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AFRIcA DoWn UnDeR

Nothing new about ESG

ase Resources Ltd manag- far removed from box checking.”
Bing director Tim Carstens can Davies also described ESG
vividly recall the exact moment requirements as now being a
he knew ESG needed to be cen- “performance game rather than
tral to the way mining companies a compliance game”.
functioned. Lycopodium has a 26-year
“I knew that this had really history of building projects for
shifted when it became an enor- various clients across the Afri-
mous topic of conversation with can continent and has success-
PE firms and they wanted to talk fully imparted a number of ESG
about your approach [to ESG] legacies into the communities in
because their endowment funds which they have operated.
in the US were asking them lots Dawson said the main driv-
of questions about how were we ers for ESG will always depend
having a positive impact in the on the audience which is in the
places in which we’re operating,” spotlight.
he said. “At a corporate level we’ll have
“Once it’s starting to go compliance being driven to us;
through the more mercenary at an operational level, our audi-
side of finance, you know it’s ence would be the people on the
resonating.” ground, our true stakeholders
Speaking during a panel ses- on the ground,” Dawson said.
sion on ESG at Africa Down “I think the difference we have
Under, Carstens marvelled at seen as contractors over a pe-
the acceleration of the topic over riod of time demonstrates the
not just the past five years but way you need to be evolving
especially the last 12 months. At Lycopodium’s Peter Dawson and Base Resources managing director your ESG obligations. The ef-
the 2020 Mining Indaba in Cape Tim Carstens dissect ESG issues during a panel session on the final fort you put into the ESG based
Town, most companies had day of Africa Down Under. They were joined remotely by DLA Piper upon what’s good for the stake-
an ESG slide in their presenta- partner Rhys Davies holder will come back and pay
tion and were only too happy to you in the future.
discuss the latest buzzword in the sector in in the culture, to operationalise to a point “So, from a contractor’s point of view, our
great detail. where someone says ‘hey, this is all lawful, policy is to always leave good legacy, and
The emergence of ESG was further but it might not pass the pub test, maybe we that legacy has put us in good standing for
rammed home for Carstens during one of should just take a breath and revisit this with the next project we engage with in Africa.”
Base’s biannual meetings with its major a set of clearly articulated corporate values During his presentation preceding the
shareholder Fidelity Australia. and a real understanding of what our stake- panel session, Perseus Mining Ltd manag-
“Of an hour and 15 minutes, about 40 min- holders expect of us’, that’s the challenge,” ing director Jeff Quartermaine spent more
utes was spent on ESG topics,” Carstens Davies said. than half of his time at the lectern discussing
said. “They wanted to understand how we “Getting that into the culture and living that his company’s commitment to ESG princi-
thought about these things, how we linked on a day-to-day basis is really what this is all ples, particularly in light of the coronavirus
that into strategy, how it flowed through to about. It’s much easier said than done, but I outbreak.
the bottom line, why did we see it as making think that’s got to be the objective. And that’s “For some people, this is a new concept;
business sense.” you hear it wrapped up in a shiny bow and
ESG has become a major talking point people talk extensively about ESG, but for
through 2020 not just because of the global what we do and have done, this is not new;
COVID-19 pandemic but in light of Rio Tinto this is what we’ve been doing forever,” Quar-
Ltd’s wrongful destruction of the historic termaine said.
Juukan Gorge caves in the Pilbara region of “The recent COVID pandemic and our
Western Australia. response has been a good example of us
DLA Piper partner Rhys Davies, who walking the talk, so to speak, and trying to
joined Carstens and Lycopodium Ltd direc- bring about good health and wellbeing in our
tor of strategy and corporate development host communities.
Peter Dawson via video link for the ESG “We don’t seek to claim credit for any-
panel discussion, described the Juukan thing…but I must say we are very pleased
Gorge incident as an example of the “com- by the fact that through the efforts of all of
pliance trap”. the people we were able to keep infections
“You can make all the right policy state- at a minimum in the countries [where we
ments and you can say all the right things, operate].”
but if you haven’t found a way to embed that – Michael Washbourne
Jeff Quartermaine

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