Kumba Iron Ore, one of South Africa’s biggest mining producers, keeps a close on sustainable development and recently published a report into its findings. Here we feature extracts from chief executive Chris Griffith’s summary of the report.

"This past year has seen challenges for global business, the likes of which have not been seen for decades. For South Africa, the global economic crisis has seen retrenchments in the mining industry.

Unprecedented power outages challenged our perceptions of ‘cheap, available’ electricity; and meeting the social expectations characterised in the Mining Charter - including corporate social investment and social equity - has resulted in refreshing perspectives on human development within and external to Kumba.

This is what sustainable development is about for us: making economic, social and environmental decisions in the face of global challenges to ‘business as usual’. Sustainable development is integrated into our business success by its designation as one of our strategic thrusts.

Good performance is our first priority across each of these areas: reporting on them is our commitment to transparency and accountability to all our stakeholders.

Performance highlights

I’m proud to announce that we were able to achieve a number of key sustainability targets that we set for ourselves, or that were required of us. Kumba is committed to responsible mining practices: creating a safe and healthy working environment, training and developing employees, conserving the environment and natural resources, and maximising our potential to contribute socially and economically. Below are a few of the issues most pertinent to the picture of sustainability performance in Kumba.

Occupational health and safety

Lost-time injuries were reduced by over 50% compared to 2007 (14 lost-time injuries compared to 29 the year before).

This included our best-ever safety performance at Thabazimbi Mine, which has achieved six years without a fatality and 458 days without a lost-time injury. Our operations were audited against the Anglo Safety Way and the Anglo Occupational Health Way, with shortcomings identified and action plans put in place to address these.

People

We were rated the Deloitte Best Company to Work For in the mining sector and retained our listing on the JSE Socially Responsible Investment Index. We have achieved our targets for women in mining, a year ahead of schedule.

Future challenges

While buoyant about our successes, Kumba, like other mining companies and indeed, like many other sectors, faces some significant challenges to maintaining a sustainable future for our company, our people and our communities. The following highlights the issues that we are addressing at strategic and operational levels.

We are yet to feel the full force of the downturn, but are prepared to counter the potential impacts it may have on our business.

The key questions we have to grapple with are:

• Will demand for our products decrease?
• If yes, what impact will this have on our business and, particularly relevant for this report, will we need to retrench staff?

The short answer to the first question is that we are not sure whether or not demand will decrease. However, the company is well placed to weather current market volatility because it is keeping a watchful eye on costs and asset optimisation. To answer the pressing second question: currently, retrenchments seem unlikely.

Our core environmental requirement is to continue with – and conclude – the studies on the effects of dewatering in the Sishen Mine region to help us understand the cause, extent, impact and boundaries of the affected water table. In all our operations we will continue to pursue reductions in energy and water consumption, while tackling our growth targets.

Sustainable growth, strong financial performance, reducing our ecological footprint, enhancing the capacity of communities to benefit from our operations, and increasingly encouraging and empowering our employees to contribute to our business efforts, creates a scenario for me of leading a group of dedicated and talented people that are passionate about our company, our country and the future."

Chris Griffith
Chief executive officer

A full version of the Sustainable Development Report is available online at www.kumba.co.za or from Public Affairs on +27 12 683 7000.

For more information about Kumba Iron Ore contact the company directly:
Name: Tebello Chabana: Head, Public Affairs
Email: tebello.chabana@kioltd.com
Tel: +27 12 683 7000