Empowering sustainable communities beyond the life of a mining operation
MINING operations can have far-reaching impacts on society, including contributing to the economic growth of a country, creating employment and education opportunities, and developing industries.
The importance of the sector to South Africa’s economic landscape is evident in recent statistics from the Minerals Council revealed at the 2024 Mining Indaba.
Mining contributes roughly 7.5% of the GDP, provides direct employment to about half a million people, and has played a role in resolving national crises by laying the groundwork for much-needed infrastructure.
Despite a slight decline of around 0.5% in overall mining output in 2023 - primarily due to challenges such as electricity shortages, disruptions in transportation services, and criminality - the sector remains essential for the development of the economy and society at large. We are proud to be a key contributor to this success.
Rio Tinto has been making significant economic contributions to South Africa for over three decades.
Through its operations, we have aimed to create meaningful social and economic impact, particularly in the communities where we operate. This is evident through initiatives like the Social and Labour Plan (SLP), Employment Equity Plan, healthcare initiatives, Community Trusts, and our support for local projects like enterprise development and infrastructure.
The SLP aims to promote employment, advance communities’ social and economic interests, and contribute to the transformation of the mining sector.
Today, 83% of Rio Tinto and RBM mine and core contractor employees live in local municipalities. Programmes such as training and skills development provide skills and employment opportunities to our host communities, fostering long-term sustainable growth.
Equality is another important tool for the sustainability of our host communities.
Through our Employment Equity Plan, which focuses on the development and recruitment of people from our local communities, we have made it possible for the mine to have men and women from all backgrounds employed in both core and supporting positions.
Community trusts, established in 2009, are also a crucial mechanism to deliver broad-based economic benefits, facilitating community sustainability beyond the life of our mine.
To give perspective, RBM has distributed over R500m to the four host community trusts since 2010.
Our ongoing negotiations and legal proceedings to reform community trusts aim to redefine the trusts’ governance, transparency and accountability to ensure communities receive meaningful upliftment from Rio Tinto’s operations.
In addition to the amounts allocated to the community trusts, Rio Tinto is dedicated to investing in basic infrastructure and incomegenerating opportunities that improve livelihoods.
Rehabilitation is another area where we are creating a legacy and finding better ways to do this.
At our RBM operations, we have successfully rehabilitated over 3 600ha of land using native plants and trees, gradually restoring a coastal dune forest and ecosystem.
Restoring land is a priority for us and as such, we have shared our rehabilitation practices with the global scientific community through the Proteus Partnership, a collaboration between the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and extractive industries.
But we don’t just look after the land. Access to primary healthcare services is another area we have made an impact. Our employees are key members of their communities; thus, we ensure they have access to primary healthcare on site.
This investment goes beyond employees through our partnership with Life Assist, which offers access to mental health and well-being services.
This holistic programme improves the quality of life for employees and their families by giving them access to professional assistance to help address complex life issues.
As we like to say, “We are so much more than mining.”
Our approach to empowering sustainable communities has our values of Care, Courage and Curiosity at its core.
This is our collective legacy, and our promise is that we will continue to find better ways to provide meaningful, long-term benefits to our local communities – benefits that will exist beyond the life of our mines.