REG - Shanta Gold Limited - Publication of 2022 Sustainability Report

Shanta GoldAnnouncement

12/04/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 8536V  Shanta Gold Limited  12 April 2023

12 April 2023

Shanta Gold Limited

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

 

Publication of 2022 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 2022
Sustainability Report, which covers its activities for the year ended 31
December 2022 both at a corporate level and on the ground at the New Luika
Gold Mine ("NLGM"), the Singida Project ("Singida") in Tanzania, and the West
Kenya Project ("West Kenya") in Kenya.

 

The full report is available on the website:

https://shantagold.com/sustainability/sustainability-reports/

 

Highlights in 2022

 

·    Continued excellence in safety, with lost time injury frequency
("LTIFR") of 0.75, and total recordable injury frequency rate ("TRIFR") of
1.51 (inclusive of West Kenya);

 

·   99% local employment from Tanzania and Kenya and US$94 million ("m")
local procurement from Tanzanian or Kenyan suppliers, covering 80% of total
purchases;

 

·    Zero reportable environmental and community incidents across the
Company;

 

·    Scope 1 & 2 greenhouse gas ("GHG) emission intensity of 0.71
tCO(2)e per gold ("Au") ounce ("oz") sold;

 

·    Nil m3 water discharge in 2022;

 

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

 

 

Eric Zurrin, CEO, commented:

 

"2022 has been an important year for Shanta, as we ramped up construction at
Singida, which in March 2023 poured first gold. As our team grew and
strengthened over the course of the year, we made excellent progress across
core sustainability areas including community projects, stakeholder
management, health and safety, training and professional development.

 

Safety has always been our top priority at Shanta. While it is disappointing
to report that our long-standing record of 9 million man-hours without a Lost
Time Incident at New Luika was broken in April 2022, we still achieved
industry leading safety performance with a Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate of
0.75.

 

Our established community development programme in Tanzania progressed
throughout the year, with a key focus on improving health, water, and
education services. It was great to see this approach replicated at Singida as
construction progressed, with various community projects completed during
2022, including the construction of classrooms and toilets at two schools. At
the same time, we were able to strengthen the economic development of the
communities and regions we operate in, achieved through 99 per cent local
employment and local procurement spend of US$94 million, representing 80 per
cent of total purchases.

 

We continue to operate responsibly across our portfolio, reporting zero major
environmental incidents and no water discharge for 2022. Meanwhile, our New
Luika mine is now 22 per cent powered by solar and grid power. While Shanta
continues to benchmark competitively against our peers for GHG intensity per
ounce of gold sold, we recognise that there are important steps to take to
make further progress in decarbonising our footprint and driving down
emissions.

 

This is our second sustainability report, and I am pleased with the progress
we have made across the board. We continue to report in accordance with key
ESG frameworks including SASB and align with the United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals. We also continue to monitor and review the ESG issues that
are most important to our stakeholders, embedding the sustainability strategy
developed in 2021 into the business, looking to improve over the short, medium
and long term."

 

 

Performance summary

 

                                    Units                            FY22
 Health, safety & wellbeing
 LTIFR                              Per 1 m ("million) hours worked  0.75
 TRIFR                              Per 1 m hours worked             1.51
 Fatality frequency rate            Per 1 m hours worked             0.00
 Our people
 Total workforce                    Employees and contractors(1)     1,578
 Local workforce                    % of total employed(2)           99
 Social & economic partnership
 Community spend                    US$ million                      94
 Local procurement                  % of total procurement spend     80
 Managing resources
 Environmental incidents            Reportable                       0
 Water discharge                    Cubic metres (m(3))              0
 Scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions          tCO(2)e                          44,726
 GHG emissions intensity            tCO(2)e/ Au oz sold              0.71

Note 1: 914 employees and 664 contractors

Note 2: Excluding contractors

 

 

Enquiries:

 

 Shanta Gold Limited
 Eric Zurrin (CEO)                              +44 (0) 14 8173 2153
 Michal Devine (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) 20 727 1000

 

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 625 koz grading 2.91 g/t, and exploration licences covering
approximately 800 km2 in the country. Alongside New Luika and Singida, Shanta
also owns the high-grade West Kenya Project in Kenya and licences with
resources of 1.7 million ounces including 722 Koz in the Indicated category
grading 11.45 g/t. With a healthy 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 1,051 million shares in
issue.

 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation
(EU) No. 596/2014 as amended by The Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit)
Regulations 2019.

 

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