REG - Shanta Gold Limited - 2021 Sustainability Report Publication

Shanta GoldAnnouncement

04/04/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 0563H  Shanta Gold Limited  04 April 2022

4 April 2022

Shanta Gold Limited

("Shanta Gold", "Shanta" or the "Company")

 

Publication of 2021 Sustainability Report

Shanta Gold (AIM: SHG), the East Africa-focused gold producer, developer, and
explorer, is pleased to announce that it has today published its first
Sustainability Report, which covers its activities for the year ended 31
December 2021 both at a corporate level and on the ground at the New Luika
Gold Mine ("NLGM") and Singida Project ("Singida") in Tanzania, and the West
Kenya Project ("West Kenya") in Kenya.

The full report is available on the website:
https://www.shantagold.com/news-media/news/
(https://www.shantagold.com/news-media/news/)

Highlights in 2021

·    Outstanding safety record extended with lost time injury frequency
("LTIFR") of 0.00, and total recordable injury frequency rate ("TRIFR") of
0.67;

·    Awarded 1(st) place in 2021 for: Environmental & Safety
Compliance, CSR Projects, and Local Content Performance at 2022 International
Mineral and Mining Investment Conference in Tanzania;

·    99% local employment from Tanzania and Kenya and US$67.9 million
("m") local procurement from Tanzanian or Kenyan suppliers, covering 85% of
total purchases;

·    Scope 1 & 2 greenhouse gas ("GHG) emission intensity of 0.73
tCO(2)e per gold ("Au") ounce ("oz") sold;

·    Nil m(3) water discharge in 2021;

·    Zero reportable environmental and community incidents across the
Company;

·    2021 investment in community projects of US$0.3 m, with US$1.3 m
spent on community programmes in host countries since 2017;

·    Materiality assessment completed with internal and external
stakeholders to proactively address key ESG risks and identify opportunities
to maximise positive impact for stakeholders;

·    Sustainability Report prepared in line with the Sustainability
Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards; and

·    Commitment in 2022 to start aligning climate disclosure against the
framework set out by the TCFD to report in line with best practice for main
market listed companies.

Publication of the 2021 Annual Report is expected during the first week of May
2022.

 

Eric Zurrin, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"At Shanta we have always sought to put social responsibility at the heart of
what we do and conduct business ethically to deliver sustainable returns for
shareholders while creating long-term benefits for our host-country
stakeholders within and around our assets.

In 2021 we benchmarked, measured and disclosed our performance in relation to
material environmental, social and governance issues in our inaugural
Sustainability Report, informed by a materiality assessment conducted with our
key stakeholders in consultation with an expert independent sustainability
consultant.

We are particularly proud of our safety performance, having achieved four
years without a lost time incident in 2021, extending our track record as one
of the safest gold miners globally.

During the year we continued supporting our local communities through direct
funding of health and education-focused community projects, while
strengthening the socio-economic development of the regions we operate in
through local employment and procurement, represented by the 99% of our total
employees who are employed from host nations and 87% of procurement coming
from Tanzania or Kenya.

Environmentally we continued to operate safely, with zero reportable tailings
incidents and no water discharge. We were pleased to benchmark well against
our peers on an intensity basis for Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions and are
committed to do what we can to further decarbonise our operations.

In 2022 we will look to enhance our disclosure in anticipation of mandatory
TCFD reporting for AIM-listed companies and further enhance our sustainability
performance with a focus on setting clear targets and pathways and integrating
these into our operations."

 

Performance summary

 

                                    Units                            FY21
 Health, safety & wellbeing
 LTIFR                              Per 1 m ("million) hours worked  0.00
 TRIFR                              Per 1 m hours worked             0.67
 Fatalities                         Total workforce                  0
 Our people
 Total workforce                    Employees and contractors(1)     1,339
 Local workforce                    % of total employed(2)           99%
 Social & economic partnership
 Community spend                    US$ million                      0.3
 Local procurement                  % of total procurement spend     85%
 Managing resources
 Environmental incidents            Reportable                       0
 Water discharge                    Cubic metres (m(3))              0
 Scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions          tCO(2)e                          41,764
 GHG emissions intensity            tCO(2)e/ Au oz sold              0.73

 

Note 1: 854 employees and 485 contractors

Note 2: Excluding contractors

 

Enquiries:

 

 Shanta Gold Limited
 Eric Zurrin (CEO)                               +44 (0) 14 8173 2153
 Luke Leslie (CFO)

 Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker
 Liberum Capital Limited
 Scott Mathieson / Ed Thomas / Nikhil Varghese   +44 (0) 20 3100 2000

 Joint Broker
 Tamesis Partners LLP
 Charlie Bendon / Richard Greenfield             +44 (0) 20 3882 2868

 Public Relations
 FTI Consulting
 Sara Powell / Nick Hennis                       +44 (0) 20 3727 1426

 

About Shanta Gold

Shanta Gold is an East Africa-focused responsible gold producer, developer,
and explorer. The company has an established operational track record, with
defined ore resources on the New Luika and Singida projects in Tanzania, with
reserves of 645 koz grading 3.0 g/t, and exploration licences covering
approximately 1,100 km(2) in the country. Alongside New Luika and Singida,
Shanta also owns the high-grade West Kenya Project in Kenya and licences with
resources of 1.6 million ounces including 378 koz in the Indicated category
grading 11.70 g/t. With a strong balance sheet, a growing diversified
portfolio and a maiden dividend paid in 2021, Shanta offers a resilient
investment opportunity for the near and long-term. Shanta is quoted on
London's AIM market (AIM: SHG) and has approximately 1,048 million shares in
issue.

ENDS

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