership with our local communities, including indigenous communities.
The regulatory frameworks and laws in those counties where we operate further govern our actions and responsibilities.
Socio-economic contributions
All sites have socio-economic development plans, as required by our Socio-Economic Contribution Standard, through which we continue to engage with stakeholders on the implementation of our socio-economic development plans.
In 2022, $18m (2021: $18m) was invested in community projects in the areas of education, social infrastructure, income generation initiatives and health. See Value by stakeholder in this report and the discussion on community investment focus areas in the <SR>.
We continue to strengthen our community relations practices to minimise our negative mining impacts, to better understand our communities and their needs, and to share the value of gold in a meaningful and impactful way.
In 2023, we plan to: update our community management standards to further guide our community relations processes; strengthen existing income generating projects to encourage alternative industries and enhance the resilience of our communities; measure the impact of socio-economic development programmes to inform future investments; improve the time to resolve complaints and grievances; further explore ASM formalisation strategies in support of host government initiatives; and conduct additional stakeholder engagement and perception surveys.
Human rights
AngloGold Ashanti embraces respect for human rights and we have a duty to uphold these. See <SR>.
Our human rights commitments are aligned with international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Labour Organization’s standards.
Our material human rights issues include: considering environmental impacts including access to clean water; avoiding damage as far as possible to the right to livelihoods, including those historically reliant on artisanal mining; operating with respect for human rights in post-conflict and weak governance zones; ensuring respect for human rights in deployment of security forces; considering society’s most marginalised individuals and groups; embedding the human rights due diligence process across the Company; promoting external partnerships; respecting the resources, values, traditions and cultures of local and indigenous communities and supporting access to land.
Our approach is primarily informed by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human rights (UNGPs), the current leading standard. The UNGP’s framework to protect, respect and remedy places the responsibility of monitoring, upholding and managing our human rights impacts as a business, no matter where we operate.
AngloGold Ashanti’s Human Rights Governance Framework and a Human Rights Policy Statement is aligned with the UNGPs. We also have a responsibility, where practically possible, to leverage our position and influence to ensure state actors also protect human rights. To deliver on this responsibility, we are committed to engaging on related issues with the relevant stakeholders across all our operating jurisdictions.
We align with the ICMM position statement on indigenous peoples and the IFC’s Performance Standard 7 on Indigenous Peoples and we respect the values, traditions, and cultures of local and indigenous communities in the regions where we operate.
Artisanal and small-scale mining
Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) continues to grow – it has complex geopolitical, socioeconomic, environmental and governance aspects, all of which need tackling in the search for a long-term solution.
The World Bank estimates that ASM occurs in about 80 countries worldwide and that there are more than 100 million artisanal miners globally. These informal operations are an important means of income for often impoverished populations.
In many areas, the ASM sector is informal and exits outside of legal frameworks. The activity is a material sustainability risk for AngloGold Ashanti, and our primary concerns are that it leads to the loss of gold-bearing ore, environmental degradation, the use of dangerous chemicals and potential human rights violations against vulnerable groups.
We advocate a multi-stakeholder approach to addressing this material sustainability risk, working with governments and taking a lead role in partnership with artisanal miners, major mining groups, NGOs and development agencies.
We have in place an ASM Framework and Management Standard that encourage the co-existence of our operations with legal ASM. This framework and standard seek to ensure the safety and security of our employees, assets and tenements.
Guided by the ICMM and the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development, AngloGold Ashanti believes that a sustainable ASM industry can be established by building capacity through local institutional partnerships, encouraging miners to form co-operatives and associations, encouraging larger mining companies to support capacity building, and by improving ASM access to efficient and cleaner technologies.
To review the over overarching principles of our approach to ASM, see the <SR>.
