Corporate Social Responsibility

Young-Davidson

Environment 

At Young-Davidson, we have designed the mine to utilize as much of the disturbed areas as possible from historical mining activities to minimize our environmental footprint. We have also engaged regulators early in the project design stage to ensure our planned activities meet or exceed applicable regulations.

The Young-Davidson Closure Plan, approved by the provincial government, outlines measures for mine development and eventual closure, which include:

• Reclaiming and restoring all affected sites and landscapes to stable and self-sustaining conditions
• Providing for mine closure using proven technologies in a manner consistent with sustainable development
• Continual monitoring and maintenance of locations affected by the mine to ensure long-term success

As part of the Environmental Management System being implemented, we have the following programs in place at the site:

• Waste Management Program
• Spill Contingency, Reporting and Response Plan and Procedures
• Propane Emergency Preparedness Plan
• Water Management Operation Manual (to ensure we are operating within our limits)
• Risk Assessments on all mine activities
• Monitoring for Ambient Air Quality offsite (part of a requirement for Air and Noise Certificate of Approval)
    

Community

The Young-Davidson mine enjoys a collaborative relationship with the surrounding communities. An example of this is participation with the Matachewan Aboriginal Access to Mining Jobs Training Strategy program (MAATS). Through this government funded program, students have been provided with the opportunity for hands-on training at Young-Davidson with the intent of hiring graduates of the program. Additionally, Young-Davidson strives to hire local contractors and employees whenever possible.

Additional community support that Young-Davidson provides includes:

• Major contributor to rebuilding the  Matachewan Curling Club
• Sponsorship of various initiatives such as the local hockey team, Festival of Trees and Relay for Life
• In-kind help with the Matachewan Outdoor hockey rink

Since September 2010, major construction activities have been underway at Young-Davidson and the Mine continues to work hard keep the community informed on its progress. We attend monthly town council meetings, host annual open houses and produce regular newsletters to keep the surrounding communities up-to-date on the progress of the Mine.

Safety

Creating a safe workplace for all our employees is a core value at Young-Davidson. During the construction phase, we re-focused and re-emphasized the importance of safety, continually providing safety training programs for the protection of our employees, with the ultimate goal of operating with zero lost-time injuries.

Our hard work and training has paid off, as Young-Davidson recently logged one million man hours without a lost time injury. As the Mine moves into the production phase, we will continue to improve our safety performance, and strive to be among the safest mine operators in the region.

Awards received include:

• 2011 Equipment Technician Award –Timmins District Mine Rescue Competition
• 2010 Safe Day Everyday Gold Award – Association for Mineral Exploration BC and the Prospectors Developers Association of Canada (PDAC)
    

Kemess

Environment

Our approach to responsible environmental practices is carried out from initial design to ultimate closure. Proper and early planning provides the greatest opportunity to ensure cost effective and long-term, self-sustaining success. We have employed this approach every step of the way at Kemess South; as the mine wrapped up its operations in early 2011, more than 60% of the land has already been reclaimed.

We have developed a detailed pre-closure and post-closure monitoring and reporting program for our long-term reclamation goals. This program is designed to monitor: vegetation growth and establishment, continued fish presence and habitat, water quality, and long-term stability and safety of the closed site. Where necessary, an adaptive management approach will allow for the development of alternative strategies to achieve our long-term reclamation goals.

Finally, we have worked extremely hard over the years with our waste rock characterization programs and waste rock management strategies to ensure Kemess South would not require long-term water treatment. A cornerstone of this objective is to ensure that the waste rock identified as potentially acid generating will be contained in permanent underwater storage, in either the tailings storage facility or within the open pit.

Kemess South has been recognized as a leader in mining reclamation practices. Some awards include:

• 2010 Mining and Sustainability Award – Mining Association of B.C. and the Province of British Columbia
• 2010 British Columbia Jake McDonald Annual Mine Reclamation Award outstanding reclamation achievements
• Metal Mining Reclamation Citation from the BC Technical & Research Committee for outstanding achievements in reclamation at a metal mine in British Columbia (three time recipien

For more information on the reclamation efforts at Kemess, please click here .

Strengthening Communities

AuRico’s work with the Ocampo stakeholder committee has identified the need to strengthen existing social structures and infrastructure. During 2010, we launched several initiatives that address these issues:

• New road: We built a road for neighbours south of Ocampo who were using a road that crossed through the mine installations.
• Cahuisori-Ocampo gravel road: We perform maintenance work on this road every month by covering it with screened mine-waste material, using an AuRico grader and rented haulage trucks.
• School improvement:AuRico has partnered with the public education secretary’s Schools of Excellence Program to contribute economic resources aimed at building new infrastructure at Ocampo’s secondary school. We have also provided children’s educational tools and materials that are not provided by the government (e.g., geometry sets, puzzles, painting supplies).
• Creek dredging: AuRico dredged the local creek to minimize the risk of flooding in the community during the rainy season.
• House repairs: At the request of a community group, we cooperated with local government authorities to repair seven houses.

Breaking Barriers to Education

AuRico recognizes that an educated population is very important in emerging economies. We therefore developed a scholarship program aimed at students who are pursuing a university degree and who are either native to the Ocampo region or who have a direct connection to members of an ejido located in an area in which AuRico operates.

The main objective of supporting young people from the areas in which we operate is to provide them with opportunities to complete a post-secondary education. AuRico’s financial contributions cover students’ tuition and school material expenses.

AuRico has also made significant investments – in cooperation with local, state, and federal governments – in maintaining local school facilities. We also support the federal school lunches program, which improves the quality and quantity of children’s lunches, ensures every child has access to lunch, and eliminates per-child quotas. Finally, every year we partner with schools and local governments to equip local academic, cultural, and sports groups with uniforms, food, housing, and transportation while they are taking part in competitions outside the region.

Healthier Communities

AuRico continues to offer medical assistance to local communities; such assistance includes 24-hour medical service, X-ray diagnostics, medicine, and ambulance transport for all local people. We also support Huajumar clinics by supplying medicines that are not provided by the IMSS (Mexico’s public health-care system). In 2010, we purchased an additional ambulance at Ocampo to better serve the local community.

In partnership with the IMSS, AuRico has introduced preventive health campaigns for workers and their communities. We have also cooperated with the IMSS to run a CARA event, in which teenagers from communities surrounding our operations participate in a basketball tournament and attend workshops on sex education and drug and alcohol abuse.

In part through AuRico’s efforts, the University of Chihuahua’s School of Medicine has brought dental health programs to the communities of Ocampo and Huajumar. We also partnered in 2010 with the Juvenile Integration Centre, which delivered workshops on alcohol and drug abuse prevention to our employees and their communities.

Local Skills Training

During 2010, AuRico maintained two important training programs that directly affected communities in which we operate:

• Truck Operator Training Program for local women: This three-month program teaches women basic equipment knowledge and maintenance practices, while developing their practical skills.
• Young Apprentice Training Program for local teenagers: The main objective of this three-month program is to train inexperienced teenagers in mining operations, thereby developing their technical skills and instilling a positive work attitude. Apprentices are selected and assigned to specific areas in accordance with their skills, preferences and labour demand.

For many community members who cannot hold full-time employment, we continually offer temporary jobs in areas such as forestry management, fence-building and maintenance, cleaning, and animal control.

Local Supplier Development

At the Ocampo Mine, AuRico continues to work with the Ocampo restaurant services provider, enabling seven local families to deliver over 300 lunches per day to underground workers. This procurement program makes it possible for local business groups in the area to generate over $400,000 per year in income. There are several other examples of our company’s local supplier development initiatives:

• Ocampo Haulage and Water Trucking Association: An organized group of local people who work for the mine driving haulage and water trucks.
• Hotel goods supplier: One business person from Ocampo supplies hotel goods.
• Small chicken farm: Built in partnership with the state government, this small-scale farm is operated by a local person who provides chickens to the local community.

For 2011, AuRico is evaluating a number of projects to support local residents. These include an earthworm compost nursery, expansion of the chicken farm, and a coal production plant. In all such projects, we lend money through a Productive Projects Fund. These concessionary investments must be paid back to the fund, thereby allowing the money to be reinvested by the community in future projects.

Community

In Australia, the Fosterville and Stawell Gold mines strive to make a positive contribution to their surrounding communities, providing both direct employment and support for local businesses and services. In particular, the Stawell Gold mine has been the largest employer within the Stawell Township since modern production began 27 years ago.

Both mines have long-established Community Grant Programs, which provide funds on a semi-annual basis to support community-based groups in strengthening the social fabric of small rural townships. Both sites offer grants to educational, social, recreational and environmental groups.

We work to ensure that all local stakeholders are engaged through consistent and comprehensive communication. Both sites offer a community newsletter and community meetings, providing updates and progress reports on mining activities. In addition, annual open houses are held at each mine for the surrounding communities.

Please click on the links for more information on the Stawell and Fosterville Community Grants Programs.

Environment

Reclamation activities are just as important during the operating cycle. In Australia, both the Fosterville and Stawell Gold mines continue to develop and implement reclamation strategies to enhance current sustainability practices.

At Fosterville, the site began the use of in-pit tailings storage in 2010. This is the first government approval for a gold mine in the state of Victoria that allows for the use of previously-mined open pits for tailings storage, preventing any further land disturbances. An additional benefit that is realized from in-pit disposal is eliminating an open void from the landscape, thereby re-establishing the local area to near its pre-mining landscape.

At Stawell, a number of environmental and reclamation accomplishments have been achieved.  This includes the re-vegetation of approximately 13 hectares of disturbed land. In addition, a closure strategy for the tailings dams to the environmental regulators has been submitted. An important closure initiative was undertaken in 2010 as the environmental team at Stawell commenced research on the effect of evapotranspiration from trees located on the site’s tailings dams. This research will help to determine the thickness of cover needed when rehabilitating the tailings dams and will minimize downstream impacts at closure.

Safety

Fosterville and Stawell continue to carry out business activities in Australia, with a commitment to maintaining the highest regard for employee health and safety.

In 2010, our site training efforts in emergency response were rewarded with Stawell taking first place in the 18th Annual Victorian Mine Rescue Competition. This is Stawell’s ninth win in the past 18 years.

This consistency demonstrates the Company's commitment to emergency response training and the commitment of our employees to our health and safety programs. Safety will continue to be a priority as we will continue to develop and provide training for the protection of the health and safety of our employees.