Case study: How Antofagasta Minerals creates economic value for its stakeholders
Antofagasta Minerals is an international mining company based in Chile and one of the ten largest copper producers in the world. Antofagasta Minerals generates economic value for all its stakeholders Tweet This!, distributing it through wages, purchases of goods and services, contributions to local communities, taxes, dividends and the interest paid to its lenders. This direct distribution of economic value also generates indirect benefits through spending by employees, suppliers, the government and others.
This case study is based on the 2020 Sustainability Report by Antofagasta Minerals, 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
For Antofagasta Minerals, delivering economic value implies generating profits responsibly and with a long-term vision, incorporating unique and innovative solutions in business decisions to address challenges in the regions where it operates and working to tackle today’s global challenges. In order to create economic value for its stakeholders Antofagasta Minerals took action to:
- create economic value for suppliers, communities and lenders
- create economic value for shareholders, employees and governments
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Antofagasta Minerals has identified;
- How Antofagasta Minerals proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Antofagasta Minerals to create economic value for its stakeholders
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2020 Sustainability Report Antofagasta Minerals identified a range of material issues, such as ethics and compliance, GHG emissions, community relations, safety and health, water management. Among these, creating economic value for its stakeholders stands out as a key material issue for Antofagasta Minerals.
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 Antofagasta Minerals engages with:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
| People | · Regular site visits by senior management · On-site reviews · Work climate surveys · Performance evaluations · Regular meetings with unions and contract managers |
| Communities | · Engagement through different social programmes |
| Suppliers | · Regular meetings between the procurement team and suppliers |
| Customers | · The Chairman and several directors visit Japan each year to meet Antofagasta Minerals’ partners · Regular meetings with customers around the world |
| Shareholders | · Regular meetings with institutional investors and brokers’ analysts at industry conferences and roadshows, as well as in one-on-one meetings · Annual General Meeting · Regular production and financial reports and other ad-hoc information |
| Government and regulators | · Engagement with governments on public policy, laws, regulations and procedures |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritise material topics Antofagasta Minerals engaged with its stakeholders through a survey of its operations’ union leaders and interviews with external stakeholders.
What actions were taken by Antofagasta Minerals to create economic value for its stakeholders?
In its 2020 Sustainability Report Antofagasta Minerals reports that it took the following actions for creating economic value for its stakeholders:
- Creating economic value for suppliers, communities and lenders
- In 2020, Antofagasta Minerals:
- paid $3,439m to suppliers in payments for the purchase of utilities, goods and services
- spent $45.1m in communities through contributions and project funding
- paid $51.4m to lenders in Interest payments
- Creating economic value for shareholders, employees and governments
- In 2020, Antofagasta Minerals:
- paid $131.2m in dividends to shareholders
- spent $456m in employee salaries, wages and incentives
- spent $332.4m in Income taxes and other payments to governments
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 Antofagasta Minerals, 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.antofagasta.co.uk/media/4117/sustainability-report-2020.pdf
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