ENDEAVOUR PUBLISHES 2021 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
HIGHLIGHTS
London, 25 May 2022 – Endeavour Mining plc (LSE:EDV, TSX:EDV, OTCQX:EDVMF) (“Endeavour”, the “Group” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the publication of its 2021 Sustainability Report (“the Report”) with key environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) highlights presented in Table 1 below. The report and the ESG data centre are available at www.endeavourmining.com/esg/reports.
Table 1: Sustainability Highlights
FY-2021 | FY-2020 | Variance | |
Operating | |||
Gold production, koz | 1,536 | 908 | +69% |
AISC, $/oz | 885 | 873 | +1% |
LTIFR1 | 0.20 | 0.26 | (23%) |
Environment | |||
Energy intensity, GJ/oz of gold produced1 | 7.04 | 6.41 | +10% |
Emissions intensity (Scope1+2), tCO2-e/oz of gold produced1 | 0.54 | 0.48 | +13% |
Water withdrawal efficiency, kl/oz gold produced1 | 6.4 | 7.7 | (17%) |
Social and Economic Contributions | |||
National Employees, % of total employees | 95 | 95 | - |
West African Nationals in Senior Management positions2, % | 55 | 66 | (17%) |
Procurement spend in-country, % | 80 | 74 | +8% |
Total economic contribution to host countries, $m | 2,029 | 1,023 | +98% |
(1) Data includes full calendar year performance of the Teranga Gold Corporation (“Teranga”) assets, which were acquired in February 2021. FY-2020 and FY-2021 performance data excludes contributions from the non-core Agbaou mine, which was divested in March 2021. (2) Includes regional West African expatriates
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The Report details the Company’s enhanced ESG strategy and sets out a number of ambitions, including 2022 objectives, across environmental stewardship, social engagement and ethical business practices, which are aligned to robust and transparent disclosure practices and tied to executive and group compensation plans.
The report has been prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (“GRI”) Sustainability Reporting Standards: Core Option, including the Mining and Metals Sector Supplement. The report is also aligned with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (“SASB”) requirements, Task Force for Climate Related Financial Disclosures (“TCFD”), and the Local Procurement Reporting Mechanism (“LPRM”). It has been externally assured against key ESG performance indicators for both GRI and SASB. The report also covers progress on the implementation of the World Gold Council’s Responsible Gold Mining Principles (“RMGPs”).
Sebastien de Montessus, President and CEO, commented: “2021 was a transformational year for Endeavour as we became West Africa’s leading gold producer. Our continued growth has allowed us to leverage our scale to build an ambitious and impactful ESG strategy, centered on our purpose; to produce gold that provides lasting value to society.
I strongly believe that we can have a powerful impact on the communities and host countries where we operate by offering a range of socio-economic development opportunities, from employment, upskilling our workers, supporting local businesses and providing indirect jobs via our supply chain, paying our fair share of taxes and royalties, through to community projects such as infrastructure, healthcare, education and income generating activities.
Our business activity focuses on employing and upskilling local talent, to create qualified professionals whose salaries are six times higher than the average in the country. Currently, 95% of our employees are from host countries and nearly half of senior management at the operational level is West African. With regards to gender diversity and inclusion, we have continued to make progress. Over the past two years, we have significantly increased the number of women in our senior management team and currently 24% of the direct reports to members of the Executive Management Committee are women.
In 2021, our local procurement supported 1,700 businesses in our host countries. On top of that, we invested significantly in local initiatives to improve access to water, education and health facilities within our local communities and across the region. Combining this with our payroll and the taxes and royalties we paid to host governments, we spent approximately $2 billion dollars in our countries of operations.
As a responsible miner, we aim to use our resources in the most efficient manner possible, across all aspects of our business. Starting from our exploration activities which are focused on extending mine lives to discovering new projects which provides us with the long-term production visibility to being responsible with our large tenements which our host countries have entrusted us with. We are diligent in relinquishing non-core exploration properties to our host governments and divest non-core assets to parties who are better positioned to continue to extract value for all stakeholders.
We also have a responsibility to protect our surrounding environment and play our role in tackling broader global challenges such as biodiversity and climate change. In 2021, we set out our long-term ambition to be Net Zero by 2050 alongside our medium-term target of reducing emissions by 30% by 2030. We have already progressed to the next step of identifying the key abatement opportunities across our portfolio that we will deploy to meet those targets, including the use of solar and other renewable power sources at a number of our operations. Beyond climate, we know that biodiversity is an increasing focus for our stakeholders, and we look forward to providing an update on our activities as the year progresses.
Overall, I am pleased with the progress that we continue to make on ESG, however, we know that this is an area where we can never stand still. Responsible gold mining not only provides a strong social license to operate but can positively impact a wide range of stakeholders. We are determined to maintain our role as a trusted partner and bring about meaningful change where we operate.”
2021 ESG PERFORMANCE
2021 was a strong year for Endeavour’s ESG activities with important milestones achieved across the Company’s operations and in its engagement with host communities and countries, as shown in Table 2 below. In addition, the Company announced an ambitious ESG strategy, upgraded and implemented a number of Group policies, standards and performance management systems, continued the implementation of the World Gold Council’s RGMPs, and achieved the majority of the Group’s ESG 2021 targets.
Table 2: 2021 ESG Scorecard
TOPIC | TARGET | COMMENTARY | |
ENVIRONMENT | Climate change | Develop and implement an emissions reduction strategy. | Ongoing. Announced long-term ambition to be Net Zero by 2050 with a medium-term target of -30% reduction by 2030. Commenced detailed study to identify abatement opportunities across the portfolio. |
Biodiversity | Develop and implement a biodiversity strategy. | Ongoing. Extensive audit conducted, including a benchmark against the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosure framework. Biodiversity policy and strategy expected to be finalised in 2022. | |
Water | Review water management strategy with a view to defining water targets in 2022. | Ongoing. Will include probabilistic climate modelling to inform targets. | |
Protection | Zero major environmental incidents. | Achieved. | |
SOCIAL | Culture and values | Establish Endeavour’s values and culture across acquired assets. | Achieved. Acquired assets have all been fully integrated into Endeavour’s West African operating model. |
Education | Develop a strategy to integrate new local competencies across various internship programmes. | Ongoing. In 2021, the number of internships offered increased by 65% to 352 interns. This strategy will be further advanced in 2022. | |
Community Engagement | Review and update the Group social performance management system. | Achieved. New social performance management system completed in 2021 including new social responsibility policy, standards and operational procedure. | |
Economic development | Establish the Endeavour Foundation, the Group’s primary vehicle for sustainability projects, and start implementing key projects. | Achieved. Endeavour Foundation launched in June 2021. First education project launched in Q4-2021. | |
Adopt the LPRM to augment reporting and visibility of local procurement strategy. | Achieved. Included in the Sustainability Report published in June 2021. | ||
GOVERNANCE | Zero Harm and Employee Well-being | Zero fatalities. | Achieved. |
10% reduction in Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (“TRIFR”) vs 20201 | Achieved, with a 13% reduction year on year. | ||
10% reduction in malaria cases vs 20201 | Achieved, with a 12% reduction year on year. | ||
Develop & implement Group Occupational Health and Hygiene (“OHH”) strategy and operational baseline study. | Ongoing. Completed baseline OHH assessments. Group OHH strategy will be finalised in 2022. | ||
Diversity and Inclusion | Continue to improve gender diversity with a particular focus on increasing percentage of women in leadership and technical roles. | Ongoing. Overall percentage of women remained flat, there was a 33% increase in the number of women in technical roles, to 12%, and an increase in the number of women appointed to Vice President level. | |
Increase the percentage of nationals in leadership roles. | Ongoing. Number of local community nationals promoted to senior manager roles increased two percentage points from 3% to 5%. Total number of West African nationals (including regional expatriates) in senior management roles was 55%. | ||
Ethical Business | Commence the process to become members of the UN Global Compact (“UNGC”) and the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (“VPSHR”). | Achieved. Joined UNGC in November 2021 and submitted formal membership application in March 2022. | |
Join the Single Mine Origin (“SMO”) initiative. | Achieved. | ||
Develop a new Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. | Achieved. Approved by the Board in March 2022 and rolled out across the Group. | ||
(1) based on legacy Endeavour assets prior to the acquisition of Teranga |
During 2021, the Company completed the successful integration of Teranga into Endeavour’s West African operating model. Given the nature of those assets and different historic priorities, this acquisition influenced Endeavour’s ESG performance in some areas, particularly energy consumption and carbon emissions. Endeavour has drawn up comprehensive plans to optimise these assets from an operational and ESG perspective and is currently working to implement those plans.
The Group also worked on continuing to increase its ESG disclosure and transparency, which resulted in improved rating agency scores. Most notably, Endeavour’s Sustainalytics score improved to a 29th percentile ranking in the gold subsector up from a 72nd percentile ranking previously (whereby 1 is the lowest risk), while its S&P Global SAM score improved by 22 points from a 49-percentile ranking in 2020 to a 71-percentile ranking in 2021 (where 100 is the best score). Endeavour’s CDP Climate Change and Water scores both remained a C in 2021, while MSCI continues to rank Endeavour a BBB.
ENVIRONMENT
Endeavour has a ‘Zero Harm’ approach to environmental management, which is underpinned by its Environmental Policy. In 2021, the Group reported no significant environmental incidents or significant incidents involving cyanide.
Emissions and Energy
Energy is a critical input for mining operations. It is also a significant business cost and a major source of Endeavour’s GHG emissions. Working to improve the efficiency of its operations, reduce energy use and associated costs, and lower emissions are key drivers of the long-term sustainability of the Group. During 2021, Endeavour undertook an emissions abatement study across all its operations to investigate opportunities to reduce emissions. This study underpins its strong commitment to reducing its emissions and energy use. Key highlights for the year are listed below.
Table 3: Emissions Performance by mine 1
FY-2021 | FY-2020 | Variance (%) | |
Aggregate Emissions (Scope1+2), kt | |||
Houndé | 162.8 | 126.3 | +29% |
Ity | 117.6 | 115.5 | +2% |
Mana | 132.9 | 108.4 | +23% |
Boungou | 86.0 | 64.0 | +34% |
Karma | 46.2 | 47.4 | (2%) |
Sabodala-Massawa | 192.8 | n.a. | n.a. |
Wahgnion | 113.6 | n.a. | n.a. |
Corporate | 1.3 | n.a. | n.a. |
Group Total | 853.2 | 461.9 | +85% |
Emissions Intensity (Scope1+2), tCO2-e/oz | |||
Houndé | 0.55 | 0.47 | +17% |
Ity | 0.43 | 0.38 | +13% |
Mana | 0.65 | 0.49 | +33% |
Boungou | 0.49 | 0.45 | +9% |
Karma | 0.53 | 0.48 | +10% |
Sabodala-Massawa | 0.51 | n.a. | n.a. |
Wahgnion | 0.69 | n.a. | n.a. |
Group Total | 0.54 | 0.45 | + 20% |
(1) FY-2021 performance includes full calendar year consolidation of the Teranga assets, which were acquired in February 2021. FY-2020 and FY-2021 performance excludes contributions from Agbaou which was divested in March 2021. |
Table 4: Energy Performance by mine 1
FY-2021 | FY-2020 | Variance (%) | |
Total Energy Consumption, GJ | |||
Houndé | 1,825,431 | 1,615,355 | +13% |
Ity | 1,428,339 | 1,446,685 | -1% |
Mana | 1,857,686 | 1,534,533 | +21% |
Boungou | 1,198,567 | 971,298 | +23% |
Karma | 658,789 | 679,798 | -3% |
Sabodala-Massawa | 2,615,759 | n.a. | n.a. |
Wahgnion | 1,527,433 | n.a. | n.a. |
Group Total | 11,112,003 | 6,247,671 | +78% |
Energy Intensity, GJ/oz | |||
Houndé | 6.21 | 5.83 | +7% |
Ity | 5.25 | 6.79 | (23%) |
Mana | 9.08 | 12.68 | (28%) |
Boungou | 6.88 | 10.33 | (34%) |
Karma | 7.52 | 6.94 | +8% |
Sabodala-Massawa | 6.85 | n.a. | n.a. |
Wahgnion | 9.31 | n.a. | n.a. |
Group Total | 7.04 | 7.78 | (10%) |
(1) FY-2021 performance includes full calendar year consolidation of the Teranga assets, which were acquired in February 2021. FY-2020 and FY-2021 performance excludes contributions from Agbaou which was divested in March 2021. |
Water Stewardship
Endeavour seeks to maximise water reuse and recycling through closed-circuit configurations, which helps to reduce overall consumption. Key highlights for the year are listed below.
Table 5: Water Performance by mine 1
FY-2021 | FY-2020 | Variance (%) | |
Aggregate water withdrawal, ML | |||
Houndé | 2,785 | 2,215 | +26% |
Ity | 1,862 | 1,785 | +4% |
Mana | 778 | 2,397 | (67%) |
Boungou | 1,148 | 454 | +153% |
Karma | 547 | 525 | +4% |
Sabodala-Massawa | 1,668 | n.a | n.a |
Wahgnion | 1,253 | n.a | n.a |
Group Total | 10,042 | 7,376 | +36% |
Water withdrawal intensity, kl/oz | |||
Houndé | 9.48 | 8.00 | +19% |
Ity | 6.85 | 8.39 | (18%) |
Mana | 3.81 | 10.97 | (65%) |
Boungou | 6.59 | 2.93 | +125% |
Karma | 6.24 | 5.35 | +17% |
Sabodala-Massawa | 4.37 | n.a | n.a |
Wahgnion | 7.64 | n.a | n.a |
Group Total | 6.36 | 7.68 | (17%) |
(1) FY-2021 performance includes full calendar year consolidation of the Teranga assets, which were acquired in February 2021. FY-2020 and FY-2021 performance excludes contributions from Agbaou which was divested in March 2021. |
Tailings Storage Facilities Management
Biodiversity
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC BENEFITS
Endeavour’s ESG strategy reflects its focus on supporting the socioeconomic development of its host countries, using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as the beacons that guide its strategy. Endeavour believes that it can have a powerful impact on the communities and host countries where it operates by offering a range of socio-economic development opportunities, from employment, upskilling its workforce, supporting local businesses and community projects such as infrastructure, healthcare, education and income generating activities.
As an acknowledgment of Endeavour’s positive impact on its surrounding communities, its Ity mine in Cote d’Ivoire won the national 2021 Mining Excellence Award, with particular commendation for its work on the promotion of national talent and contribution to local procurement.
In June 2021, the Endeavour Foundation was established which will be the Company’s primary vehicle to implement its regional, national and cross-border ESG projects. Its first project, providing educational bursaries to talented students, was completed in Q4-2021.
Supporting Local Economies
Endeavour prioritises in-country suppliers of goods and services as well as the development of domestic manufacturing and supply chains, which in turn, multiplies the Group’s positive impact on the local, regional and national economies of host countries, strengthens local businesses and creates direct and indirect employment. The majority of the Group’s supply chain sources key supplies from either in-country or within the West African region. In addition, Endeavour contributes to national economies through the Group’s significant tax and royalty payments to host governments, as well as continuing to prioritise investments into host community development projects.
Key highlights for the year are listed below.
Table 6: Economic Contribution Indicators
FY-2021 | FY-2020 | Variance (%) | |
National procurement, $m | 1,262 | 622 | +103% |
Payments to host governments, $m1 | 543 | 262 | +106% |
Employee wages and benefits, $m | 164 | 99 | +67% |
Taxes on salaries paid, $m | 49 | 15 | +227% |
Total social investments, $m | 26 | 25 | +4% |
Total economic contribution to host countries, $m | 2,044 | 1,023 | +100% |
(1) Includes taxes, royalties and dividends to government owned non-controlling interests.
Growing Local Talents
In 2021, Endeavour’s workforce continued to grow as a result of the Teranga acquisition, increasing by 26% over 2020. At year-end, Endeavour's total workforce comprised 14,258 people; 5,951 employees and 8,307 contractors. Key highlights from 2021 are listed below.
Table 7: Employee Diversity Indicators
FY-2021 | FY-2020 | Variance (%) | |
National Employees, % of total employees | 95 | 95 | - |
Female Employees, % of total employees | 9 | 8 | +13% |
Female Employees in technical roles, % of female employees | 12 | 9 | +20% |
West African Nationals in Senior Management Positions1, % | 55 | 66 | (17%) |
(1) Includes regional West African expatriates. |
Local Stakeholder Engagement
ETHICAL BUSINESS
2022 OUTLOOK
Endeavour seeks to continue the momentum of the strong ESG performance demonstrated in 2021 by continuing to implement its ESG strategy, with clear targets identified for 2022, as detailed in Table 8.
Table 8: 2022 ESG Objectives and Targets
TOPIC | TARGETS | |
ENVIRONMENT | Climate change | Finalise decarbonisation strategy roadmap. |
Water | Set a Group water target in 2022. | |
Biodiversity | Protect and preserve 600 hectares of land across all of Endeavour’s tenements. | |
10 hectares per mine (60 hectares in total) for land and biodiversity restoration. | ||
Plastic Waste | Develop a ‘Towards Zero Plastic’ strategy. | |
Eliminate single use plastic water bottles at all operations by 2023. | ||
SOCIAL | Economic development | Define a Local Content Policy. |
Develop a Local Procurement Plan, target up to 75% in-country procurement. | ||
Identify a new ECODEV business prospect in 2022 to advance to feasibility stage. | ||
Education | Expand the ‘Elites de Demain’ programme in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire. | |
Develop a national strategy and programme for youth employability in each country of operation. | ||
Increase annual intake of interns by 20% compared to 2021. | ||
Health | 10% reduction in either total cases of malaria or the incidence rate at the mines. | |
Access to Water and Electricity | Conduct baseline assessment of the infrastructure and amenities at each of mine to identify the areas where the Company can provide additional support. | |
GOVERNANCE | Human Rights | Conduct baseline human rights assessment across the expanded asset base and continue membership process of the VPSHR. |
Zero Harm and Employee Well-being | Reduce TRIFR by at least 5% year on year. | |
Finalise Group Occupational Health and Hygiene strategy. | ||
Diversity and Inclusion | Establish a Diversity Steering Committee. | |
Develop leadership training programme for employees in management positions. | ||
Implement the Women Empowerment Principles. | ||
Ethical Business | Publish first externally assured Conflict Free Gold Standard Report. | |
Publish first standalone Tax and Economic Contribution Report. | ||
GROUP AND EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION PLANS
Endeavour has measurable ESG targets in place that form part of its executive compensation scheme. The ESG component of the Short-term Incentive Scheme (annual) has been increased from 20% for 2020 to 30% for 2021, while the ESG component of the Long-term Incentive Scheme (3-year) has increased from 12.5% to 15%, with targets presented in Table 9 below.
Table 9: Group and Executive ESG KPIs
FY-2022 | FY-2021 | FY-2020 | ||||||
Target | Weighting | Target | Weighting | Target | Weighting | |||
SHORT-TERM INCENTIVE | 5% reduction in TRIFR | 15% | 10% reduction in TRIFR | 10% | 10% reduction in TRIFR | 10% | ||
75% host country sourcing | 10% | 10% reduction in malaria cases vs 2020 | 10% | 25% increase in female representation from 8% to 10% |
10% | |||
A reduction in kgCO2-e/oz of gold produced, to be confirmed by the Board | 5% | |||||||
LONG-TERM INCENTIVE | Replace diesel generators with equivalent renewable power | 7.5% | Implementation of a Carbon Reduction Strategy and commissioning of at least one significant renewable energy power plant by end of 2023 | 12.5% | External assurance of the RGMPs | 12.5% | ||
All TSFs compliant with international standards at existing mines | 7.5% |
CONTACT INFORMATION
Martino De Ciccio | Brunswick Group LLP in London | |
VP – Strategy & Investor Relations | Carole Cable, Partner | |
+44 203 640 8665 | +44 7974 982 458 | |
mdeciccio@endeavourmining.com | ccable@brunswickgroup.com | |
Vincic Advisors in Toronto | ||
John Vincic, Principal | ||
+1 647 402 6375 | ||
john@vincicadvisors.com |
ABOUT ENDEAVOUR
MINING
PLC
Endeavour Mining is one of the world’s senior gold producers and the largest in West Africa, with operating assets across Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso and a strong portfolio of advanced development projects and exploration assets in the highly prospective Birimian Greenstone Belt across West Africa.
A member of the World Gold Council, Endeavour is committed to the principles of responsible mining and delivering sustainable value to its employees, stakeholders and the communities where it operates. Endeavour is listed on the London and Toronto Stock Exchanges, under the symbol EDV.
For more information, please visit: www.endeavourmining.com.
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" including but not limited to, statements with respect to Endeavour's plans and operating performance, the estimation of mineral reserves and resources, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of future production, future capital expenditures, and the success of exploration activities. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects", "expected", "budgeted", "forecasts", and "anticipates". Forward-looking statements, while based on management's best estimates and assumptions, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: risks related to the successful integration of acquisitions; risks related to international operations; risks related to general economic conditions and credit availability, actual results of current exploration activities, unanticipated reclamation expenses; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; fluctuations in prices of metals including gold; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, increases in market prices of mining consumables, possible variations in ore reserves, grade or recovery rates; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labour disputes, title disputes, claims and limitations on insurance coverage and other risks of the mining industry; delays in the completion of development or construction activities, changes in national and local government regulation of mining operations, tax rules and regulations, and political and economic developments in countries in which Endeavour operates. Although Endeavour has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Please refer to Endeavour's most recent Annual Information Form filed under its profile at www.sedar.com for further information respecting the risks affecting Endeavour and its business.
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