Good morning and good afternoon to all of you that have made the time to join us today. I'm Mark Bristow, President and CEO of Barrick. Earlier this year, we shared our latest sustainability report, highlighting our progress, challenges, and goals. Today, we will walk you through the key takeaways and how we are continuing to build a sustainability strategy grounded in long-term value, resilience, and strong partnerships. This session is also about open dialogue, so we welcome your questions and perspectives. Your input truly shapes our journey. We'll wrap up with a Q&A, and I encourage all of you to join in. The transparency and accountability remain central to how we operate. Before we go further, I would like to just draw your attention to our cautionary statement, which is available on the website should you need a copy.
I'm joined today here at Nevada Gold Mines by several key members of our sustainability team who will walk us through today's topics. Grant Beringer, our Sustainability Executive, who leads our global strategy across safety, health, communities, the environment, and human rights. Dirk Verbies en, our Head of Health and Safety, who's been central to building a strong safety culture across our sites. Duncan Pettit, our Sustainability Manager, who will share more on our initiatives and the impact they're having. Allison Brown, our Director of Reclamation and Closure, who will cover our work on these vital areas. And also joining us here today is Graham Shuttleworth, our Group CFO, Lois Wark, Global Head of Communications and Investor Relations, Cleveland Rueckert, Director of Investor Relations, and our full Communications and IR team from Toronto.
It's a real privilege to share this update with you, and I hope you'll find the session both informative and engaging. Just a short reminder to navigate to the Sustainability section of our website, where you can view and download all our resources, including our policies, the 2024 Sustainability Report, and performance data specific to each asset, our Tax Contributions Report, Conflict-Free Gold, and our Reporting on Modern Slavery. So let's start with a quick look at our global footprint and reflection of the diverse places and people we work with. Our business is anchored by a strong portfolio of Tier 1 assets, with several right here at Nevada Gold Mines, one of the top gold jurisdictions in the world. These mines make up nearly half of our total production.
We also have Tier 1 operations in the Dominican Republic and the DRC, and we're working towards resolving the situation at Loulo-Gounkoto in Mali. Our gold portfolio also includes Porgera in PNG, our Tanzanian operations, Veladero in Argentina, Hemlo in Canada, and Tongon in the Côte d'Ivoire. No other company in our sector matches our number of Tier 1 assets, and as a result of our focus on quality, geology, long-life mines, and long-term value. On the copper side, we are growing our portfolio, not through big acquisitions, but by developing assets with real potential. Lumwana in Zambia and Jabal Sayid in Saudi Arabia give us a strong base, and with Lumwana's expansion and the Reko Diq project in Pakistan set to come online in 2028, we're on track to double our copper output by the end of the decade.
So now I'd like to take a moment to share the story behind these numbers and why we plan so far ahead. This infographic isn't just about performance metrics. It reflects six years of progress since I took the lead at Barrick. Our 2019 Sustainability Report sets goals we've not only met but exceeded, pushing for continuous improvement year after year. It shows how sustainability is built into the very core of our business, not as a separate initiative, but as a key driver of long-term value and strong partnerships. Our approach is clear and focused. We measure what matters most, safety, the environment, community development, and human rights. It's about creating a business at last, one that brings real benefits to our host countries, communities, and shareholders.
Looking ahead to 2030 and beyond, the path won't always be easy, but we're confident that responsible mining can create positive change, not just now, but for generations to come. It requires foresight, science-based decision-making, and the commitment to invest in lasting assets and partnerships. Sustainability performance is a top priority for us. It's tied directly to executive pay, and everyone, from leaders to teams, is held accountable. At the heart of this is our sustainability scorecard, which tracks our progress in key areas. We're very proud of the fact that we earned an A-ranking for sustainability in 2024, reflecting this commitment across the business. Our scorecard, built with input from independent experts, helps us track how we're doing against global standards while staying true to the realities of our operations.
And this year, we adjusted how we weight each aspect, making all five key areas equally important: that is safety, community, human rights, environment, and governance. At Barrick, we've been reporting on the SDGs for years, always highlighting the important role mining plays in advancing these goals, especially in rural and developing areas. We've made great strides in tracking and reporting key SDG sub-indicators, which Grant will cover later. To recap, our sustainability strategy is built on a holistic and integrated, science-based approach that focuses on context-specific solutions and action on the ground. We do not chase third-party ESG ratings. Instead, we keep our focus on the people and the environment where it truly matters, at the mines. We're proud to be shaping a mining model that goes beyond compliance, one that builds economies, transforms communities, and leaves a lasting legacy.
We maintain a strong governance structure where sites manage their own sustainability with oversight, support, and accountability from regional and group executives. Our policies are clear, and we apply international best practices across all stages, from exploration to closure. This includes the IFC Performance Standards from the permitting process to resettlement, ensuring independent expertise, peer reviews, and transparent public participation. We continue this approach in operations with performance also overseen by independent experts from our Independent Tailings Review Board, external auditors for the Cyanide Code and ISO standards, and a third-party assurance for our mining standards. This infrastructure ensures that we don't mark our own homework. Our active role in developing consolidated mining standards reflects our commitment to greater transparency in our sustainability efforts, both within Barrick and across the industry. So now let's dive into the specifics of our performance, and we'll start with safety, which Dirk will cover.
Thanks, Mark, and hello, everyone. Looking back at our safety performance since 2019, we made real progress. Over the past five years, injuries have consistently dropped. In 2024, we saw a 40% reduction in lost-time injuries, with all 16 of our operations having zero LTIs between June and September, and eight sites went the entire year without one. That said, we still had three fatalities due to energy isolation and mobile equipment incidents. These tragic losses remind us that preventing fatalities is our top priority. In response, we've doubled down on our Journey to Zero, launched nearly two years ago, and the progress is notable. Our fatal risk management program is evolving with better training and verifications. We've also embedded key elements into our safety framework, like leadership accountability, critical control checks, and visible leadership.
We've standardized safety protocols across sites, invested in technology, and training to boost risk awareness. We're confident that serious injuries and fatalities are preventable. Some of our sites have gone long stretches without any serious injuries, and we're committed to making that the norm. At Barrick, it isn't a finish line. It's a daily commitment. An injury-free day today means starting the journey again tomorrow. That's the heart of our Journey to Zero. Launched in 2022 and revised in 2023, Journey to Zero is a five-phase roadmap designed to sharpen our safety focus, strengthen our culture, and ensure every person goes home safe and healthy every day. Since its launch, we've aligned safety protocols, invested in behavioral training, and implemented real-time risk tools across all sites. At the core, our fatal risk standards target the most serious hazards.
We've identified 10 fatal risks, each with a checklist of critical controls that must be in place before any work begins. If a control is missing or ineffective, we stop the work. This is not optional. Everyone has the authority and the responsibility to act. Leadership visibility and critical control verifications, or CCVs, are central to this effort, with over 75,000 CCVs completed in 2024, helping us spot and eliminate risk before harm occurs. As we look to 2025 and beyond, our Journey to Zero is evolving. Our goal isn't just compliance. It's a cultural transformation. Together, through courageous leadership, accountability, and continuous learning, we're building a safer future where zero harm is not just a goal, but a shared reality. Traditionally, safety performance has been prioritized on lagging indicators that reflect what already has happened, what has gone wrong.
While useful, this reactive approach doesn't help us prevent incidents before they happen. That's why we're shifting focus to leading indicators, proactive measures that track what people are doing to stay safe. To support this proactive approach, we've identified three key leading indicators to track across our operations and which form part of both the site and leadership scorecards. First are the critical control verifications, which are directly aligned to our fatal risks and ensure lifesaving controls are in place and functioning. We have renewed our focus on near misses and high potential incidents with an emphasis on the quality of our reporting and lessons learned, and lastly, we're measuring the percentage of corrective actions completed, tracked monthly to ensure accountability and follow-through. By focusing on these indicators, we're strengthening our ability to identify risks early, take meaningful actions, and continuously improve our safety culture before harm occurs.
We believe this approach will drive a reduction in incident rates. We are starting to see the outcomes of this approach, and in 2024, we had the lowest total recordable injury frequency rate among our ICMM peers. The health and the well-being of our team and local community continues to be a top priority, especially our ongoing fight against malaria. In 2023, we hit our lowest malaria rate ever, and in 2024, we cut it by another 51%. That's a 73% drop since we began operations in Africa. We're staying focused on driving those numbers down even further and working toward eliminating malaria in our communities. Thanks, and with that, I'll hand it over to Grant.
Thanks, Dirk, and hello to everyone on the call. At Barrick, we see mining as a way to drive real, lasting economic growth. That means sharing the benefits of what we do by building true partnerships with the countries and communities where we work. It sounds simple, but it takes ongoing effort and a real commitment to creating long-term value. Firstly, we focus on hiring locally from our communities and host countries, then supporting local businesses through procuring goods and services, and finally, investing in infrastructure and services that help communities thrive. What really makes our localization strategy work isn't just the big investments we make. It's the ripple effect that follows. When we hire local people, we're not just giving out jobs. We're helping build careers.
When we buy from local suppliers, we're not just making purchases. We're helping those businesses grow, and that creates even more jobs in the community. And when we invest in things like infrastructure, education, and healthcare, we're not just supporting communities. We're helping change lives. A healthier, better educated workforce means people can lift themselves out of poverty and help shape a better future, whether by working at our mines or for our suppliers and contractors, or perhaps the doctors and teachers we sponsor. That's why our sustainability approach is all about real partnerships, because when our host communities succeed, we succeed too. In 2024, Barrick generated over $15.5 billion in economic value across the countries we operate. That included $2.5 billion in salaries for our nearly 27,000 employees. In addition, $7.1 billion was spent on local suppliers.
In terms of taxes and royalties to our host countries, we paid $2.4 billion. Lastly, we invested over $48 million directly into community development. What really sets Barrick apart is our community development committees, or CDC model, which is active at every site. These committees are led by the communities themselves, making sure the projects we support truly reflect their needs and aspirations. Last year, we backed community-led initiatives like schools, clinics, water systems, and sustainable farming programs. But the real story isn't just the money we invest, it's what that investment unlocks. That's why we don't just track the dollars spent, but focus on where these dollars go and the lasting impact they create. As Mark mentioned in his introduction, we've long used the UN Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, as our guiding framework.
In 2024, we sharpened our focus by tracking specific SDG sub-indicators measured from a reference date, which is generally before mining began, through to the current date, with clear targets set for 2030. These sub-indicators are the building blocks to eradicating poverty, but we can't do it alone. It takes strong partnerships with all stakeholders to reach these goals. Our 2024 report highlights key indicators like the percentage of our communities that have access to clean drinking water or graduation rates at the schools we have built or supported. When it comes to basic healthcare in places like Pakistan, we are tracking and improving the number of births that are attended by health professionals. Each site now tracks its own SDG-linked metrics, making our impact local, measurable, and transparent. This is how we stay accountable, not just to shareholders, but to the communities we work alongside.
We're also proud to be an official partner of UNESCO's World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development 2025, a global campaign celebrating engineering's role in building a fairer, more resilient future. This year's theme, Shaping Our Sustainable Future Through Engineering, perfectly matches Barrick's belief that responsible mining drives real progress on the SDGs. We're excited to share a short film with you now. It was created with the World Federation of Engineering Organizations, showcasing how our Pueblo Viejo mine in the Dominican Republic is making a real difference.
[Foreign language] Mining definitely has an impact to the environment, as any most of the activities that you can do. What we have to see is how can we mitigate that impact and how can we reduce it, and how we can turn the overall impact of Pueblo Viejo or Barrick positive towards the community and towards the environment.
[Foreign language] Communities are very important for us because we know that what we do here is a serious business. Pueblo Viejo, this mine, is one of the biggest mines of the world, and we take something precious out of the land to convert it into social and economic development. [Foreign language] . At Pueblo Viejo and at Barrick in general, we have a commitment to source and buy everything we can locally. Actually, we even extend that to our suppliers and our contractors.
We ask them to hire and to buy locally. [Foreign language] . One of the things the lady was talking today when we met about the Coconut Mat Project is actually having all the knowledge, but in addition to that, how can I sell my product? How can I sell it to Barrick? How can I prepare my invoice? What can I do? But also, how many people do they hire in order to supply us? And that creates a chain reaction. They had directly 38 people helping them actually producing the mats. But in addition to that, 120 that were supporting them. [Foreign language] . We had a 3% female participation five years ago. We're now 25% female participation. We want females to empower themselves because we think that through our operations, we can contribute to them. [Foreign language] .
We need to contribute to the economy of the country, but also we need to respect human rights of the people. That's very important for us. In a gold mine, the most precious thing is not the gold, but it's the people who are mining the gold.
While we're focused on Pueblo Viejo, let's highlight one of our biggest community efforts, the resettlement and livelihood restoration program for the new Naranjo tailings storage facility. This project will extend the mine's life past 2040 and keep gold production strong. The resettlement program is best in class, with 78 families already moved into new homes built to international standards, providing better living conditions, access to services, and long-term security. But it's more than just moving homes. We've also rolled out programs like agribusinesses, vocational training, and community projects to help families truly thrive.
Most importantly, we reached a fair and transparent collective agreement with the community after much open dialogue, showing our shared commitment to sustainable development. We know mining's true potential only happens when human rights are respected and protected at every site, in every partnership, and with every decision we make. Respecting human rights is central to our sustainability strategy, guided by global standards like the UN Guiding Principles and the OECD Guidelines. Our human rights program is proactive and risk-focused. It includes a dedicated human rights policy implemented across all operations. We conduct regular independent assessments to identify risks and find ways to improve. We also implement enhanced due diligence for high-risk sites to make sure safeguards are stronger where they matter most. We are clear about our role. We are not the government.
While we invest in healthcare, education, and water to support communities, governments must stay responsible for protecting human rights and upholding law and order. Our job is to respect rights, use our leverage responsibly, and engage openly with stakeholders. We also support capacity building, but always with the understanding that the state holds the main duty to protect. We are in the process of preparing a standalone human rights report. We will be sharing the summaries of the independent assessments and actions, which we plan to publish by year-end. This is how we stay accountable, not just to global standards, but to the people living and working alongside us.
Most of our engagement with the likes of yourselves and other shareholders is focused on the so-called controversies flagged by ratings agencies, especially issues like the allegations against the Tanzanian police at North Mara, the legacy harm at Porgera from past decades. I won't go over our positions again now, but we've included plenty of facts and links in our sustainability report, and we're always open to discussing these issues. That said, we disagree with some of the rating agencies' conclusions, particularly claims that these controversies mean we're not complying with the UN Global Compact. We strongly reject that. We've raised these concerns directly with the agencies, none of which are affiliated with the UNGC, whilst we remain full members of the UNGC. We are committed to engaging with ratings agencies to ensure they have the facts for an accurate assessment.
It is, however, frustrating when this engagement is ignored and independent findings dismissed. While we respect the role of ratings agencies, their lack of transparency is disappointing. Still, we'll keep providing clear, accurate information to help everyone make informed decisions. Now, a quick word on our workforce. I won't get into all the numbers, but I do want to highlight the impressive share of our team that comes from local communities. It really shows our commitment to being a true local partner and makes us one of the most diverse companies in the industry. We're also making progress on gender diversity, but we know there's still work to do. With that, I'll hand things over to Duncan to share our environmental progress this year.
Thanks, Grant, and hello to you all. In 2024, our environmental performance was reflected in our sustainability scorecard, meeting the targets that we had set.
Most notably, we've made significant progress in our greenhouse gas emissions performance on both absolute terms and in intensities. That said, we reiterate that our emissions trajectory is non-linear, and our absolute emissions reductions have outpaced the intensity, which is reflected in the scoring here. In terms of our GHG emissions, our primary hotspots are electricity, our fleets, and then limestone emissions specific to Pueblo Viejo. Our key driver for emissions reductions is focused on our electricity sources, whether that be the national grid or our own self-generation. As demonstrated here, we have made significant progress in transforming our power sources for our mines and have mostly executed the majority of the electricity opportunities available to us. These changes in our power sources are responsible for most of our GHG reductions to date.
We remain engaged with equipment manufacturers to advance technologies to address fleet emissions, while limestone use at Pueblo Viejo is a hard-to-abate emission source that is critical to processing and water management. Last year, we shared with you that we had commenced a life-of-mine emissions forecasting. The importance of this work was to understand the non-linear emissions profile, but more importantly, to capture the future of Barrick Gold Corporation, one that sees a 50% increase in gold-equivalent production on a 100% basis. With our major project set to come online before the end of the decade, it was critical to recalibrate our targets. Our original emissions reduction targets, set in 2019, were based on a steady-state production model. This slide shows that significant growth in production, along with the expected emissions. However, our emissions intensity forecasts a 17% reduction against our 2018 base year.
Along with the significant capital already spent to realize our progress to date, we continue to monitor and plot potential reduction projects on our carbon project pipeline, seen here in the fourth quadrant. This work monitors the technological confidence, the GHG emissions reduction potential, and costs against our feasibility hurdles. Once a project moves into the IRR target, then we can make informed decisions to realize further reductions. With our updated forecast in hand, we reviewed our emissions reduction targets. Our long-term strategy does not change. We remain focused on a 2050 net-zero target. We have set new medium-term targets that reflect our growth this decade, and these targets are intensity-based, aligned with our evolving emissions profile, and supported by a growing portfolio of renewable energy investments. We continue to execute our Scope 3 emissions strategy with a focus on supplier engagement.
Our emissions within our supplier categories are disproportionately sitting with a small number of suppliers. As indicated by the middle graph, although our response rate through the engagement is lower than we would like, those suppliers that are able to respond are larger companies with larger GHG footprints. Focusing on these hotspots allows us to be efficient with our resources, but also focus on partnerships to effect change. Here we show our water reuse rates across the group, along with the predominant water sources for each operation. There hasn't been material change year- over- year. However, our reuse rate has increased materially since 2019. This reflects years of consistent performance and a mature water management strategy. While we continue to review site-level water balances for incremental improvements, we are operating close to peak efficiency across the group. What sets Barrick apart is our standard definition of water stress.
While most frameworks focus solely on scarcity, we also account for water abundance, and recognizing the risks posed by excessive rainfall and runoff are often overlooked when relying on the narrow water stress definition. This is an area where we lead and where our focus continues to grow. This slide shows our biodiversity exposure and opportunities across our sites, a view shaped by both global tools and our local realities. Global data sets often lack the nuance needed for site-level decision-making, and that's why we've mapped regional pressures here, not just site-specific risks, to better understand where and how nature is under stress. What matters most is how we manage and measure biodiversity change over time, and that is why we developed the Biodiversity Residual Impact Assessment Tool, or BRIA, in collaboration with third-party experts.
This is one of the industry's first comprehensive biodiversity assessment tools, and among others, it's designed to measure site-specific baselines, focus on key biodiversity features, including integrity and abundance, and track biodiversity performance consistently over time. The rollout of the tool is progressing well, and we have already implemented it in scenario analysis for informed decision-making associated with rehabilitation, restoration, and conservation decisions. Our focus remains on delivering measurable conservation outcomes, including supporting the Garamba National Park and the DRC, to advancing forest conservation in Zambia, and investing in habitat restoration across northern Nevada. With no net loss as a core commitment, this tool will help ensure our sites are left in a safe and ecologically resilient state post-closure, and that's the perfect segue to hand over to Allison.
Thanks, Duncan, and hello to everyone on the call. At Barrick, we view mine closure as a long-term value driver.
Integrating closure planning into our business allows us to design and operate our mines in a way that leaves positive, sustainable legacies long after mining ceases. A key focus for us is ensuring that our tailings storage facilities are operated and closed responsibly. This means that all of our facilities must conform with our rigorous internal standards, which are aligned to the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management, or GISTM. In 2023, we published detailed information about our highest priority tailings storage facilities, and next week, we're releasing our disclosures for the remainder of our facilities. In addition, we continue to work toward bringing our inactive tailings storage facilities into safe closure on a priority basis. Achieving safe closure requires long-term risks to human health and the environment to be thoroughly assessed and mitigated. We currently have 13 facilities in safe closure, with five more targeted for next year.
We differentiate ourselves by incorporating sustainability reviews into our safe closure process. This ensures that stakeholders are engaged, key biodiversity features are conserved, and cultural values are protected, in addition to the facilities being safe. Of course, achieving safe closure does not absolve us of our responsibility to monitor and manage our closed facilities. Their status is assessed and confirmed by our independent reviewers and accountable executive at a regular frequency. In parallel, we prioritize execution of progressive closure plans across the group. Each of our operations maintains a multi-year reclamation plan, which is integrated with the mine plan. This allows us to advance closure activities while our mines are still active, which reduces risk and lowers long-term liabilities. Thanks to the dedication of our site teams, we exceeded our annual target for the second year in a row by completing 824 hectares of concurrent reclamation in 2024.
Finally, we continue to implement our robust annual liability review process, which allows us to understand the cost drivers and develop fit-for-purpose closure solutions. This disciplined approach has allowed us to maintain one of the lowest reclamation liabilities as a percentage of revenue in the industry. With that, I'll hand it back to Mark to wrap up our presentation.
Thank you, Allison, and also a big thank you to the other presenters. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope today's session has given you some appreciation of how deep sustainability is woven into everything we do at Barrick. A long-term site-based approach is delivering real results on the ground. As we all know, yesterday's progress doesn't guarantee tomorrow's success, and so we're committed to continuous improvement and creating lasting value.
Looking ahead, we've got several key projects underway, Pueblo Viejo resettlement, the Lumwana expansion, and the safe construction of Reko Diq. At Porgera, we're focused on building strong foundations and fully embedding Barrick's culture and sustainability framework since it went into care and maintenance after the merger in 2019. We fully support the industry-wide push for consolidated responsible mining standards through groups like the ICMM, World Gold Council, Mining Association of Canada, and Copper Mark. Barrick, and Duncan in particular, is actively involved in this work because these standards are essential for driving accountability and real progress across the sector. But above all, safety remains our top priority. Every shift, every day. In 2024, we saw injury-free months and even LTI-free years at some sites, which is encouraging, but every number means nothing if it doesn't mean every employee returns home safe to their family.
Today, we are also releasing our sustainability report summary, a clear, easy-to-digest version of the full report that will be available on our website right after this discussion. To wrap up, mining done right is a powerful force for development. It drives entrepreneurship, builds resilient communities, and brings people together for collective action. Our sustainability strategy isn't just a framework. It's how we create lasting, responsible impact. Ladies and gentlemen, that ends the formal presentation part of today, and thank you for your time. We would now like to open it up for questions from yourselves. Lois will speak through the instructions on the screen so that you can ask your question, paying attention to the device applicable to you. Finally, a recording of today's sustainability update and the presentation will be made publicly available after the call. Thank you, and over to Lois.
Thank you, Mark. For those attendees who wish to ask questions, please refer to the procedure on the screen. If you are viewing this event on your desktop, click the raise hand icon at the bottom of your Webex screen, wait for the unmute yourself prompt, and once done, ask your question. For those of you viewing on your mobile phone, tap the three dots at the bottom of your Webex screen, click the raise hand icon at the bottom of your screen, wait for the unmute yourself prompt to ask your question. If you prefer to type your question using the Q&A portal on your desktop, click the Q&A icon in the bottom right hand of your screen and type your question to all panelists. That wraps up the formal part of today's presentation. Thanks for your time, and now we'd love to answer your questions.
Any questions? Claudia, have you had anything?
No, there's nothing till here, Mark.
Lois?
No, nothing so far. We'll go around to. Okay, I have a question from Q&A from Peter Knight. Could you please comment on the situation in Mali? From two perspectives, sovereign risk of capital, social license to operate, contagion to other less than well-governed nations, and two, will you walk away?
So, Peter, it's a very complicated situation that we face in Mali, and right now, there are losers on all sides. I think the point about sovereign risk is real, but it's also a situation that has been forced through a military coup, in fact, two military coups. And what the military leadership promised to the people of Mali was a better Mali. And what we've seen is a real attempt to shake down the mining industry, and that's a real concern for us.
As you know, we have been in Mali for 30-odd years and have participated in really transforming that economy and making it into one of the leaders in the mining industry across the African continent. We've done it through partnerships, as you've heard today, with our local business and by investing in developing the in-country skills who became leaders of one of the largest gold mines or mining complexes in the world. What we've seen is that the mine was forced to close earlier in the year and is at a stage now where it's under administration control from an administrator, which we do not agree with. We are by far the best qualified to be able to restart the mine and bring it back to make its rightful contributions to the Mali economy.
But that requires us to sit down and find a solution for that's a win-win solution for both Mali and for Barrick. And I would just point out that Barrick and Mali, the split of economic benefits up until the mine was closed, was in favor of Mali. So today, the losers have been Mali and its people. And while we stand open at any time to engage and work to find a solution, as we have done numerous times over the last 30 years with different governments, we believe that for us to be able to operate and risk our investment, we need a clear and international-level agreement. And that's what we're working towards through the agreed dispute resolution process through ICSID. And so that's where we are.
I'm not sure about the sovereignty you talk about, but that is we always work with sovereign governments representing the people elected through a ballot. Right now, in Mali, that's not the case, and notwithstanding that, we are still engaged to try and find solutions, and I think the point about social license, I would argue, and I think anyone who's been our partner and still our partner in Mali would support the fact that we had a very strong social license in Mali and that the current situation is not a product of losing our social license. It's a product of a heavy hand trying to garner more money without appreciating that in mining, you need to be able to deliver a sustainable long-term business plan, which we've always done in Mali, having been there for three decades.
Thanks, Mark. We have a question from Colin Sandercock. Can you please provide an update on any growing and/or planned resettlement? And do you give examples and any issues faced? Give examples of Tanzania, Zambia, and Mali.
Just say that again.
Can you please provide an update of any ongoing and/or planned resettlement and any issues faced? And give examples of Tanzania, Zambia, and Mali.
Yeah, thank you very much. I think I'll pass that on to Grant, who's responsible for leading any resettlements across our group.
Yeah, thanks. Thanks for the question. Yeah, we are conducting a number of resettlement activities right now. We mentioned, obviously, the one at PV for the new tailings storage facility, which has been a process for the better part of five years in terms of the engagement with the communities on that right from the beginning in terms of the environmental impact assessment.
I think that's an important point to note is that resettlement is not necessarily separate from our ESIA process. It starts with that process, and key to that is that open and honest conversation with the communities right from the beginning. And that had happened. We've had over 3,000 meetings with our communities there in the Dominican Republic to discuss this. So it really has been a participatory process. Zambia and in Tanzania, we're also conducting resettlement action plans at the moment for the expansion projects. And I think you talk about some of the lessons learned through this process. I mean, the one thing is that no resettlement is the same as the next. There's always something unique about those resettlements. But core to each of those is that early engagement with the communities and ensuring that you engage holistically with the communities.
There's always opportunities for individuals within the community to claim to represent individuals. But for us, it's important to make sure that everyone's voice is heard. And I think we mentioned our CDCs. It's a great method forum to engage with individuals outside of perhaps the resettlement process, but doesn't mean we can't deal with some of the issues and the queries and the uncertainties around resettlement. So I think those are some of the lessons that we have learned, but also recognizing that in any resettlement, the government needs to be involved too. Often, we request them to assist with host land, host land that ideally is serviced and also has title. And I think that's a very important part of our resettlement plan, which is different to relocation. Resettlement for us is making sure that people are left in a better position than before we started the process.
And often, the land that we secure for the host site, and often where we build the houses, those individuals get title to that land, which in many developing countries is nonexistent. And that sets them up for success in the future. But beyond that, we also look at the livelihood restoration programs and agribusinesses that we start. So yes, we are learning as we go, but I do believe that with the guidance from the IFC Performance Standard 5 and our experience in doing this, you'll remember that we've completed some of the biggest resettlements in Africa, Kibali notably, that we have that experience to leverage from and make sure that these resettlement programs are a success.
We have another follow-up question from Lucy Liner. Thanks very much for this presentation. Could you comment on how learnings are being carried forward from the more successful human rights work, e.g., work in the Dominican Republic, to some of the stuff that would be more challenging in your view? What is the biggest challenge to communicating effectively your point of view with third-party ESG rating agencies?
So thank you, Lucy. And before I hand it over to Grant to answer, I think we've tried to explain to you today the importance of sustainability. And we as Barrick believe that when we mine in a country, we are actually mining as custodians of a national asset. And so we look at it that way. And so every member of our team appreciates our responsibility and engages in a transparent and open and regular conversation with our communities, with our workforce, and also with the provincial and federal governments of the countries we operate in. So with that, I'll pass on to Grant so he can answer the specifics.
Thanks, Mark. And thanks, Lucy, for the question. I think we learn lessons from all of our sites. I don't necessarily believe that one was more successful than the next. Much like I just mentioned for resettlement, they are all unique with their unique challenges. Yeah, I think, yes, the work we've done in the Dominican Republic has been very successful. And also, I think a good time to mention that human rights goes beyond security and law and order. It is also related to our practices on human resources. And as we mentioned in the presentation, getting over those hurdles and barriers for women to enter the workplace.
And yes, on that front, the Dominican Republic and PV in particular has done some really good work in getting over some of those barriers, as you saw in the video. But I think where we really, I think, take a lot of both comfort and as well as some of the learnings is through that independent input that we get. And that's critical to our business. You heard Mark mention in the presentation that we are not here to mark our own homework. So we do get independent assessors to come in and do a holistic assessment on human rights, our compliance to those standards I mentioned, but also to our internal standards. And it goes across the organization through to our contractors too.
I think what is the most beneficial for us is that it's not just a report that they send to us and we've ticked a box. We take those reports and there's an action tracker on each of those, which we'll share a summary of in our human rights report later this year. We sit down with each of the site teams and we work through those. In fact, they're part of their outputs for the year in terms of how we close those actions out. They aren't action to non-compliance, but it's actions that we believe we can improve on every site because constant improvement is something that we believe in at Barrick, in every asset of the business. On the lessons learned side of things, that's a key focus for us.
But again, I can't stress enough the point I made around engaging with the communities and understanding what their needs are. North Mara is a great example for us. As you know, when we got there in late 2019, there was no social license to operate. We've established that now. Yes, there's still work for us to do, but it is significant, the milestones we've reached. But I think in terms of North Mara in particular and the human rights aspect is that we've been able to engage with the communities and understand what some of their concerns were regarding that and have engaged with local NGOs that have been able to assist us on those aspects. So one of the examples is in the society, there is gender-based violence. And they came to us to ask how we could assist in that, in creating awareness.
So we engaged with a local NGO that is well-versed in this and created that awareness. So I think it's more than just a report or an assessment that's done. It's actually engaging with the communities on what they believe we can help with on the human rights aspects. I think to your question on the third-party ESG ratings, I mean, I'd mentioned in the presentation around some of the frustrations we have, the difficulties that we have in the engagement process. We feel at this stage it is quite one-sided, meaning we are engaging and reaching out to them. And to be fair, there are some of the agencies that really have reciprocated. And we've had very good discussions. And you would have seen those in some of the ratings.
They have changed for the better because we believe we're able to provide them with information, with facts that they ultimately can use to make their product better. There's obviously an unfortunate link to the UN Global Compact by one of the raters, which, as I mentioned in the presentation, they have no affiliation with the UNGC. In fact, they should not be commenting on compliance on that front or not. Only the UNGC can do that, and I mean, we've been a member for many years and have reported annually on our compliance to the UNGC, and never once have we had any comments back from the UN Global Compact. So we want to try and work with that ratings agency in particular, deal with the issues, and present those facts.
But at this point, we do feel that that engagement needs to come from their side too in order for us to have that open and honest dialogue. Thanks.
Another question from Peter Luntz. Could you please give some more color on the White Rhino Project and the bigger project to create a wildlife corridor across that part of Africa, commenting on local employment and other peripheral benefits?
So again, Peter, this is a subject that's very close to a lot of our hearts, particularly Grant and I. And it's an integral part of biodiversity and really preserving some critical biodiversity across the world, in fact.
And on the Rhino program, it really has a great example of a partnership with African Parks and other sponsors and starting with the community around the Garamba National Park and ensuring that we invest and that they also participate in the work that we're doing. And so not to steal Grant's thunder, I mean, he's very involved in this and it's a spectacular effort. And we can talk about it all day. Really, the sensitivity and intricacy of the varied biodiversity across that very special part of Central Africa. So I'll just pass on to Grant and stop and tell it. But it's probably something you should take offline and explore with Grant further.
Yeah. Thanks, Mark. And thanks, Peter. And as you know, we're available to chat on this in more detail. As Mark has mentioned, we could probably go on for a long time.
I mean, every opportunity we get, Mark and I go up to Garamba and visit because it is a passion for both of us. And it is a real privilege to be part of that initiative. And as you know, it hasn't stopped at just the initial rhinos that we brought up to the Garamba National Park. But beyond that, and we have a phase II, if you will, of that project, which is in progress. But I think this has been something that we have envisaged for many years. In fact, almost when Kibali started, we looked at Garamba and we looked at bringing in some of these large herbivores, particularly the rhino. But we knew that it wasn't something we could do immediately.
We needed to make sure that the park was secure and also that the communities around the park truly understood that benefit, but also that they were part of this initiative. There's no point in us doing this without their support and buy-in. And that took time, particularly on the security side of things at the park, being in the northeastern DRC, on the border of Sudan, a very porous border. And obviously, we know the conflicts in Sudan. There were a lot of poachers that were coming across. And our first investment into the park was actually to help with anti-poaching and make sure that the park was secure before we went into the next phase. And so two years ago, we did that assessment.
We deemed it safe to bring the rhinos in based on all of that work that we've done, tracking of and collaring of elephants, the anti-poaching team that had been developed, and we felt it was the right time. We brought in the first 16 rhinos, which has been hugely successful. We visited there not so long ago and saw the impact, the positive impact that the rhinos are having as a mega herbivore in terms of just balancing that ecosystem, but for us, I think it is important that we link it back to a science-based approach. Everything we do in sustainability is based on that, and we're plugging this into our biodiversity tool, which Duncan had mentioned earlier, to really measure that impact, so there's a lot more work to be done here, and sure, it's a great initiative.
We want to understand how we can do even more with the park, but also take those learnings to other aspects of our operations and the parks that we support and conservation efforts that we support. Yeah, we can catch up, Peter, on more details and take you through some of the plans that we have in the future.
I'll just wrap up by saying on biodiversity, it's not only just Garamba National Park. We recently, Grant's team got recognized for the conservation and protection of biodiverse and sensitive biodiversity in the Long Canyon project in Nevada here. The amount of work that we've done on restoring original river systems and bringing back the sagebrush and rehabilitating and revegetating original habitat. Likewise, in Zambia, we are working to restore forestry.
Everywhere we work, we work with the communities to make sure that people embrace what we believe in and that we can measure it and make a real contribution. It's an integral part because people always focus on mining as being negatively impacting the environment. We pride ourselves in making sure that on balance, we deliver a more positive impact than any negativity of our impacts of our operations.
Another question from Colin Sandiford. Thank you a lot. Very helpful. On tailings storage facilities, any new specific concerns for the extreme and/or very high facilities?
I'll pass that on to Grant and Allison. Grant. Yeah, sure.
Yeah, thanks. I mean, obviously, as you know, we comply with the GISTM, the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management, which we were part of right from the beginning through the ICMM.
I personally was involved with a panel of experts and met with them on many occasions to put a standard together that was best practice, was world-class. And as you know, then three years after that, in 2023, we disclosed our very high and extreme facilities on our website in full compliance to GISTM. And we reached another sort of milestone with the GISTM on the 5th of August, so in a couple of days, the disclosure on the rest of those facilities. And we've done a lot of work in the background in doing that. And that disclosure will come out on the 5th of August. But to your question around the extreme and very high facilities, there are no big changes associated with those. We obviously do those reviews on an annual basis in terms of GISTM disclosures to make sure those are up to date.
But it's not about the disclosures. It's about how we're operating them on a daily basis on the site level. So at each and every one of our facilities, be it extreme, very high, or down to low, we have responsible tailings engineers on the sites that are part of Barrick's team. And they do daily inspections of those facilities. But then in collaboration with them, we have our Engineer of Record, which is an independent expert that reviews those facilities depending on the type of facility. The cadence may vary, but generally, every quarter. And then, as we mentioned in the presentation, we have our Independent Tailings Review Board, the ITRB, which is, as the name suggests, independent, but they are well-respected, well-experienced individuals in this geotech space.
And in fact, we've even brought on now an expert on the environmental and geohydrological basis just to cover those aspects that the GISTM have brought in. And they have a regular cadence in terms of the sites they visit. And that information is fed back to myself and John Steele, who's our responsible tailings executive. And that information then is passed on through to the rest of our executive team, our COOs, and also to the Board. So it's a really comprehensive process. But I think the most important part, which any management of any business is being on the ground, on the site, and having those discussions. For example, we've been here at NGM for the last couple of days. And I've been out to many of our facilities, Phoenix, Carlin, Gold Quarry, to have a look at our facilities, engage with the tailings engineers.
And I think that's how we make sure that we're on top of things in terms of those facilities.
I'm just going to take a follow-up question from Colin Sandiford for the manager. Thanks. Last follow-up on tailings in corporate. Any updates on the riverine disposal tailings disposal?
Yeah. So.
sorry, is it still the best preferred methods given local specificity?
Yeah. So Peter, I think we've obviously discussed this a few times when we've chatted. But we've obviously put that roadmap together, which we've presented in subsequent or in previous, rather, sustainability reports. I think it's clear that this is a process that we need to follow. We need to prove this concept. The conditions in PNG and in the Fold Belt Highlands in particular are such that a conventional tailings facility cannot be built safely. We've just talked about the GISTM.
I mean, to reach compliance with a conventional tailings facility in the Fold Belt Highlands is not feasible. Just due to the high seismicity in that area, we have low magnitude earthquakes and even high on a regular basis. But not only that, combine that with a high rainfall, almost four meters of rain every year, which is significant. And so we cannot follow best practice build a conventional facility. But in saying that, we are looking at ways that we can reduce the riverine tailings. We have already done so. We've shown that percentage decrease and the methods of putting some of that tailings material back underground. And we're ramping that process up. But in conjunction with that, we're running a pilot project to see how we can co-mingle tailings and waste rock to make it more geotechnically stable. So that's a process that we've initiated.
We've got an independent geotech consultant on board to assist us with that process. And as and when we get those results, we'll obviously share them with yourself because we're also keen to see how we can fast-track this process and reduce that tailings load.
Excellent. I have a question from Michelle Gallant. Very thorough presentation. You are clearly doing a lot on human rights. I'm curious from your perspective what areas you still need to improve on. Which sites do you feel need more attention? Or what topics on human rights are you going to focus on more next year?
So Michelle, I'll start with that. Just point that, of course, the focus right now is and will continue to be on PNG. It's a complex social situation. And we continue to work with all the various stakeholders.
I'm sure that you follow particularly the dynamics within the tribal structures and the Highlands. So that's a focus. I think one of the things I would point to that has been enormous successes, and Grant touched on it in a previous answer and also in his presentation, is the progress that we've made in North Mara of really exposing exploitation of these sort of circumstances. That when you really invest in the community, you unpack the real reality of the situation. If you look at the impact that our work and our engagement with the community and our regaining the social license of that region has had, it stands out. I think for us, we are always listening to third-party views on issues.
I don't have to point out, but I will, that in many cases, there are interest groups that don't necessarily have local communities at heart when they try and agitate certain issues. We are very clear, and you would have heard from our presentation, we have a strong framework that guides us in our approach to human rights. We use international auditors to help advise us and point to gaps in the communities in which we operate. We do believe overall our investment and our engagement and the way we handle ourselves in these emerging market economies, particularly, it has many more pluses than negatives. I think with that, I'll just pass on to Grant to see if he wants to add anything to that answer.
Yeah, thanks, Mark. I mean, I think you've answered a lot of what we do in our focus areas. Michelle, as you've asked, I think in terms of improvement, as I've mentioned earlier, continuous improvement is something that I think every company should strive for. And we certainly do. That's what makes us a world-class business. You can only become world-class if you're focused every day on improving. And it's no different to how we approach sustainability. And I think we've shown that more broadly in sustainability and all the initiatives and the industry firsts that we put forward. The ESG scorecard that we've put forward is an industry first. And we've been doing that for the past five years.
Our biodiversity tool and now our tracking against the SDGs on a site level is unique and I believe a first for the industry. And we're promoting that. We're pushing that. So safe to say that on the human rights aspect, we're applying that same level of rigor.
Mark's focused on those sites that we've listed as high risk. We've mentioned those, and so we have a more regular cadence in terms of not only external assessments, but internal assessments on those, so we'll continue to do that, and hopefully, our human rights report at the end of the year will give you a little more color on what we're focusing on. I think when it comes to human rights, there's no particular aspect that we need to focus on. It's holistic. They're all interconnected, but we'll elaborate a little more on that in our human rights report, and should you have any questions thereafter, we'd be more than happy to discuss it with you.
Okay. I'll take the last question from Peter Grant. On the GHG reduction project pipeline, I'll admit I've not done the math. May I ask for your confidence level to meet your 2030 emissions intensity? Do you think it's a stretch target? And then on the projects to the further right, both low and high confidence, what needs to change to make them investable?
So as you can imagine, GHG is a moving target. We, again, to mark Grant's point, use a science-based approach to our GHG, which is all engineered. We adjust it as we go. It's not aspirational. It's really managed and to fill in some of the color, I'll pass it to Grant.
Yeah, thanks, Peter. I think in terms of our GHG targets, we've gone into a lot of detail in our report. And I think you may have not done the math just yet, but we certainly have. And we're confident in terms of those targets and based on that intensity.
I think that's important to note. All of you, I'm sure, are investing in Barrick because we've shown our growth pipeline and how we've extended the life of our current operations and our new exciting projects like Reko Diq. Those coming in, they weren't in our portfolio when we did the initial targets in 2020. So we need to adapt to those, but still remain focused on how we can reduce those GHG emissions at those various sites. We've shown in our intensity calculations that that is achievable. So to answer your question in terms of the 2030 emissions intensity target, we are confident. Is it a stretch target? Possibly. But I believe that there's still some work to be done in 2030, not only by us, but by the industry.
And a lot of work to be done still on sort of the green technology, I think, in terms of batteries and so on. We believe we're still behind the curve there. That isn't necessarily the solution. And there's other ways that we're engaging with our OEMs to see how we can move the needle on that basis. But again, more than happy to run through some of those details. I mean, I'll just quickly see if Duncan, you want to add anything to that on the graph that we presented.
Yeah, thanks, Grant. And hey, Peter, I think the only thing I'd add to what's already been said, I mean, the pipeline is really a point-in-time snapshot. We've seen in very recent history the significant changes in energy prices, in commodity prices, and in particular, technology and how fast that is moving.
Grant mentioned battery as just an example. As we see the years come and those shift again, it very quickly moves those opportunities into different parts of the graph. Then once those hit into either more confidence in the technology or a change in certain commodity prices for different fuels, that makes the assessment a lot easier. Again, we need to make sure we're spending that capital responsibly and sustainably for a longer term and not just to the whims of a short-term market.
Thanks. Just a quick response to Michelle. Our human rights report will be published in Q4 of this year. With that, we can wrap up. All right.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, again, for the time. Appreciate the questions and your commitment to stay and pursue those questions. Again, we're always open, as Grant has indicated, to take any other questions.
I know that he and the team are engaged with many of you throughout the year, and that's the way we like it, and so again, thank you very much for giving us so much of your time this morning.