ECUADOR: ANTI-AUSTERITY PROTESTS RATTLE INVESTORS / 3 Geotech_Earlug_2016_Alt2.pdf 1 2016-06-24 4:27:20 PM
Pre-convention guide inside
DELIVERING QUALITY EXPERTISE GLOBALLY ACROSS THE ENTIRE MINING LIFE CYCLE
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OCTOBER 28–NOVEMBER 10, 2019 / VOL. 105 ISSUE 22 / GLOBAL MINING NEWS · SINCE 1915 / $3.99 / WWW.NORTHERNMINER.COM
Geologist Violet Smith pioneers family-run consultancy in Guyana PROFILE
| Matriarch blazes trail in sector BY TRISH SAYWELL tsaywell@northernminer.com
At The Northern Miner’s third annual Progressive Mine Forum in October, from left: Trish Saywell (moderator), The Northern Miner’s acting editor-in-chief and senior reporter; Kulvir Singh Gill, DPI Mining associate director; Claudia Mueller, Global Mining Management associate director at the Schulich School of Business; Sam Pazuki, OceanaGold vice-president of Investor Relations; Miranda Werstiuk, Optimize Group vice-president of corporate advisory services; and Raziel Zisman, Whittle Consulting cofounder and partner. GEORGE MATTHEW PHOTOGRAPHY
Miners face ‘tsunami’ on environmental, social, governance front PROGRESSIVE MINE FORUM
BY DAVID PERRI dperri@northernminer.com
T
he next generation of mining leaders will arrive with a “tsunami” of environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns, says Claudia Mueller, associate director of the Global Mining Management program at the Schulich School of Business. Mueller joined a panel of experts in October to discuss ESG issues at The Northern Miner’s third annual Progressive Mine Forum in Toronto. In recent years, she has seen a “tremendous increase” in questions about ESG from the youth who will run tomorrow’s mining companies. northern-miner_wide.pdf 1
| Experts tackle critical trend on the horizon
“IF OUR CLOSEST FRIENDS, THE FOLKS WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO BE GETTING ALL THE BENEFITS OF MINING, ARE NOT WILLING TO STAND UP FOR US, THEN ARE WE REALLY DELIVERING THE BENEFITS TO THEM?” KULVIR SINGH GILL ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, DPI MINING
ESG criteria is a set of operating standards used by socially conscious investors to screen potential investments concerning stewardship of the natural environment, stakeholder management (including local communities, employees and suppliers) and corporate governance (compensation, internal controls, 2019-10-07 2:33 PM
shareholder rights, etc.). “We have seen a paradigm shift in ESG interest over the last two or three years,” says Sam Pazuki, OceanaGold’s (TSX: OGC) vicepresident of investor relations. “Based on our estimates there are about $25 trillion of investments under management, globally, with
V
iolet Smith grew up in the Cuyuni–Mazaruni region of Guyana, eventually settling in Bartica, a small commercial centre about 80 km inland from the Atlantic Ocean. The town — at the confluence of the Cuyuni, Mazaruni and Essequibo rivers — was considered the gateway to the gold mines and diamond fields of the interior. As a young girl she would watch the steamers come in and trucks, loaded with camp supplies, disapSee GEOLOGIST / 2
investors who consider themselves to be socially responsible investors.” Pazuki says the trend will only intensify in a hyper-connected world, with growing concern about climate change and sustainable development. Large investors will increasingly set minimum ESG thresholds for investment. Kulvir Singh Gill, associate director of DPI Mining, criticized some in the mineral-development industry for engaging in a superficial “checkthe-box exercise” when it comes to ESG performance. “Are we doing this to comply with the letter of the law, or are we doing this because we believe in the spirit of the law, and the principles behind what we’re doing?”
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