Suppliers

Suppliers provide the materials and goods needed at our operations, such as mining equipment, fuel, explosives and chemicals. Where possible, we try to purchase goods and services from local suppliers in surrounding communities or within the host country. In those cases where we can’t procure specialist goods or services locally, we work within our jurisdictions to improve capacity or, on occasion, import from external suppliers.

Contractors

Contractors are hired for numerous activities across all stages of the mining life cycle. They provide access to specialized technical knowledge and skills, cost efficiencies, and satisfy short-term capacity demands such as during shutdowns or routine maintenance.

Refiners

Refiners purchase gold doré bars in order to further process and purify the metal. Once purified, gold bullion is registered on a commodities exchange such as CME Group, or traded in markets such as the London Bullion Market.

End-Users

End-users of gold are widespread and include individuals, investors, scientists, manufacturers and central banks. The value of gold has been recognized for centuries and its unique properties (it is malleable, conductive, does not tarnish and alloys well) mean that the precious metal is used in a variety of applications, including jewelry, electronics and computers, dentistry and medicine, aerospace, and medals and awards.

Local Procurement

The purchase of goods and services typically makes up 50-60% of the production cost of mining. Increasing the share of procurement that is captured by local firms can have a significant impact on the domestic economy in our operating jurisdictions.

While we do not have a formal policy, we encourage the purchasing departments at all of our sites to hire locally and use local suppliers wherever possible. We take action at our sites to identify and work with local suppliers to improve their capacity and ability to work with us. This maximizes our positive economic contribution in the regions where we operate and creates an effective network of suppliers close to operations, improving our operational efficiency.

Our broad target is to increase the percentage of the materials purchased from companies near our operations and projects every year. Local suppliers are developing their businesses and are increasingly capable of providing a larger proportion of the products and services required at our sites. Domestic suppliers of goods and services were the biggest recipients of our supplier expenditure in 2015, accounting for 84% of our hostcountry investment.

Local Procurement:

• Creates jobs
• Promotes skill development and technology transfer
• Increases integration into global value chains
• Formalizes local economies
• Lowers procurement costs
• Strengthens our social licence to operate

Payments to Suppliers

We define “local” as procurement from contractors and suppliers located within the neighbouring villages and communities of our sites. However, for data-reporting purposes, we report on “payments to suppliers” within the categories of domestic and international suppliers only. Domestic suppliers include both local and national suppliers. If the money is spent within the country (even if the company is a multinational), we categorize it as an in-country or domestic spend.