Africa-Press – Tanzania. World Gold Council has recognised Barrick Gold Corporation for its leading role in sharing the benefits in the countries and communities in which they operate.
Barrick Gold Corporation has welcomed the release of the World Gold Council’s report highlighting the role of its members in contributing to socio-economic development in the countries and communities in which they operate.
Barrick president and chief executive Mark Bristow said in a statement that the company’s ability to share the benefits of mining was one of the key ways it measured in success.
“We partner with our host communities and countries to transform their natural resources into tangible benefits and mutual prosperity.
Additionally, we hire talented individuals from the communities closest to our mines and train them to world-class standards; we leverage our supply chain to facilitate the growth of thriving and self-sustaining businesses, and our taxes further contribute to the economic development of the countries and communities in which we operate,” he said.
“This all happened against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, when our prompt and effective responses protected our businesses from the worst of the virus and provided a further opportunity for us to demonstrate our commitment to partnerships,” Bristow said.
According to the report, this contribution amounted to almost 38 billion US dollars in 38 countries last year in the form of payments to governments, employees and suppliers.
Barrick’s status as an industry leader in socio-economic development was underscored by the comparison between its performance and the industry wide figures reported by the World Gold Council.
The 97 per cent of Barrick’s employees and contractors were host country nationals, compared to 95 per cent reported cumulatively by the World Gold Council member companies.
Barrick paid 1.8 billion US dollars out of the total 7.6 billion US dollars reported in taxes, royalties and dividends to host governments.
About 4.5 billion US dollars of the total 26 billion US dollars spent on goods and services was spent with local and national suppliers and Barrick’s total economic contributions amounted to 12.1 billion US dollars out of the total 37.9 billion US dollars contribution reported for the year 2020.
Barrick spent more than 30 million US dollars on Covid-related community support measures in 2020 and prepaid more than 300 million US dollars in taxes and royalties.
It also supported communities through several initiatives ranging from medical supply donations to local hospitals, loans to small businesses, setting up food banks and delivering food packages.
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