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Newmont and Goldcorp

Sosa, Irene. “Responsible Investment Case Studies: Newmont and Goldcorp” in Governance Ecosystems: CSR in the Latin American Mining Sector, ed. Julia Sagebien and Nicole Marie Lindsay (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).

Newmont, a mining company, was plagued in the early 2000’s by community issues in the place where they were drilling and while the company implemented many changes, issues continued to plague them.

In 2007, 11 shareholders filed a shareholder resolution calling for a review of the company’s community relations policies and practices by an independent advisory committee. To consist of one online casino community representative and two NGO members. The inspection lasted a year and a half and consisted of countless interviews with local residents, company employees, and outside stakeholders as well as intensive audits of company policies.

The comprehensive review concluded that while Newmont had many legitimate policies in place, there was a disconnect between the high standards and the real life practices. This prompted the board of directors to develop an action plan to rectify the situation, engage further with key investors and enact a system to monitor performance.