Sierra Rutile staff newsletter 5

YVES ILUNGA ON BEING SRL’S CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
JULY 2013
SIERRA RUTILE
INTERNAL NEWS
JULY 2013
REMAINING
AN EMPLOYER
OF CHOICE
Yves Ilunga joined Sierra Rutile as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in January 2013, bringing with him a strong track record of financially enhancing mining
operations and driving performance upgrades through the implementation of process improvement. Before joining Sierra Rutile, he was Vice President –
Transformation, with AngloGold Ashanti, where he was responsible for enhancing the financial performance of the company’s multiple operations in Ghana.
Other positions Yves has held include Financial Director of AngloGold Ashanti’s Sadiola Gold Mine in Mali; as well as various financial management roles
across Africa for both AngloGold Ashanti and De Beers.
With six months at Sierra Rutile under his belt, “Sierra Rutile Internal News” caught up with Yves to find out a bit more about the CFO and his role.
1. How would you describe your job in one or two sentences?
My role at Sierra Rutile is to maximize the value of the organisation for our shareholders through the implementation of sound financial controls and plans.
2. What took you into a career in the mining industry?
My family has always been in the mining industry. My grandfather was a copper miner in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; he spent his whole career
underground. I grew up in a country that has a long mining history and it seemed like the best choice after university.
3. What attracted you to the job as Sierra Rutile's CFO?
It was the opportunity to contribute to the growth of a company with fantastic assets.
4. What have been the highlights of the past six months with Sierra Rutile?
There are a few - the Lanti Dry Mining project, achieving nameplate capacity, reaching record production levels in June, and reconstructing financial
discipline.
5. What have been the main challenges of your job with Sierra Rutile?
The key challenge really has been managing costs in a weak market within the context of the global economic slow-down.
6. Sierra Rutile applies International Financial Reporting Standards to its financial reporting, what are the benefits and challenges of this process?
The main challenge with this process is to ensure we go beyond International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and that the annual report
comprehensively reflects our ambitions as a sustainable enterprise by global standards. The benefit is it allows us to provide information to the market by
standardizing the way financial reports are presented. There is comparability on the reports at both national and international levels that is useful for the
stakeholders.
7. What is the best thing about living in Sierra Leone?
The people – for me there is not much of a cultural clash. I feel welcome and at home in Sierra Leone.
MESSAGE FROM ANDY TAYLOR, HEAD OF OPERATIONS
A recent survey conducted amongst working adults in the UK, found that they value a good working
environment above anything else when it comes to choosing which employers they want to work for.
Pay, training and development and a balance between work and home life were also very important.
Of course, a similar survey in Sierra Leone would not necessarily yield exactly those results. This is a
different country, with a different culture, workforce and economy. Nevertheless most surveys on the
subject demonstrate a fair amount of unanimity, providing employers far and wide with an insight into
the needs, wishes and expectations of present and potential employees.
For us at Sierra Rutile the value in knowing what motivates our current workforce to work with us, as
well as what would attract Sierra Leone’s brightest and best, cannot be overstated. We have long been
the employer of choice for the country’s most talented individuals – as evidenced by our past and
present roll call, and retaining that position remains a key strategic objective.
Employer of choice is a term coined to describe the companies considered to be the most attractive to work for. It became a goal for businesses across
diverse industries partly as a response to tight labour market conditions, when employers were competing fiercely for talent in a context of low
unemployment and skills shortages. However even in more uncertain economic times, there are clear benefits to being an employer of choice - improved
retention, employee loyalty, and recruitment efforts that successfully attract highly skilled applicants.
Sierra Rutile’s efforts in this area are focused on creating a culture of learning and development, a fast-track career route for those with the most potential
and a working environment which values everyone and their contribution.
In pursuit of these goals, we have introduced a localisation strategy which will, over the next two years, identify the company’s most talented Sierra
Leonean employees and begin the process of fast-tracking them into jobs as supervisors, managers and top technicians within our organisation. We are also
committed to meeting the training and development needs of all our employees, both to support their career progression and to ensure the company
continues to thrive.
The high value we place on our employees can also be seen in our ongoing investment in their health and safety; and those amongst us who have
performed at one of our karaoke nights, competed in our Independence Day sports day or attended January’s two day celebration to officially commission
the Lanti Dry Mining, can testify to our efforts to create a balance between work and leisure.
Responsible corporate behaviour is a strand of the debate often forgotten in the discussion about what makes an
employer of choice. We know that our CSR work is important to our staff, not just
because research in this area indicates that employees would rather work
for a good employer that contributes to the welfare of society than for a
poor employer that cares only about itself; but also because we witness on SAFETY SCORE BOARD AS AT 31st July 2013
a daily basis the personal contribution that many of our employees make in
this area.
FREE DAYS 254
TARGET 300
PREVIOUS LOSS TIME INJURY (LTI) RECORD 205
FATAL INCIDENT FREE DAYS 1834

JULY 2013
2013 Q3 RUTILE PRODUCTION VERSUS TARGETS -
THRESHOLD, BUDGET AND STRETCH
SAFETY BITS - DRIVING SAFETY
RUTILE, MT
40,000
35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
35,167
31,863
30,325
13,019
10,854 10,854 11,226
11,796
11,354
9,791 10,288
9,308 9,780
Q3 Totals Jul Aug Sep
10,794
Last month’s Safety Bits focused on the subject of driver fatigue and
promised some tips on how to avoid it.
• Cabin environment can play an important role in helping keep fatigue
at bay. Aim for a normal cabin temperature – not too hot or cold, with
plenty of fresh air and comfortable seating. Conversation and music
can also help keep you alert.
• Although breaks are not a substitute for sleep, they can be
reinvigorating during periods of reduced alertness. Drivers should get
out of the cab every two to three hours - stretch, walk around and even
exercise a little. A meal or snack to raise blood sugar levels can be
helpful … and drink plenty of water.
• For drivers who have already noticed the symptoms of fatigue a short
nap (even for as little as 20 or 30 minutes) might supplement major
sleep periods.
• Caffeine, from coffee, cola nuts or chocolate bars can stimulate
alertness, but this effect will last only for short periods of time and
should never be considered a cure for fatigue.
Actual Threshold Budget Stretch
In July we produced 10,854 mt of Rutile which was below budget, SGR product quality for the month was 95.5% TiO2
SIERRA RUTILE’S SCRAP METAL BOOSTS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
SRL’S MINING LAKES TRANSFORMED
INTO FISH FARMS
Sierra Rutile has hit upon an ingenious way to raise environmental awareness and contribute to local community development - by capitalising on the
growing global market for scrap metals, and transforming its scrap into cash.
With high demand for recovered metals from countries like China and India, scrap metal is big business. One recent analysis of the industry predicted the
worldwide market for steel scrap alone would reach 761 million tons by 2018.
Communities around SRL’s mining operations gathered together last month,
to harvest and release thousands of tilapia and cat fish into old dredge
ponds. The initiative was part of Sierra Rutile’s expanding fish farming
venture which rehabilitates old dredge ponds into alternative sources of
revenue, employment and food.
As exemplified by the aquaculture programme, Sierra Rutile’s approach to
rehabilitating mined land, balances social and community needs with
environmental considerations so that rehabilitated land can become
equally, if not more, valuable to local communities.
The fish farming venture started in 1990 and Ansumana Jabati, SRL’s EHS
Manager, explains how it came about: “It was arrived at after a series of
stakeholder consultations aimed at identifying the needs of surrounding
communities, and discussing how we could change old dredge ponds into
sustainable economic opportunities.”
The project was put on hold during the war and restarted after the war. In
2011, 73,953 young fish were released; in 2012, this figure increased to
142,247 and this year the number is expected to reach 180,000.
Sierra Rutile’s fish breeding project is managed by aquaculture engineer,
Edward Yambasu. He buys fingerlings (baby fish) locally and rears them in
special breeding ponds just outside the Plant Site. Once the fish are
released into the dredge ponds, there is a three-month ban on fishing while
the fish mature.
Mr Yambasu says the programme “contributes to the economic well-being
of the area and Sierra Leone more generally, by supporting other Sierra
Leonean businesses, employing local labour and increasing food security.”
The aquaculture programme also supports the Government’s recently
launched Agenda for Prosperity which aims to increase the supply of fish
for the domestic market by at least 15% annually, particularly from
semi-industrial, artisanal, inland, and aquaculture fisheries activities.
Sierra Rutile generates large quantities of scrap metal each year and has accumulated several tons over the years. Instead of allowing it to become an
eyesore and an environmental blight, the company saw an opportunity to realise its worth and use it to fund community projects.
In June, Sierra Rutile’s CAD department held a community and stakeholder consultation on the subject, subsequent to which a Scrap Metal Committee was
formed, made up of Paramount Chiefs, Councillors from mining affected chiefdoms and other significant community representatives.
The Scrap Metal Committee is responsible for turning Sierra Rutile’s scrap metal into money. It handles all sales and ensures that proceeds are divided up
amongst community groups, including youth and women’s groups and used to fund community projects. In the last two months the Committee has already
raised Le 100,000,000 (one hundred million Leones) for community development.
Prince Cotay, Sierra Rutile’s CAD manager, says of the initiative: “Sierra Rutile’s scrap metal has turned into a win-win for the company and the community.
By donating our scrap metal to the Scrap Metal Committee, we are helping conserve the world’s natural resources and contributing to local development
projects.”
CAD WELCOMES PROFESSOR OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Professor Mark Orrs, Director of Sustainable Development at Lehigh University Pennsylvania, recently visited the Plant Site and held meetings with
CAD staff and community stakeholders to identify opportunities for possible collaboration to help in improving the quality of lives of the
communities. The meeting was attended by community representatives including the Bonthe District Council Chairperson, Paramount Chiefs,
councillors, and youth and women’s leaders from SRL mining chiefdoms. The meeting was fruitful as it provided an opportunity for CAD and
community members to share valuable information that will help enhance sustainable development in SRL mining communities. Key areas identified
for support included restoration of mined out areas, education, roads and agriculture.