17 Aug 2020 07:00
HIGHLAND GOLD MINING LIMITED
17 August 2020
Highland Gold Publishes Debut Sustainability Report
Highland Gold Mining Limited ("Highland Gold" or the "Company", AIM: HGM) is pleased to announce the publication of its inaugural Sustainability Report for the year ended 31 December 2019, which signifies the Company's enhanced approach to sustainable development.
Highland Gold has for many years published information on how it approaches creating long-term value and sustainable business practices and this report re-affirms the Company's commitment of placing ESG at the core of its strategy. The report explores the topics that are of greatest importance to stakeholders, seeks to provide full transparency, gives interested parties the opportunity to easily access the information they need and enable them to benchmark the performance of the Company alongside its peer group. These topics include details on health and safety, environmental stewardship, social investments, labour relations and governance.
The Company recognises the growing need to align its reporting practices with commonly accepted ESG reporting standards. To this end, the report has been completed in accordance with the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards (Core Option), including GRI G4 Mining and Metals Sector Disclosures.
The full report can be accessed on the web at www.highlandgold.com/home/sustainability and serves as the centrepiece of a revamped Sustainability section of the Company's website.
2019 Key Sustainability Highlights
• Awarded the grand prix for social responsibility at MINEX 2019, the largest metals and mining industry forum in Russia.
• Ranked #2 for lowest environmental impact among the 40 largest metals & mining companies in Russia by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature.
• Lost Time in Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) at 2.6, down 35% from 2018.
• No tailings-related incidents registered
• 93% of water withdrawn recycled or reused
• 5,443 tonnes of waste plastic collected during a company-wide environmental initiative
• US$2.2m invested in environmental protection initiatives, a 22% increase from 2018
• 17 environmental audits completed, a 44% increase from 2018
• 3,149 employees benefitted from training during 2019
• US$1.7m invested in social projects
Enhanced approach to sustainable development
• Appointed a Deputy CEO for Sustainable Development
• Carried out extensive external health and safety audit
• Pioneered a culture improvement programme centred around core company values
• Conducted the first company-wide employee engagement survey
• Introduced remuneration linked to HSE KPIs and compliance with the Cardinal Safety Rules
• Performed comprehensive analysis of the Company's corporate environmental management system
• Established workers councils at each of our operating sites
Denis Alexandrov, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"I am delighted to present Highland Gold's first sustainability report, a significant milestone for our company and testament to our continued commitment to being a responsible corporate citizen. This report was two years in the making and represents the culmination of our team's work to design and develop systems for collecting and analysing a range of pertinent data that will help us continuously measure our ESG performance. We are committed to placing sustainable development at the core of our strategy, and this document lays the foundations for our future reporting."
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Highland Gold Mining Ltd. | John Mann, Head of Communications + 7 495 424 95 21 Duncan Baxter, Non-Executive Director + 44 (0) 1534 814 202
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Numis Securities Limited (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker) | Paul Gillam, James Black +44 (0) 207 260 1000
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BMO Capital Markets Limited (Joint Broker) | Tom Rider, Pascal Lussier Duquette, Neil Elliot +44 (0) 207 236 1010
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Peat & Co (Joint Broker) | Charlie Peat +44 (0) 207 104 2334 |