We are committed to engagement through meaningful dialogue, respect for local culture and acting in good faith.
We are committed to creating positive legacies and supporting shared value and opportunities across our business.
This approach delivers benefits to our employees and our diverse range of external stakeholders, including consultants, contractors, and communities. We put this into action each day at a corporate, operational, and business unit level to ensure we continue to achieve the expectations we aspire to as a leading organisation, and those of the communities we live and work in.
Our approach is outlined in more detail in our External Affairs and Social Performance Manual.
Communities
We are committed in engaging with the communities we live and work in through meaningful dialogue, respecting local cultures, and acting in good faith ensuring transparency to create a positive legacy beyond the life of the mine. In doing so, we strive to be a good neighbour and leave a positive legacy. This is fundamental to our values and our vision, from early exploration to project development, operation, until closure.
The concept of ‘community’ is normally used in the mining industry to indicate the geographic community in the operation’s area of interest. ‘Affected community’ applies to any group who is impacted by our activities. Within a community there is always diversity of values and interests; therefore we are mindful not to approach our engagement activities as if they were with one homogenous or static entity.
OceanaGold depends on the support of local communities to secure our business for the long-term. To be successful our social performance with communities is based on;
- Respectful and durable relationships;
- Consideration of community interests and expectations in the way we operate and manage our impacts;
- Respecting cultural heritage, traditional livelihoods, and community connections to land, water, and natural resources;
- Partnerships to enhance positive economic, environmental, and social outcomes;
- Culturally appropriate and respectful behaviour of employees and contractors; and
- Continuous improvement of our social performance.
We strongly believe the health and vitality of people is integral to creating happy and productive communities. We have invested extensively in community health to improve access to quality medical care at some of our locations, aiding and improving the standards of health care in the relevant host communities.
We are also committed to engaging with communities and incorporating their thoughts and innovations into, where possible, aspects of project planning and design. Likewise, broader community support is fundamental to ensure our operations continue to develop and extend into the future.
How we strive to be a good neighbour
Investing in innovation is important to alleviate impacts we may cause as a result of our operations, and in turn how we uphold the principles of social performance and interact with our communities.