North America’s Fastest Growing Senior Gold Producer
With a strong project pipeline, positioned to drive long-term sustainable growth, Goldcorp Inc. is the fastest growing, lowest-cost senior gold producer with operations and development projects in politically stable jurisdictions throughout the Americas.
Employing over 11,500 people worldwide, Goldcorp is a Canadian company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. Goldcorp is committed to responsible mining practices and is well-positioned to deliver sustained, industry leading growth and performance.
Goldcorp’s constant attempt is to deliver sustainable prosperity for their shareholders, employees, business partners and the communities in which the company operate.
A global leader engaged in the operation, exploration, development and acquisition of precious metal properties in Canada, the United States, Mexico and Central and South America, Goldcorp’s current sources of operating cash flows are primarily from the sale of gold, copper, silver, lead and zinc.
Goldcorp’s gold production is located in safe jurisdictions in the Americas and remains 100% unhedged. Goldcorp’s strategy is to provide its shareholders with superior returns from high-quality assets, through their commitment to responsible mining and sustainable prosperity.
A Responsible Mining Company
Goldcorp’s strong commitment to responsible mining and sustainable prosperity for all of the company’s stakeholders is reflected in the enviable position at which Goldcorp closed in 2010.
With a continuing focus on corporate social responsibility programs throughout the organization during the year, Goldcorp reported an improvement in overall safety performance for the fourth consecutive year, while also completing the certification of all of their nominated sites under the International Cyanide Management Code late in the year.
Goldcorp’s deeply entrenched commitment to conducting business responsibly, involves respecting the safety and health of their employees, protecting the environment, respecting the human rights of employees and of the residents of communities in which Goldcorp operates while also contributing to the sustainable development of those communities.
Goldcorp believes in integrating economic, environmental and social dimensions into the company’s business decision-making processes, thereby helping build strong, open and transparent relationships with the communities in which it operates, and is committed to making a positive difference in the communities and countries where they are located, by improving social and economic circumstances through economic contributions, community involvement, community consultation, support and development of school programs and special events.
As an integral part of this community-building endeavour, Goldcorp believes in minimizing the environmental footprint in the areas where they operate, while also being proactive in program development so that the communities are not reliant on the mines for their future
Sustainable Prosperity
Goldcorp’s Sustainability Vision is to foster the integration of sustainable development principles into their business operating philosophy.
Committed to implementing consistent policies and practices across their diverse group of properties, while recognizing the vastly different environmental, physical and cultural differences that shape each operation, Goldcorp’s sustainability goal is to achieve a balance of economic prosperity, environmental stewardship and social responsibility that extends beyond the economic lives of their mining operations.
Preserving Biodiversity
Goldcorp seeks to design, construct, operate and close operations in ways that minimize the risks to biodiversity and limit the company’s environmental impact across the significant areas of land that the company manages in and around their mines.
With operations spanning across a range of ecosystems, from the boreal forest region of northern Canada to the semi-arid shrub land of central Mexico, Goldcorp recognizes the need of protecting biodiversity, by operating in a manner that minimizes the impact of their mining activities on biodiversity and, where possible, actively increases biodiversity values.
Improving Energy Efficiency
Mining being an energy intensive industry, Goldcorp is committed to improving energy efficiency in order to reduce both costs and greenhouse gas emissions.
To facilitate this process, Goldcorp is developing an energy strategy which will include a five year plan setting objectives and targets in the key areas of energy efficiency, emissions reduction, energy security and renewables.
Gold and Silver doré bars being their main products, there is a limited opportunity for Goldcorp to produce energy-efficient products. However, the company is pursuing many initiatives related to improving energy efficiency in their processes.
Peñasquito
Located in the mining state of Zacatecas, Mexico, the Peñasquito mine is posed to be Mexico’s largest open pit mine. Offering flat topography and excellent proximity to roads, power, rail, skilled labor and smelters, the two open pit mines in this operation are Peñasco and Chile Colorado containing gold, silver, lead and zinc.
“Over the course of its construction and production ramp-up, Peñasquito has achieved every significant operational milestone on schedule, culminating in today’s declaration of commercial production,” said Steve Reid, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Goldcorp. “Concentrates from both process lines are now being routinely produced and sold as expected to our smelter partners around the world. As this successful ramp-up continues, our shareholders are well-positioned to reap the benefits in the form of rapidly accelerating cash flows over the next several years.
Peñasquito has a designed processing capacity of 130,000 tonnes per day, consisting of two 50,000 tonne per day capacity sulphide processing lines (Lines 1 and 2) and the 30,000 tonne per day capacity HPGR circuit. Over its 23-year mine life, the operation is expected to produce an annual average of 500,000 ounces of gold, 28 million ounces of silver, 450 million pounds of zinc, and 200 million pounds of lead at net negative by-product cash costs.
From Chuck Jeannes, President and CEO, Goldcorp
At Goldcorp, we are guided by the principle of Sustainable Prosperity. This means that we conduct all aspects of our business for the benefit of our stakeholders – our staff and shareholders, as well as the individuals, families, communities, and regions in which we operate. We seek growth and operational excellence: from our efforts to protect our workers’ health and safety, to our policies and practices of environmental conservation and our investments in enhancing the socio-economic development of local communities.
I’m pleased to note that our efforts have been recognized by our recent inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for North America. In addition, we were commended by Northwest & Ethical Investments for our Human Rights Assessment of the Marlin mine, who stated, “Goldcorp has set a new standard for disclosure and transparency.” While we are justly proud of this recognition, it is not our only objective. Sustainable Prosperity is focused on ongoing improvements to the social and economic well-being of the communities where we work. Through open dialogue and mutually beneficial partnerships we can continue to be responsible, welcomed and respected in the communities in which we conduct business.
For 2010, our corporate social responsibility focus was on consolidating our organization-wide framework. Under the leadership of Dina Aloi, our Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility, we developed and approved new and updated corporate policies for Human Rights and Corporate and Social Responsibility that provide a framework for everyone, in every operation, for better collaboration and more effective management of our community relations.
In May 2010, an independent Human Rights Assessment presented the results of 18 months of research at the Marlin mine. We publicly committed to consider each recommendation carefully. Our initial response published in June 2010 has been supplemented twice in October 2010 and May 2011. As indicated in the most recent update, the overarching goal of integrating the recommendations into Goldcorp’s management policies and practices has been achieved. We will continue to provide information about progress in these areas through our annual Sustainability Report and other engagement with stakeholders at all levels.
For the fourth consecutive year, our overall safety performance has improved. However, no statistics or overall improvements are enough in the face of tragic reality. I am saddened to report a fatality at the Peñasquito mine during 2010. Along with everyone at Goldcorp, I would like to express my sympathy and extend our condolences to the worker’s family, friends and community. We must take this as an opportunity to reinforce our emphasis on safety training and continual vigilance, within our safety vision, “Safe Enough for Our Families.”
At Goldcorp, we strive to do more than treat local communities with respect – we treat them as partners in a shared future. This attitude is exemplified by the recent signing of the Collaboration Agreement with the Cree Nation of Wemindji, the Grand Council of the Crees and the Cree Regional Authority with respect to our Éléonore project in northern Québec. Through this agreement, we have established shared responsibilities in critical issues of environmental stewardship, community development, training, local employment, and small business development.
As the youngest senior mining company in Canada, we are proud to take our place among the industry’s leaders in responsible mining practices. This year, the last of our nominated mines, Porcupine and Red Lake in Canada, became certified under the International Cyanide Management Code, a voluntary program which is renowned as the international benchmark for transporting, storing and using cyanide. We are new members of the UN Global Compact, the International Council on Mining and Metals, and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, which supports greater accountability and transparency in payments made by extractive industries.
