Mining Shared Value, World Gold Council partner to rate member procurement practices

Mining Shared Value (MSV), a non-profit program of Engineers Without Borders Canada, is partnering with the World Gold Council (WGC) to assess the local procurement practices of its member companies, and to provide recommendations and profile best practices.

The study involves examination of public reporting as well as interviews with member companies, and three in-depth case-study visits to mine sites. The MSV team has recently visited the South Deep operation of Gold Fields in South Africa to speak with the company and its suppliers.

“With its social and economic contribution reports showing most in-country spending goes to procurement, the World Gold Council deserves credit for working with its member companies to highlight and promote the economic benefits for host communities and countries that can be created through local procurement,” Jeff Geipel, managing director of MSV, said in a news release.

Many mining companies have put in place very effective local procurement processes to support community-level and national suppliers, but often these success stories are not shared, MSV pointed out.

“The sustained social and economic contributions that gold mining companies make to the local communities where they operate is not well understood,” WGC chief strategy officer Terry Heyman said.

“We are thrilled to partner with Mining Shared Value to better understand the significant opportunities that exist when it comes to local procurement, which has the potential to create jobs and businesses that reach beyond the mining sector,” Heyman said.

“We hope this report will help all mining companies reflect on the way in which they procure their goods and services to maximize benefit to local communities.”

The study will be launched in London on December 1, during London Mining Week.