3 minute read
Mexico Mining Review 2020
MICHAEL HARVEY Director of Corporate Affairs at Newmont Goldcorp Mexico
Q: What practices is Newmont Goldcorp implementing to improve the quality of life of the communities around Peñasquito? A: Education is an excellent example of our work in the communities around the mine. For example, 37.5 percent of the student population in the area of direct influence of the mine receives a grant from Peñasquito and 110 teachers receive training through the education strategy financed by Peñasquito with the support of the Ministry of Education. We built a Technical College (CONALEP) and there have been 409 CONALEP graduates, of which more than 70 percent work in Minera Peñasquito or with our contractors. We also support 16 scholarships each year at the Autonomous University of Zacatecas.
Q: What lessons were learned after the blockade at Peñasquito, especially regarding relations between the three levels of government, the private sector and the local community? A: The Peñasquito blockade was evidence of a huge problem for the development of Mexico. There are almost no consequences when you break the law, threaten your neighbors and harm third parties who want to work. I believe we were able to demonstrate that blockading us illegally does not give you economic benefits. It is too easy to pay people to make them go away but that is a poor long-term strategy. The Mexican government needs to be a lot more supportive in this regard. Local communities supported us but were frightened by the blockaders, who were able to threaten violence with no fear of consequences from the government.
Q: What is your strategy for further developing this worldclass deposit to its maximum potential? A: We are on track for US$50 million or more in sustainable cash flow improvements at Peñasquito thanks to our Full Potential methodology. The Full Potential program’s mandate is to identify opportunities for efficiency and innovation across our business and we are now applying this to Peñasquito. The goal is superior operational execution through sustainable productivity improvements and cost-efficiencies. The core principles of Full Potential are that it is focused on value and viability, and grounded in technical fundamentals. It is a proven
operating model with clear accountability and the site owns target setting and delivery. There is global consistency in the program, benchmarking performance, sharing successes and enabling rapid replication. We apply lessons learned, which then informs our approach to advancing strategic digital and technology initiatives.
Q: What are the new technologies to increase gold recovery and how is Newmont Goldcorp implementing them? A: In an era of declining gold reserves, Newmont Goldcorp is the only company with a stable production profile targeting 6-7 million ounces over a decades-long time horizon. We have proprietary technologies that are driving our discovery program. Examples include Deep Sensing Geochemistry (DSG), which has a depth of investigation of more than 500m. Another is our 3D Distributed Acquisition System (NEWDAS), a 3D data acquisition system with a depth of investigation of roughly 1,000m.
Q: How can the talent pool in the mining industry be kept at an optimal level and how will automatization impact the industry’s workforce? A: We believe that diversity and inclusion are important to develop the workforce of the future. Just look at the inclusion of women. It makes no sense for an industry to exclude half of its potential workforce. Mining often means living in camps in remote locations. Technological advances will provide more optionality in this regard. The challenge will be meeting local employment goals as this happens. We are going to have to invest in the skills of local communities so they can have access to these jobs. It is absolutely key for the people on the ground to have ownership of decisions and to be accountable for them. At the same time, a strong head office allows lessons to be learned from one operation to another and to develop a highly specialized workforce. The secret is to work together in an environment of continuous improvement.
Newmont Goldcorp has operations in Australia, Canada,
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FULL POTENTIAL METHODOLOGY TO STRENGTHEN PEÑASQUITO
MICHAEL HARVEY
Director of Corporate Affairs at Newmont Goldcorp Mexico
