Case study: How Gold Fields creates economic value for its stakeholders
Gold Fields is one of the world’s largest gold mining firms, with nine operating mines in Australia, Peru, South Africa and West Africa and one project in Chile. Creating enduring, sustainable value for all its stakeholders is a top priority for Gold Fields. Tweet This!
This case study is based on the 2021 Integrated Annual Report by Gold Fields, prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards, that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
In addition to its employees, Gold Fields seeks to make sure that all its stakeholders accrue real value from its mining activities. In order to create economic value for its stakeholders Gold Fields took action to:
- create economic value for employees
- create economic value for capital providers
- create economic value for contractors and suppliers
- create economic value for governments
- create economic value for host communities
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Gold Fields has identified;
- How Gold Fields proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Gold Fields to create economic value for its stakeholders
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2021 Integrated Annual Report Gold Fields identified a range of material issues, such as health and safety, human capital, environmental stewardship, human rights. Among these, creating economic value for its stakeholders stands out as a key material issue for Gold Fields.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups Gold Fields engages with:
| Stakeholder Group |
| Employees |
| Host communities |
| Financial market participants (shareholders, investors, capital providers and analysts) |
| Governments (national, regional and local) and regulators |
| Industry associations and mining peers |
| Media |
| Non-governmental and community-based organisations |
| Organised labour |
| Third parties (business partners, contractors and suppliers) |
| Traditional authorities |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritise material topics Gold Fields engaged with its stakeholders through interviews, receiving input from employees, host communities, governments, industry associations, media, third parties and traditional authorities.
What actions were taken by Gold Fields to create economic value for its stakeholders?
In its 2021 Integrated Annual Report Gold Fields reports that it took the following actions for creating economic value for its stakeholders:
- Creating economic value for employees
- In 2021, Gold Fields paid US$463m in employee salaries and benefits.
- Creating economic value for capital providers
- In 2021, Gold Fields paid US$454m to capital providers (interest and dividend payments).
- Creating economic value for contractors and suppliers
- In 2021, Gold Fields paid US$2,101m to contractors and suppliers (operations and capital procurement).
- Creating economic value for governments
- In 2021, Gold Fields paid US$558m in mining royalties and land-use payments, taxes, duties and levies.
- Creating economic value for host communities
- In 2021, Gold Fields spent US$16m in host communities’ socio-economic development.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standard addressed in this case is: Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed
Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.1, 8.2
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- Targets: 9.1, 9.4, 9.5
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References:
This case study is based on published information by Gold Fields, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:
https://www.goldfields.com/pdf/investors/integrated-annual-reports/2021/iar-2021.pdf
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