Direct and Indirect Economic Impacts

Introduction

Gold Fields' sustainable economic performance is critical to the value creation of the Company. Our financial and operational performance largely determines the profitability of the Company, which is essential for its future growth and long-term sustainability. It is also critical in sharing the wealth of mining with our key stakeholders, including our employees, business partners, host communities, host governments and capital providers.

An important partner and stakeholder are the communities that host our operations. Without their support, managing mines becomes a lot more difficult – indeed, communities can stop operations and in many developing countries they do so if they believe they are not receiving their fair share of the wealth or that mining damages their livelihoods or environments.

As such community value creation is a critical component of our direct and indirect economic impact. Directly, through the employment of community members in our workforce, procurement from host community enterprises, and investment in community projects in the areas of skills development, education, health and infrastructure development. Indirectly, as host community employees, contractors and businesses create economic wealth, skills and further jobs in these communities.

We report on our direct and indirect economic impacts in our Integrated Annual Report and Report to Stakeholders. The Gold Fields Board, particularly its Social, Ethics and Transformation Committee has oversight of these matters.

Gold Fields Policies and Commitments

Our Community Policy Statement was updated in 2021 and commits us to developing mutually
beneficial relationships with our host communities, host governments and other key stakeholders through meaningful and transparent engagement.

To attain this, we commit to:

• pursue partnerships with non-governmental organisations, development organisations, other stakeholders and governments, to deliver enduring social and economic well-being to host communities in accordance with development priorities
• prioritise host community and in-country procurement and job creation
• deliver sustainable benefits for host communities, including Indigenous Peoples
• measure our contribution to socio-economic development and diversity as well as our relations with host communities and governments
• stipulate that our suppliers, contractors and where relevant our community trusts and foundations conduct themselves in accordance with the principles outlined in our policies, standards and guidelines.

Everyone working for and on behalf of, and third parties to Gold Fields plays a role in achieving these commitments by:

• adhering to this Group Community Policy Statement; and
• undertaking activities in a manner that avoids harm, builds respectful relationships with communities and other key stakeholders and delivers enduring value in collaboration with them.

The following internal policies and guidelines support our work in this area:

• Stakeholder Charters – Society and Communities, Employees, and Investors
• Sustainable Development Policy
• Human Rights Policy
• Materials and Supply Chain Stewardship Policy
• Stakeholder Relationship and Engagement Policy
• Supplier Code of Business Conduct
• Community Relations Guideline
• Community and Stakeholder Engagement Handbook
• Host Community Procurement and Job Creation Guidance
• Social Return on Investment Guide

Our Society and Community Charter commits us to:

• Build strong relationships with key stakeholders, based on trust and open, honest and frequent engagement
• Create and deliver enduring value in collaboration with - and for - our host communities and governments in line with our ESG Priorities and 2030 targets
• Monitor and measure our performance against our commitments to create enduring value, build relations and trust and reduce our impact on the environment
• Strive to reach a better understanding of the underlying concerns and aspirations of our host communities, the issues associated with our business and to co-create and deliver the right commitments to secure and maintain our social licence to operate.

As a member of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), we engage actively with our peers on social and economic benefits in the organisation’s committees, working groups and practice groups. We are required to implement and publicly report and assure our performance against its Mining Principles and Performance Expectations and Position Statements, particularly:

Performance Expectations:

1. Pursue continual improvement in social performance and contribute to the social, economic and institutional development of host countries and communities.
   1. Implement inclusive approaches with local communities to identify their development priorities and support activities that contribute to their lasting social and economic wellbeing, in partnership with government, civil society and development agencies, as appropriate.
   2. Enable access by local enterprises to procurement and contracting opportunities across the project life-cycle, both directly and by encouraging larger contractors and suppliers, and also by supporting initiatives to enhance economic opportunities for local communities
   3. Conduct stakeholder engagement based upon an analysis of the local context and provide local with stakeholders access to effective mechanisms for seeking resolution of grievances related to the company and its activities
   4. Collaborate with government, where appropriate, to support improvements in environmental and social practices of local artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM)

Position Statements:
Mining Partnerships for Development:

1. Either individually or collectively through ICMM publicly express their willingness to work in partnership with development agencies, host governments, civil society organisations, and local communities to enhance mining and metals’ contribution to social and economic development.
2. For major investments in regions where socio-economic outcomes are highly uncertain or where there are significant opportunities to enhance such outcomes: (i) develop an understanding of the social and economic contribution of the project, including an analysis of the barriers that might weaken this contribution; and (ii) actively support or help develop partnerships or collaborations with other stakeholder groups with the aim of ensuring the project’s potential socio-economic contribution is realised.
3. Review the relative success of their development partnerships and collaborations at suitable intervals and adapt these over time to ensure they continue to contribute to the overall goal of enhancing the social and economic contribution of mining.

We apply ICMM’s guidance on:

• Mining Partnership for Development Toolkit (2011)
• Human Rights in the Mining and Metals Industry: Integrating Human Rights Due Diligence into Corporate Risk Management Processes (2012)
• Community Development Toolkit (2012)
• Stakeholder Research Toolkit (2015)
• Understanding Company-Community Relations (2015)
• Handling and Resolving Local-level Concerns and Grievances (2019)
• Building Forward Better (2020)
• Partnering for our Common Future (2021)
• Tools for Social Performance (2022)

As a member of the World Gold Council (WGC), we are required to implement and publicly report and assure our performance against its Responsible Gold Mining Principles, particularly:

1. Working with communities: we aim to contribute to the socio-economic advancement of communities associated with our operations and to treat them with dignity and respect.
   1. Creating local benefits: We will ensure that the communities associated with our operations are offered meaningful opportunities to benefit from our presence, including through access to jobs and training, and procurement opportunities for local businesses and social investment.

We interact with peers on social and economic benefits in a range of ICMM working groups specifically the ICMM Community Support Practice Group and Skills Initiatives Working Group.

National industry associations in our countries of operation also address social and economic benefits and we participate actively in these forms.

Management Actions

Economic Performance:
The three pillars of the Gold Fields strategy are critical in achieving our economic performance:

• Maximising the potential from current assets through people and innovation
• Building on our leading commitments to ESG
• Growing the value and quality of our portfolio of assets

The highest level of responsibility for economic performance lies with the Board of Directors, which approves the strategic direction for the Company’s economic performance. The strategy is developed by the executive leadership team with implementation by the regional offices and the various operations.

Stakeholder Value Creation:
We cultivate mutually beneficial relationships with our stakeholders to strengthen our reputation and social licence to operate and deliver enduring value where we operate.

We recognise the importance of strong community relations to our social licence to operate. We are committed to avoid and prevent, minimise, mitigate and/or remedy the negative impacts of our operations on host communities and other stakeholders, while also delivering enduring social and economic well-being. Through meaningful engagement founded on mutual respect and trust, continual improvement of our social performance and our commitment to create and share value, we seek to create enduring value beyond mining.

Each region implements Government Action Plans and Community Action Plans, aligned to Group guidance, ensuring delivery of these commitments.

Gold Fields' approach to creating positive community value creation and community relations comprises the following:

• An informed understanding of our operating contexts, stakeholder priorities and associated risks obtained through baseline studies, impact and risk assessments and stakeholder engagement
• Active management of environmental and socio-economic impacts and risks of our operations through implementation of management strategies and plans
• Building relationships with our stakeholders through open, transparent and constructive engagements
• Meaningful social investment to address the priority needs of our host communities in the areas of infrastructure development, economic diversification, education and skills development, health and wellbeing, and environment and conservation
• Formalised partnerships with governments (national, regional and local), NGOs, donors and other stakeholders
• Creating shared value through host community procurement, host community employment and public infrastructure development

In keeping with Gold Fields guidance, all of our operations and projects implement environmental and social impact assessments and management plans as required. Consistent practices across all our sites include ongoing, planned community engagements, formal grievance management, social risk assessments and socio-economic development and shared value programmes.

Community Value Creation:

In 2016, Gold Fields started implementing a strategy aimed at enhancing host community value creation. At that point, we ranked losing our social licence to operate as the Group's fifth-highest risk. This risk has decreased due to the successful implementation of our targeted Host Community Value Creation Strategy, including host community procurement, job creation and socio-economic development, and other social performance and environmental management strategies.

Our Host Community Value Creation Strategy is based on a shared value approach where Gold Fields takes a proactive role in simultaneously addressing business and social needs. Shared value goes beyond mitigating the potential harm in a company’s value chain – it is about identifying new opportunities for economic success by incorporating social priorities into business strategy and working collaboratively with multiple stakeholders to find solutions to various socio-economic and environmental issues. A key component of this approach is to ensure that the value created is shared by the business and the community. Our Host Community Procurement and Job Creation programmes has the goal of increasing the proportion of sustainable host community procurement and jobs. Each region is implementing plans, aligned to Group guidance, that include targets for host community procurement and employment.

The diagram below details the community-focused levers available to us:

OUR 2030 ESG TARGETS FOR HOST COMMUNITY VALUE CREATION

We have framed and conceptualised a pipeline of legacy programmes for implementation from 2023 to 2030. These focus on creating enduring value by addressing our host communities' most pressing development needs, while ensuring economic value creation beyond the life-of-mine and outside the mine's supply chain. The programmes seek to promote: Economic diversification and employment, Climate resilience and protection of water and nature, Sustainable and profitable agriculture, Cultural and heritage preservation, and Quality health.  These legacy programmes build on Gold Fields' 2030 ESG target to generate measurable and wide-reaching outcomes that contribute to the delivery of the UN SDGs.

Fit-for-purpose community relations teams are in place in all our operating countries. These teams collaborate with other business functions as well as our trusts and foundation to deliver community impact, often in partnership with governments, NGOs, donors and peers. Investments are funded through the operations budgeted expenditure.

We have incentivised our management teams via ESG targets since 2017, including host community value creation. This has gained further traction with the launch of our 2030 ESG targets, which are linked to performance scorecards for all Group and regional management teams.

Our Stakeholders and Partners

Host communities refer to the people who live in the vicinity of our operations and who have been or could be directly affected by our exploration, construction, operational or divestment activities. Each Group operation identifies its host communities to secure its legal and social licences to operate. In total, an estimated 500,000 people live in approximately 60 communities surrounding our eight mines. Our host communities include Indigenous Peoples and their representatives, non-governmental organisations / community-based organisations, traditional authorities and local government.

Our community relations teams collaborate with other business functions as well as our trusts and foundation to deliver community value, often in partnership with governments, development organisations, NGOs, and peers. Investments are funded through the operations budgeted expenditure.

Measurement, Evaluation, Assurance and Assessment

The Board – representing shareholders – evaluates the economic performance of management.

Our regions conduct regular independent assessments to measure the strength of our relationships with host communities, the social return on investment by our community projects and the value we create.

Reporting and Disclosure

The operational and financial performance of the Company is presented on a quarterly basis to shareholders and other stakeholders at quarterly results presentations. Annually, the Integrated Annual Report provides an overview of all aspects of Gold Fields’ economic performance.

Stakeholder value creation is monitored, reported and transparently disclosed. This includes but is not limited to: 

• GRI
• ICMM Performance Expectations Report
• The Integrated Annual Report suite, including the Report to Stakeholders
• Local, regional and international selected stakeholder platforms. 

The company’s approach and commitment to value creation is publicly disclosed on the Gold Fields website.