Perseus Mining has released its sustainability report for 2020, detailing increased community investment in Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire to US$1.9 million.

As part of its longstanding commitment to the communities in which it operates, Perseus indicated that it has channeled funds towards critical health and education infrastructure projects for local communities.

In addition, the report shows that the Company’s proportion of local procurement increased from 66% in 2019 to 78% in 2020, totalling US$287 million. Further expanding its employment of local populations, with 96% of its current local workforce to Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.

The sustainability report details the company’s progress over the past year in delivering on its commitment to responsible mining operations in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Overall, the Company noted that these contributions amounted to an overall economic benefit to Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire totaling about US$385 million.

Jeff Quartermaine, Managing Director and CEO of Perseus remarked: “Sustainability is deeply rooted in Perseus’s culture and operations and has had a large part to play in our resilience during this challenging year.”

“We believe that responsible gold mining can play a key role in sustainable development, and that investing in our employees and our communities to create enduring social value will remain a guiding force in our growth path and future business operations.

“I am proud of my team’s effective response to the pandemic which successfully safeguarded our operations as well as our people, enabling us to deliver our Yaouré mine in Côte d’Ivoire this year ahead of schedule.”

Perseus’s sustainability approach

He further underscored that Perseus’s approach to sustainability has complemented its growth efforts. This year, the company is looking forward to expand environmental, social and governance (ESG) offering and delivering greater impact across Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.

Jessica Volich, Group Sustainability Manager at Perseus, added: “Despite the challenges the past year has brought, Perseus’s sustainability agenda has continued to strengthen and evolve alongside its expanding operations.

“Our wide-ranging efforts and engagement with our local communities and host governments has enabled us to create shared sustainable value for all our stakeholders. We are committed to strengthening these relationships in the coming years as we endeavour to generate socio-economic value for our people, communities and host countries.”

Furthermore, in delivering a more growth-oriented approach to sustainability, Perseus worked with independent sustainability risk experts, KPMG. The main goal was to refresh the Company’s materiality analysis, conducting deeper analysis of our sustainability risks and opportunities, and commencing development of our three-year sustainability roadmap.

That notwithstanding, the Company’s operations are already benchmarked against the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Also the Company’s commitments are tied to advancing good health and wellbeing, quality education, clean water and sanitation, and decent work and economic growth

In 2020, Perseus enhanced its disclosure on sustainability-related risks and opportunities by aligning with the key reporting frameworks of Global sustainability organizations. These include the World Gold Council Responsible Gold Mining Principles, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).