Sierra Rutile Staff Newsletter 2

COMMUNITY AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
MARCH 2013
SIERRA RUTILE
INTERNAL NEWS
MARCH 2013
Sierra Rutile pays surface rent to mining communities
Sierra Rutile has completed payment of surface rent to landowners,
Paramount Chiefs, the District Council, Local Chiefdom Administration and
towards Constituency Development, in all five mining chiefdoms. A total of
Le 2,513,907,000 was paid.
Presenting the cheques was Mr Abdul Ignosi Koroma, Deputy Minister of
Mines and Minerals. He explained that last month’s delay in payment was
to allow the Government time to introduce measures to meet the
requirements of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), and
thanked the land owners for their patience.
To ensure the transparency of the process, the payments were conducted in
the presence of the media, and witnessed by several senior government
ministers and the five Paramount Chiefs. Appearing on behalf of Sierra
Rutile were Operations Manager, Mr Desmond Williams, EHS Manager,
Mr Ansumana Jabati and staff of the Community Affairs Department.
SIERRA RUTILE’S ROAD REPAIRS HALF JOURNEY
TIME FROM MOYAMBA JUNCTION TO MINE SITE
Surface rent payments are a legal obligation under the Mines and
Minerals Act.
Sierra Rutile announces programme of Livelihood Restoration
The Community Affairs Department has announced the launch of a
programme of Livelihood Restoration to increase economic
opportunities for young people and women.
The project, which will be piloted in the Imperi Chiefdom and gradually
extended to other Chiefdoms, was announced at this quarter’s Public
Consultation and Disclosure Plan (PCDP) meetings.
Held quarterly, the PCDP meetings are intended to share information
with stakeholders and provide an opportunity for the communities to
express their views and concerns. They are held in all five SRL mining
chiefdoms.
The drive from Moyamba Junction to Sierra Rutile’s mine site used to take three hours now it takes an hour and thirty minutes thanks to Sierra
Rutile’s recent programme of road repairs, which has transformed 82 kilometres of road.
The roads leading to the mine site are vital to the mine’s ability to operate efficiently, but the passing of time, heavy trucks, and the wear and
tear of the rainy season, had caused them to deteriorate substantially and they were often impassable in the rains. For a period of several
weeks last year, all roads to the mine were blocked by vehicles which had become stuck in the mud, leaving lorries carrying equipment for the
Lanti Dry Mining project stranded in Moyamba Junction.
The newly repaired roads have almost halved the travel time to Freetown and substantially improved road safety. For Sierra Rutile, the road
rehabilitation programme will boost productivity by allowing more efficient movement of materials, parts and equipment from Freetown to the
mine. The social and economic life of the local community will also benefit from more frequent and efficient transport as well as safer journeys.
The 17-man team that worked on the roads was led by Brian Wright, Darren Austin and Joseph Ngawojia from Mines Services. Their fleet of Cat
road building machinery included excavators, articulated dump trucks, a couple of Dozers including the big D9, as well as a compactor, a water
tanker and water pump for filling the tanker.
They started work on December 12 and finished almost four months later on April 3. Roads were levelled and filled and then covered with a
surface wearing course of laterite (compacted clay and gravel). Along the way, at the request of local communities, the team also levelled four
football pitches, cleared land for 3 village schools and opened up tracks through the bush that had been blocked up years!
GOOD OUTCOMES
AND OUTCOMES
THAT DO GOOD
MESSAGE FROM ANDY TAYLOR, HEAD OF OPERATIONS
This month the company publishes Sierra Rutile: the History – which traces the challenges that
Sierra Rutile has overcome over the years, to become one of the world’s leading producers of
“heavy minerals”. It is a story of teamwork, dedication, loyalty and determination which started in
1967 and which still defines the company today.
Last year, Sierra Rutile’s distinctive ethos of teamwork and dedication gave us our highest post-war
production figures, brought the Lanti Dry Mining project to completion and saw us win the
Alternative Investment Market award for International Company of the Year, as well as the award
for industry from the Sierra Leone Chamber of Commerce.
But at Sierra Rutile, we don’t define our success solely by production figures and engineering
triumphs, essential though these things are. The good relationship that we have with the
surrounding community is also vitally important to us.
We have a relationship of mutual trust and respect that is partly generated by our rigorous commitment to meeting our financial and environmental
obligations, and this month we were delighted to be able to proceed with the payment of surface rent to the landowners in the five mining chiefdoms.
But our relationship with the people of this area extends beyond simply meeting our obligations. We also make a wider socio-economic contribution to the
area through the employment of people from the local community and by supporting community development projects through the Sierra Rutile
Foundation.
The benefits of our good relationship with the community are reciprocal. The contribution that their support, their trust, and their willingness to listen and
engage with us makes to our operational success cannot be underestimated.
It takes more than money to truly become part of a community and it is often in the actions that don’t appear in official reports that we show how much we
consider ourselves to be the friends and neighbours of the community in which we work. Recently, when the village of Mocharles was devastated by fire,
the Community Affairs Team rallied their colleagues at Sierra Rutile to come to its aid. They collected Le21,820,000, used clothing, food and blankets worth
Le20,000,000. Similarly the road repair team took the time, while repairing 82km of badly damaged roads, to heed requests to clear land for football
pitches and village schools.
Working for a better Sierra Leone
Last month, the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM)
published its annual report. In it the CEO of a member company is quoted as
saying: “If a company distances itself from the community and the
environment, it is not fulfilling its purpose. What we want to do is grow,
achieving good outcomes and, more than that, outcomes that do good.”
That is an ambition that we share at Sierra Rutile.
Working for a better Sierra Leone
SAFETY SCORE BOARD AS AT 5th April 2013
FREE DAYS 136
TARGET 300
PREVIOUS LOSS TIME INJURY (LTI) RECORD 205
FATAL INCIDENT FREE DAYS 1716

MARCH 2013
2013 Q1 RUTILE PRODUCTION VERSUS TARGETS -
THRESHOLD, BUDGET AND STRETCH
SAFETY BITS
30,000
30,254
Driving Safety – Part One
RUTILE, MT
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
27,412
26,088
25,086
7,398
8,386
8,812
9,725
8,209
7,728
8,120
8,961
9,480
9,975
11,567
10,480
Vehicle accident rates are currently causing concern to SRL
Management. Steps must be taken to eliminate or reduce them to the
barest minimum. The eight driving rules below are key to safe driving,
and will be discussed in detail here and in subsequent publications.
1. Alertness and fatigue
2. Drugs and alcohol
3. Seatbelts
4. Passengers
5. Loads
6. Respecting road rules and road signs
7. Mobile phones and two-way communication devices
8. High visibility – drivers and vehicles
Advice on Staying Alert and Preventing Fatigue
• Drivers should only operate a vehicle when they are rested and alert
• The EHS department and Head Driver should inform drivers on how to
identify driver fatigue and alertness problems and means of
addressing them
• They should ensure that reward mechanisms do not incentivize drivers
to drive excessive hours, which could lead to driving while tired or
fatigued.
REMEMBER: Drive as if every child on the road is your own
0
Q1 Totals Jan Feb Mar
Actual Threshold Budget Stretch
In March we produced 9,480 Mt of Rutile which was below the budget. SGR product quality for the month was above target at 95.37%
TiO2. For Q1 Rutile production was 25,086 Mt which is below the threshold, target and stretch.
MOVING TO
THE FUTURE
On March 12, Sierra Rutile installed a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS). Alusine Samura, Chief Chemist, explains why it is like having
another chemist in the lab.
Q. What is a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS)?
A. LIMS have been around since the early 1980’s. In layman’s terms, LIMS is a software system used to manage information and data in laboratories.
Q. How does it work?
A. It is a computer programme that watches all the processes that take place in the lab, and helps everyone that works there. It stores important
information within a database, and performs operations such as calculations and reporting. All our lab instruments interface with a PC which runs the LIMS
software, so data is captured directly.
All five lab processing phases are covered - the receipt and logging in of samples; assignment, scheduling, and tracking of the sample and the associated
analysis; processing and quality control; storing the data; and finally the inspection, approval and reporting of results.
Q. How does the LIMS improve the work of the lab?
A. There is pressure on the lab to improve sample turnaround and data quality. LIMS helps increase productivity by saving time and minimising mistakes.
It also uses an electronic signature system, which allows us to ensure accountability. Furthermore only users with the relevant permission can access or
change data, which helps security and data integrity. Finally LIMS centralises all our information in one database to allow greater flexibility in data analysis.
SIERRA RUTILE BRINGS NEW CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER ON BOARD
Derek Folmer, Sierra Rutile’s recently appointed Chief Marketing Officer officially starts his new job on April 15 and will be responsible for managing all
aspects of Sierra Rutile’s sales and marketing activities.
Mr Folmer joins Sierra Rutile from Rio Tinto, where he held the position of General Manager – Rutile & Zircon, responsible for global sales of rutile and
zircon produced by Richards Bay Mining and QIT Madagascar Minerals. Prior to this he held various sales and marketing management positions within Rio
Tinto focussing on titanium dioxide feedstocks. Mr Folmer has a strong track record of developing and implementing global marketing strategies and has
substantial experience and knowledge of key markets in North America, Europe and Asia, particularly in China.
Sierra Rutile staff contributed used clothing, Le 21,820,000 and food items and blankets worth Le 20,000,000 to the victims of the
Mocharles blaze. It was all handed over to the villagers on 5 April 2013.
Congratulations to the JADA Technical Institute, which is sponsored by the Sierra Rutile Foundation. The first cohort of students to study
for the Certificate in Business Studies, has received their results. Twenty-nine out of 34 students passed the exams, with four achieving
a credit.
Working for a better Sierra Leone