Minmetals Resources Limited 2011 Sustainability Report (PDF)

Human rightsWe respect fundamental human rights and cultures,customs and values in our dealings with employees andothers who are affected by our activities.Principle 3 of the ICMM 10 Sustainable DevelopmentPrinciples relates to human rights. We strive to addresshuman rights issues through our people commitments,stakeholder engagement and relations, community andregional development programs and investment.As part of our ICMM alignment program, we haverecognised a need to further align our policies, principlesand standards with Principle 3, and this is being pursuedin 2012.Particularly, following the acquisition of Anvil MiningLimited, we have the opportunity to incorporateappropriate standards, experiences and approaches tohuman rights management into any integrated companywideapproach during 2012.Land rights and resettlementManaging the impacts of our activities on our hostcommunities, their homes and land through effectiveland management, and where appropriate resettlement,is an important element of managing human rights. Noresettlements occurred in relation to our sites within thereporting period.In 2011, a compensation rate review was conducted atSepon. The review was led by a representative from theLaos National Land Management Office and incorporateda review of updated laws surrounding compensation andland management. The review resulted in new rates andconditions for compensation.Community complaints managementWe are developing formal grievance systems at all sites,including for our exploration activities, to register,investigate and resolve community complaints. In 2011,37 grievances were recorded, the majority in relation torequests for compensation for unauthorised damage tovillage land and crops.CASE STUDY: Community development initiatives in LaosSepon aims to engage and empower the community to lead their own development.Sepon facilitates the community’s participation in mining projects and planning for their independent future throughproviding local employment and, where possible, using community business to provide mine-related services. This, andinitiatives such as the Village Development Funds, aim to ensure that local people have enduring livelihoods.Village Development FundsThe Village Development Funds (VDFs), which aresmall annual grants of up to $15,000 from Seponto selected host community villages, aim to addressthe following challenges:» Localised ownership: host communities chooseand maintain their own projects;» Capacity building: elected local village leaders learn toidentify and administer development projects themselves,independent of outside expertise;» Providing alternatives: developing other livelihoodoptions for host communities whose traditional onesare affected by our activities; and» Partnership/participation: the mine chooses to limititself to a facilitation role, spending significant timeinteracting and listening to villagers’ needs and wants.This helps to build the relationship and trust, withoutcreating villagers’ dependency on the mine.Villages are guided to set up a VDF committeerepresenting a diversity of village interests, and how touse this committee to make decisions and implementdevelopment projects in a transparent and accountableway. Projects must benefit the entire village, and haveincluded latrines, fish ponds, village meeting houses,improved electricity supply and a motor vehicle-free roadthat provides children with a safe route to school. Theyhave an economic value to the individual village – eitherimmediately, in the case of the fish ponds – or over time,in the case of an improved electricity supply that willenable income-generating activities to be conductedafter nightfall.At a broader level, the skills learnt by communitymembers, such as inclusive decision-making, financialmanagement and project monitoring, will assist eachcommunity to maximise economic opportunities in thefuture. Over time, as the VDF scheme is designed torepeat annually, it should have lasting economic benefitas the communities learn to prioritise needs, plan howto use limited resources and manage their finances. Theeconomic benefit is likely to increase in the future ascommunities begin to choose non-infrastructure projects,such as business training, education and agriculturalimprovements.VDFs were provided to 13 villages in 2011, with increasesin funds and recipients expected in 2012. The success ofthe funds has been evident from recent village appreciation.One village suggested progressing beyond infrastructureprovision towards investment in activities that “stay withus forever”.Continues42