Community Relations in the Mining Industry

Running head: COMMUNITY RELATIONS 1
Community Relations in the Mining Industry
Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Institution Affiliation
Date

COMMUNITY RELATIONS 2
COMMUNITY RELATIONS IN MINING INDUSTRY
Introduction
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals and metals from deposits on the earth.
These minerals include gold, copper, titanium, petroleum precious stones among others. Mining
companies undertake exploration and mining projects through simple to complex processes
such as surface mining, open cast method, shaft mining, and placer mining techniques. Mining
processes lead to the disturbance of the natural environement through soil erosion, water
polution, air polution,and land degradation ( Yakovleva, 2017). This study shall discuss mining
projects undertaken by Evolution mining company and Barrick mining company. The research
will compare corporate social responsibility initiatives and their impact on local communities. In
addition, the corporate structure of the companies and how they structure their community
relation efforts are discussed.
Barrick Gold Corporation
Barrick Gold Corporation is a canadian mining company headquartered in Toronto
Canada. It was founded in 1983 as a Gold mining company. However, currently, the firm has
diversified its investments to mining of Copper.The firm currently operates in 10 countries
including United States, Australia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Saudi Arabia, and Zambia (Barrick,
n.d). Currently, the company employs more than 10,000 employees. The company currently

COMMUNITY RELATIONS 3
runs several projects although this study will major on Turtose Ridge Project, a mine located in
Nothern Nevada state of the United States. Barrik Gold Corporation is listed at the New York
Stock Exchange. It has a market capitalization of 15.428 Billion dollars.
Turquose Ridge Project
The ridge has an estimated 5.9 million ounces of gold reserves . Barrik Gold Corporation
invested an initial capital outlay of around $315 million on the Turtose Ridge Project (Barrick,
n.d). The mine produces approximately 250,000 ounces annually although its expected to double
its production this year. The company’s sells an ounce of gold at $720 although the cost of
sustaining a single ounce is roughly $630.The corporation plans to construct a third shaft
between 2018 and 2019 before it is equiped in 2018 as it awaits gold production in 2023.
Turtoise Ridge mines has Barrick’s highest operating portfolio placing it at the heart of the
company’s portfolio.
Evolution Mining Company
Evolution mining company is an Australian gold mining company created in 2011
through the merger of Conquest Mining and Catalpa Resources (Evolution Mining, n.d). The
firm has majorly grown through acquisition of Cowal and Mungari mining companies in 2015. It
notable mining projects include Cowal, Cracow and Mungari located in New South Wales,
Queensland, and Western Australia respectively.In addition, Evolution mining has economic
interests in Ernest Henry mining company located in Queensland . The company produced
801,187 gold ounces in its 2018 financial year. It is commited towards operating its mining
works safely and efficiently with the aim of developing them to full potential. Its recorded a

COMMUNITY RELATIONS 4
global ore reserves of 7.05 million gold ounces as at December 2017. For the purpose of this
study, we shall major on Cowal project managed by company.
Cowal Gold Mining Project
Evolution mining company operates Cowal gold mining project with 100% ownership.
The mines is located 350 kilometres to the west of Sydney city of Australia. It is operated on the
domicile of the Wiradjuri community.The local communities living in the region are the Bland,
Lachlan and Forbes. The project was acquired by Evolution mining from Barrick Gold
corporation in 2015 at a cost of $US 550,000 million (Evolution Mining , n.d) .However, the
mines had been operated since 1980s by North limited until 2001 when it was acquired by
Homestake limited which again sold the mines to Barrick. Gold production form the firm has
risen from 238,000 ounces in 2015 to 2558,000 ounces in 2018. Evolution uses a single open pit
method which uses conventional drill and blast methodologies to extract the gold
deposits.Operations are planned to proceed until 2025 while gold processing shall continue until
2033.
Relationship between mining companies and Host Comminities
Mining operations are accompanied by massive environmenal effects that might disturb
local communities trough land degradation and toxicity. The Wiradjuri community that comprise
of Bland, Lachlan and Forbes people live within cowal mining site region. These communities
are beneficiaries and victims of the gains and losses of the mining project. Both Barrick Gold
corporation and Evolution mining maintain are commited towards maintaining good
relationships with host communities. Evolution mining has a community relations policy and
principles that guide the company’s actions while interacting with local communities. The policy