CLOSURE PLANNINGOur policiesFrom the very start of a mine’s operations, we plan for its closure. No mine operates until we have agreed a closure plan for the mine area with the host country government, including a ring-fenced budget set aside to meet closure obligations when the time comes. Our closure planning is guided by each host country’s legislative requirements, as well as IFC guidelines.

Throughout operations we then invest substantially to build local capacity for non-mining based economic activity, training for alternative employment, promoting entrepreneurialism and continuous rehabilitating land. A key part of this is our integration of agribusiness planning within our closure policy, meaning that at the time of closure all mines should have a thriving and locally appropriate group of industries to support the local economy long after a mine has closed down.

We recognise that the successful closure of a mine is as important to our host countries and communities as the successful operation of one. Thus each individual closure plan is regularly reviewed and comprises robust plans to ensure all health and safety requirements are met, that a healthy ecosystem is restored with as much of the original biodiversity as possible, and that economic and land use plans are developed in full consultation with local communities and the national government. We also undertake a social closure impact assessment in the run-up to closure.

We do not have any plans to divest or sell any of our assets to other purchasers. If that were the case then any purchaser would have to fulfil all sustainability requirements of our closure plans.

Our performanceAll our mines have detailed and ongoing closure plans in place and we continued to refine these throughout 2016.

Our Morila mine in Mali is due to cease operational life by 2019 and will be Randgold’s first mine closure. From a peak of around 2 000 staff, the majority of mining activities have already wound down and the mine required less than 400 employees in 2016. However, the agribusiness and other economic development investments continued to grow last year. For example, over five tonnes of mango and 90 tonnes of fish were produced during 2016, while our 40 000 laying hens are capable of producing 1 000 trays of eggs a day. The fish business has also put in place a plan to sell produce to the Bamako fish market in Mali’s capital city. Unfortunately egg production was impacted by an outbreak of Newcastle disease in March which resulted in the death of many of the laying birds. However, we have since restocked our laying houses, and built additional ones. Our CEO met the newly-appointed Malian Minister of Mines who expressed his satisfaction with the mine closure projects.

One of the main developments at Morila in 2016 was the review and restructuring of the agribusiness initiatives to continue building on success. This has included inviting market specialists to commercialise and scale-up different business units. The production and manufacturing units have been assigned to former workers in the community and a number of project developers, research and financial institutions, including IFC/World Bank, have been engaged. The developments are based on the Songhai model of integrated agriculture and production, which was established in Benin in 1985 and has been successfully introduced to 15 countries across Africa. A delegation from Songhai, including founder Father Godfrey Nzamuzo, visited Morila and confirmed the projects viability. The next step is to obtain official endorsement from the Malian government. During January 2017 representatives from Morila mine and its partners, the Group Kledu and the UN Women’s Organisation, presented plans to the Malian minister of Industrial Development who described the project as innovative and timely.

Agribusiness projects for closure planning progressed on all other sites in 2016, even though they are all many years from closure. These included:■ At Tongon – A pilot fish farming project has

been developed using best practice from Morila and in 2016 produced and sold its first tonnes of fish. The production of jute, a high yield fibre used in the manufacture of bags and garden twine, is also being fostered on site.

■ At Loulo-Gounkoto – The first year of operation for the new $1.4 million agribusiness training centre was very successful with the first 58 local students completing courses in farming entrepreneurialism. More partners have also expressed interest in providing financial or other support to the college. Agribusiness initiatives produced over 70 tonnes of vegetables and 10 tonnes of broiler chickens.

■ At Kibali – We continue to plan with the DRC government for the creation of a sustainable palm oil project, which would provide employment opportunities for four times as many people as the Kibali mine. In 2016, the mine invested in the creation of a small-scale palm oil facility to bring to life the potential of the project for future investors, and surveyed existing community capacity to ensure the best model for the local region is developed. Trials of maize flour production are also underway to develop a programme with optimal yield for the region, which can then be rolled out across the area. We also brought in an agribusiness specialist Chris Ben Associates, from Kinshasa, to help establish poultry and pork projects and lead community training.

From catering to construction, soap making to shopping we foster many projects in the community that support entrepreneurialism and local economic development. Further details on these can be found in the ‘Community development’ and ‘Building sustainable local supply chain’ sections of this report.

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7 TRAINING CENTRE

OUR MINES DON’T JUST HARVEST GOLDTo help combat food insecurity and as part of our plans to help diversify local economies and leave a sustainable economic legacy, we have invested heavily in a number of agribusiness projects in our communities of operation

Working with experts to develop out grower palm oil production at Kibali. Small scale palmoil factory producing 3 646 boxes of palm soap and generating $65 000 of revenue in 2016.

6 Palm oil

57 students successfully completed phase one agribusiness training and beginning phase two. 42 tonnes of grains, 10 tonnes of meat and 70 tonnes of vegetables produced since inception. Partners in the agribusiness centre include; Agriprofocus, GIZ, UN women, UNIDO and the regional development agency.

7 Agribusiness centre

Pork project established at Kibali. 89 pigs and piglets in the Sekonkaha and Poungbe pigsties at Tongon, to produce pork for sale to the community.

8 Pork

700 behives around the community and 96 on site producing honey for the community and for sale in Bamako.

9 Honey

Nearly 12 hectares of jute planted around 3 villages near Tongon, to produce jute for biodegradable bags for sale in Abidjan and beyond.

10 Jute

Fish farming expanded at Morila and Tongon. 24 floating cages and 13 earth ponds at Morila produced 90 tonnes of fish in 2016. 15 cages in Tongon produced 429kg of fish in Q4 2016.

1 Fish

New poultry sheds at Morila and Kibali. At Morila 40 000 layers produced 1 000 trays of eggs per day. Poultry project at Kibali agribusiness centre has 3 000 layers who will produce 2 200 eggs per day. 4 000 broilers produced at Tongon and 1 000 layers given to villages of Kantonon and Korokara.

2 Poultry

8 hectares of mango farms and community outgrowers at Morila producing 5 tonnes ofmango for the communityand Del Monte.

3 Mango

80 hectares of maize grown in the community around Tongon. Trials of maize flour production underway at Kibali to develop a project for the area.

4 Maize

9 tonnes of hot pepper produced and sold by Tongon community women in 2016.

5 Hot pepper

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7 TRAINING CENTRE

OUR MINES DON’T JUST HARVEST GOLDTo help combat food insecurity and as part of our plans to help diversify local economies and leave a sustainable economic legacy, we have invested heavily in a number of agribusiness projects in our communities of operation

Working with experts to develop out grower palm oil production at Kibali. Small scale palmoil factory producing 3 646 boxes of palm soap and generating $65 000 of revenue in 2016.

6 Palm oil

57 students successfully completed phase one agribusiness training and beginning phase two. 42 tonnes of grains, 10 tonnes of meat and 70 tonnes of vegetables produced since inception. Partners in the agribusiness centre include; Agriprofocus, GIZ, UN women, UNIDO and the regional development agency.

7 Agribusiness centre

Pork project established at Kibali. 89 pigs and piglets in the Sekonkaha and Poungbe pigsties at Tongon, to produce pork for sale to the community.

8 Pork

700 behives around the community and 96 on site producing honey for the community and for sale in Bamako.

9 Honey

Nearly 12 hectares of jute planted around 3 villages near Tongon, to produce jute for biodegradable bags for sale in Abidjan and beyond.

10 Jute

Fish farming expanded at Morila and Tongon. 24 floating cages and 13 earth ponds at Morila produced 90 tonnes of fish in 2016. 15 cages in Tongon produced 429kg of fish in Q4 2016.

1 Fish

New poultry sheds at Morila and Kibali. At Morila 40 000 layers produced 1 000 trays of eggs per day. Poultry project at Kibali agribusiness centre has 3 000 layers who will produce 2 200 eggs per day. 4 000 broilers produced at Tongon and 1 000 layers given to villages of Kantonon and Korokara.

2 Poultry

8 hectares of mango farms and community outgrowers at Morila producing 5 tonnes ofmango for the communityand Del Monte.

3 Mango

80 hectares of maize grown in the community around Tongon. Trials of maize flour production underway at Kibali to develop a project for the area.

4 Maize

9 tonnes of hot pepper produced and sold by Tongon community women in 2016.

5 Hot pepper

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