NEWMONT: FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS TO WORLD LEADER IN GOLD
NEWMONT
celebrated 100 years of existence in 2016. Founded by William Boyce Thompson, it is now the second largest gold mining company in the world. That it achieved this after starting as just a holding company for oil, gold and other minerals, is quite remarkable. In 2016, its revenues were $6.71 billion and it employed over 30,000 people. Getting to that level from the initial idea of a holding company involved no small amount of canny investments, a strong desire to always look to new frontiers, and thankfully, a commitment to sustainability and CSR. At a time when investors are beginning to move back to gold once more, now is timely to take a closer look at Newmont.
BEGINNINGS
Newmont’s founder, Colonel William Boyce Thompson, was a dynamic individual who saw the potential of the mining industry from growing up in mining towns all over the United States. He gave the name Newmont to his new company based on experiences he had in two such states, New York and Montana. He also travelled the world, visiting mines everywhere to take pieces of knowledge back to the US. The first mine acquired by Newmont was the Empire State Mine in California in 1929. The company was able to take advantage of lower asset prices due to the great stock market crash of that year, showing the same shrewd eye it has shown several times since. In the
10 years that followed, it was able to acquire 9 more mines, located all over North America, and giving it a national reach. It quickly ventured outside of its home country, however. By the 1920s, it already had gas and oil assets in the North Sea which Thompson first visited on a trip to post-revolutionary Russia in the early years of that decade. In 2017, Newmont also has interest in Peru, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Ghana and Mexico.
COMMITMENT TO
SUSTAINABILITY
Having operations in so many countries particularly in the mining industry - requires a company to keep a tight control on sustainability. As the company itself notes at the outset of its Social and Environmental Performance report, “mining is a long-term business with commitments and investments that can span decades. How can we manage social, environmental and political risks directly impacts our reputation and ability to create value.� Primary among the impacts which the company has to mitigate are those on the environment. Newmont has an environmental stewardship program, which addresses areas like water, energy and climate change, emissions and waste management, biodiversity, cyanide management and closure and reclamation taking in every part of the mining life cycle.
The company has begun a number of initiatives across its assets, be they in the United States or elsewhere, which work towards long-term sustainability in the environment. Below, we look at two such examples of the company striving towards sustainability and the impact that their efforts are already having through these efforts.
THE LONG CANYON MINE:
PROTECTING WATER FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS Newmont’s newest operation is a mine on the Utah-Nevada border, called the Long Canyon Mine. It straddles a water reservoir called ‘The Big Spring,’ an historically significant source of water for communities in the region.
Newmont engaged both technical experts and local communities to work on partnerships in sharing this vital resource. Newmont, together with two local cities, Wendover and West Wendover, formed a Water Working Group with two major goals: safeguard the cities’ existing supply of water during the life of the mine and provide Newmont with an additional source of water for its activities at Long Canyon. A part of the solution involved Newmont constructing two potable water wells. Combined, the two new wells have a capacity which is approximately four times that of the Big Spring.
ACCOUNTING
FOR CLIMATE CHANGE Because Newmont operates in an industry which is so energy intensive, it pays particularly close attention to its own greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. At every possible opportunity, it looks for more responsible uses of energy, improved energy efficiencies across the business and even switching from fuels to renewable sources of energy.
The company’s global energy and climate strategy takes an operationally driven approach to managing threats and opportunities and preparing the business for climate change impacts. Among its objectives are to reduce its carbon footprint through renewable energy, energy efficiency strategies and carbon offsetting and collaborating internally and engaging externally on energy policy frameworks that support an effective transition to a low-carbon economy. This commitment to adapting to the changing climate was borne out with the establishment of a Global Energy and Climate Team (GECT). This team is effectively the R&D branch of the firm which is dedicated to the environment and climate change. It relays all of its data to the Carbon Disclosure Project, ensuring its findings and those of other firms in its area, can share ongoing findings and work towards a cleaner future for energy.
PARTNERS AND SUPPLIERS
Newmont is an international firm, which looks to local suppliers in each of the markets where it operates. While many of its partners and suppliers will be known throughout the world as giants of the mining industry, its commitment to local companies means that many of the names will be less well-known to international readers, but no less important to the ongoing success of Newmont.
Examples of the firm’s commitment to local partners and suppliers is illustrated well by its operations in Ghana, where it currently has two mines. Newmont predominantly turns to local suppliers in Ghana, among them African Underground Mining Services (AUMS), WBHO Ghana Limted, GSS Ghana, Banlaw-Africa and KF´94 - a local firm established just twenty years ago and already making a name for itself in mining through collaboration with companies like Newmont.
A COMPANY THRIVING IN THE
SHADOW OF ITS FOUNDER The founder of Newmont, William Boyce Thompson, was not only an entrepreneur with a global vision, he was also a philanthropist with a firm commitment to science. He dedicated millions of dollars of his personal wealth in the 1920s (at a time when the company was in its infancy) to science and academia in the United States.
This commitment to creating a legacy lives on his company to the present day. Its sustainability report might be among the largest of any company of its size, and its transparency in reporting its data on GHG emissions is admirable. Gold prices are famously volatile - moving up and down with the whims of global investors - but in Newmont, the industry has a stable stakeholder which retains a firm commitment to sustainability.
NEWMONT Corporate Headquarters United States 6363 South Fiddler’s Green Circle Suite 800 ,Greenwood Village, CO 80111 T: 303.863.7414 F: 303.837.5837 Regional Office AFRICA Plot 40/41 Senchi Street Airport Residential Area, Accra PMB Airport Post Office, Accra, Ghana Phone: 233.30.701.1852 http://www.newmont.com
produced by