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Most Environmentally and Socially Controversial Companies May 2009: Mining Top Five Companies: 1. Barrick Gold 2. Rio Tinto 3. Xstrata 4. Vedanta Resources Top Three Issues: 1. Impacts on Ecosystems/Landscapes 2. Impacts on Communities 3. Human Rights Abuses and Corporate Complicity 5. Frasure Creek Mining Barrick Gold, Rank 1 Please refer to Most Controversial Companies section of report, Rank 6. Rio Tinto, Rank 2 At Rio Tinto's annual meeting in London shareholders heavily criticized the company’s practice of dumping waste minerals and chemicals directly into rivers at the Grasberg Gold Mine in Indonesia, a practice that has resulted in the company being expelled from several funds. NGOs allege that severe human rights violations have taken place at Muriel Mining Corporation's Mande Norte mining exploration site, which Rio Tinto is also involved in. A lawsuit under the Alien Tort Statute has been brought against Rio Tinto for alleged human rights abuses in Papua New Guinea. Xstrata, Rank 3 Xstrata's Mount Isa Mine in northwest Queensland, Australia was labeled as one of the country’s biggest polluters on the National Pollutant Inventory. Several families are currently suing Xstrata, claiming their children have been poisoned through its mining activities. A third of Xstrata shareholders voted against the company’s remuneration report as investors are believed to be angry about the company’s plans to increase pay and issue bonuses despite a 35% fall in earnings last year. Vedanta Resources, Rank 4 Vedanta was granted approval by the Indian Government for its controversial bauxite mine on the Niyamgiri mountain in Orissa, despite fierce local tribal opposition. Locals and NGOs claim the mine will destroy large amounts of forest, pollute rivers and have other impacts on the tribe. Vedanta was also accused of money laundering and tax evasion in relation to its Sterlite subsidiary. Frasure Creek Mining, Rank 5 The Sierra Club urged that action be taken to protect the Robinson Forest in the US from a strip mining project proposal by Frasure Creek Mining. The mining activities would allegedly destroy native forest, which is home to endangered animal and plant species © ECOFACT AG 2009, all rights reserved RepRisk® is a registered trademark of ECOFACT AG Page 8 of 9
Methodology RepRisk objectively monitors the level of criticism to which a company is exposed. All data is collected and processed by a strictly rule-based approach; it is not the result of an assessment, rating or verdict from our analysts. The "Most Environmentally and Socially Controversial Companies" report was compiled using information from the RepRisk database, which consists of negative news on companies’ environmental and social performance. The RepRisk database currently covers more than 9,000 companies and holds news from thousands of sources, ranging from commercial newspapers and on-line media to NGO websites, blogs and newsletters. Once the negative news has been identified with advanced search algorithms and analyzed for its novelty, relevance and severity, risk analysts enter it into the database and link it to the companies in question. No news is entered twice unless it has been escalated to a more influential source or higher-profile media outlet. This helps to ensure the balanced and objective rating and weighting of the negative news, and thus the company’s RRI. The RRI measures the risk to a company’s reputation, not its actual reputation in general. Each report is compiled by taking the ten most criticized companies in our database of more than 10,000 companies. For more information about the "Most Environmentally and Socially Controversial Companies" report, please contact Charlotte Mansson at mansson@ecofact.com, tel: +41 44 350 6022, or visit our websites: www.reprisk.com or www.ecofact.com. RepRisk® RepRisk is a web-based tool that provides insights into environmental and social issues that present financial and reputational risks to a bank, company, or investment portfolio. It facilitates the identification and assessment of controversial issues associated with specific companies and business relationships. RepRisk's assessment of the environmental and social performance of a company is based on the company's activities in the field as observed by independent third parties, and is not derived from information provided by the company itself. Every day, RepRisk captures the reactions of print media, more than 650 NGO websites and newsletters, news websites, blogs and other online sources on controversial issues relevant to financial institutions, other companies, and projects. RepRisk covers controversial issues ranging from employee and community relations to resource availability and efficiency, environmental footprint and product portfolio-related risks. In particular, it addresses all of the principles of the UN Global Compact. ECOFACT ECOFACT is a leading provider of reputational, environmental and social risk management solutions in the financial industry. ECOFACT is based in Zurich and leverages a global network of sector and issue specialists. Our client base consists of asset managers, pension funds, commercial and investment banks, the leading development banks, insurance companies, and governmental agencies. ECOFACT AG was founded in 1998 as a spin-off from a leading Swiss bank and is a fully independent corporation. © ECOFACT AG 2009, all rights reserved RepRisk® is a registered trademark of ECOFACT AG Page 9 of 9
Page 1 and 2: Most Environmentally and Socially C
Page 3 and 4: BP Plc, Rank 1 [8] A large majority
Page 5 and 6: Wal-Mart Stores, Rank 5 [2] Wal-Mar
Page 7: Bertin Ltda., Rank 9 [New Entry] Be

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