Indigenous People

Introduction

Our host communities, including Indigenous Peoples, are a key Gold Fields stakeholder group, as their support underpins our social licence to operate which, in turn, impacts our ability to create enduring value. Our Group Community Policy Statement sets out our commitment to developing mutually beneficial relationships with our host communities – including Indigenous Peoples, host governments and other key stakeholders through meaningful and transparent engagement. We aim to keep improving our social performance, strengthening our social licence to operate and delivering enduring value in collaboration with our host communities and governments.

We report on our Indigenous Peoples relation and engagement in our Integrated Annual Report and Report to Stakeholders. The Gold Fields Board, particularly its Social, Ethics and Transformation Committee has oversight of Indigenous Peoples engagement and relations.

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 – including Indigenous Peoples, host governments and other key stakeholders through meaningful and transparent engagement.

To attain this, we commit to:

• apply culturally appropriate engagement processes with communities and other key stakeholders, that also ensures meaningful and fair participation of Indigenous Peoples in decisions impacting them
• timely, on-going and inclusive engagement with stakeholders through appropriate processes that provide a platform for dialogue, understanding stakeholder views and understanding our impacts on those around us
• provide e­ffective grievance mechanisms for communities in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
• work to obtain the free, prior, and informed consent of communities in accordance with the ICMM Position Statement on Indigenous People and Mining, including where projects are located on lands traditionally owned or under customary use by Indigenous Peoples and are likely to have significant adverse impacts on Indigenous Peoples
• 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
• implement impact, risk and crisis management strategies and systems to avoid, prevent, minimise, mitigate and/ or remedy impacts to communities, cultural heritage, and the environment
• plan and design for closure, including social considerations, in consultation with relevant stakeholders
• avoid the involuntary physical or economic displacement of communities and ensure that any resettlement restores or improves livelihoods and standards of living of displaced people in accordance with Gold Fields Community Relations and Stakeholder Engagement standard on delivering good practice resettlement
• in collaboration with government, and where appropriate, support improvements in environmental and social practices of Artisanal and Small-scale Mining in host communities
• 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
• respect the rights, interests, culture, perspectives and special connections to land and water of host communities, including Indigenous Peoples, in project design, development, operation and closure.

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:

• Society and Communities Charter
• Sustainable Development Policy
• Human Rights Policy
• Stakeholder Relationship and Engagement Policy
• Climate Change Policy
• Environmental Policy
• Water Stewardship Policy
• TSF Management Policy
• Supplier Code of Business Conduct
• Whistleblowing Policy
• Community Relations Guideline
• Community and Stakeholder Engagement Handbook
• Host Community Procurement and Job Creation Guidance

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.

Gold Fields Community Relations Standard 7 provides guidance on the Company’s approach to engaging with and respecting the rights and interests of Indigenous Peoples. This is outlined in detail in the Gold Fields Community Relations Handbook. Our guidance is based on international good practice principles that include the International Finance Corporation Performance Standards and International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM).

As a member of the ICMM, we engage actively with our peers on Indigenous Peoples relations and engagement 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. Respect human rights and the interests, cultures, customs and values of workers and communities affected by our activities
   1. Support the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights by developing a policy commitment to respect human rights, undertaking human rights due diligence and providing for or cooperating in processes to enable the remediation of adverse human rights impacts that we have caused or contributed to.
   2. Avoid the involuntary physical or economic displacement of families and communities. Where this is not possible apply the mitigation hierarchy and implement actions or remedies that address residual adverse effects to restore or improve livelihoods and standards of living of displaced people.
   3. Respect the rights, interests, aspirations, culture and natural resource-based livelihoods of Indigenous Peoples in project design, development and operation; apply the mitigation hierarchy to address adverse impacts and; deliver sustainable benefits for Indigenous Peoples.
   4. Work to obtain the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples where significant adverse impacts are likely to occur, as a result of relocation, disturbance of lands and territories or of critical cultural heritage, and capture the outcomes of engagement and consent processes in agreements.

Position Statements:

Mining and Indigenous Peoples

1. Engage with potentially impacted indigenous peoples with the objectives of: (i) ensuring that the development of mining and metals projects fosters respect for the rights, interests, aspirations, culture and natural resource-based livelihoods of indigenous peoples; (ii) designing projects to avoid adverse impacts and minimising, managing or compensating for unavoidable residual impacts; and (iii) ensuring sustainable benefits and opportunities for indigenous peoples through the development of mining and metals projects..
2. Understand and respect the rights, interests and perspectives of indigenous peoples regarding a project and its potential impacts. Social and environmental impact assessments or other social baseline analyses will be undertaken to identify those who may be impacted by a project as well as the nature and extent of potential impacts on indigenous peoples and any other potentially impacted communities. The conduct of such studies should be participatory and inclusive to help build broad cross-cultural understanding between companies and communities and in support of the objectives described in commitment 1 above.
3. Agree on appropriate engagement and consultation processes with potentially impacted indigenous peoples and relevant government authorities as early as possible during project planning, to ensure the meaningful participation of indigenous peoples in decision making. Where required, support should be provided to build community capacity for good faith negotiation on an equitable basis. These processes should strive to be consistent with indigenous peoples’ decision-making processes and reflect internationally accepted human rights, and be commensurate with the scale of the potential impacts and vulnerability of impacted communities. The processes should embody the attributes of good faith negotiation and be documented in a plan that identifies representatives of potentially impacted indigenous communities and government, agreed consultation processes and protocols, reciprocal responsibilities of parties to the engagement process and agreed avenues of recourse in the event of disagreements or impasses occurring (see commitment 6 below). The plan should also define what would constitute consent from indigenous communities that may be significantly impacted. Agreed engagement and consultation processes should be applied in collaboration with potentially impacted indigenous communities, in a manner that ensures their meaningful participation in decision making.
4. Work to obtain the consent of indigenous communities for new projects (and changes to existing projects) that are located on lands traditionally owned by or under customary use of indigenous peoples and are likely to have significant adverse impacts on indigenous peoples, including where relocation of indigenous peoples and/or significant adverse impacts on critical cultural heritage are likely to occur. Consent processes should focus on reaching agreement on the basis for which a project (or changes to existing projects) should proceed. These processes should neither confer veto rights to individuals or sub-groups nor require unanimous support from potentially impacted indigenous peoples (unless legally mandated). Consent processes should not require companies to agree to aspects not under their control.
5. Collaborate with the responsible authorities to achieve outcomes consistent with the commitments in this position statement, in situations where government is responsible for managing indigenous peoples’ interests in a way that limits company involvement. Where a host government requires members to follow processes that have been designed to achieve the outcomes sought through this position statement, ICMM members will not be expected to establish parallel processes.
6. Address the likelihood that differences of opinion will arise, which in some cases may lead to setbacks or delays in reaching a negotiated agreement in good faith. Companies and potentially impacted indigenous communities should agree on reasonable tests or avenues of recourse at the outset, to be applied where differences of opinion arise. This might include seeking mediation or advice from mutually acceptable parties. Where commitment 4 applies and consent is not forthcoming despite the best efforts of all parties, in balancing the rights and interests of indigenous peoples with the wider population, government might determine that a project should proceed and specify the conditions that should apply. In such circumstances, ICMM members will determine whether they ought to remain involved with a project.

We apply ICMM’s guidance on:

• Indigenous Peoples Position Statement (2013)
• Good Practice Guide: Indigenous Peoples and Mining (2015)
• Handling and Resolving Local-level Concerns and Grievances (2019)
• Partnering for our Common Future (2021)
• Tools for Social Performance (2022)
• Human Rights Due Diligence Toolkit (2023)
• Position Statement on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (2023)

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.
2. Understanding communities: We will ensure that we engage with communities, including traditional leaders, in a culturally appropriate manner. We will be alert to the dangers of causing differentially negative impacts on women, children, Indigenous Peoples and other potentially vulnerable or marginalised groups. We will strive to ensure that the voices of these groups are heard, and that this knowledge is integrated into how we do business.
3. 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.
4. Indigenous Peoples:  We will respect the collective and customary rights, culture and connection to the land of Indigenous Peoples. We will work to obtain their free, prior and informed consent where significant adverse impacts may occur during exploration, project design, operation and closure, including around the delivery of sustainable benefits.
5. Cultural heritage: We will seek to preserve cultural heritage from adverse impacts associated with project activities, including through our impact assessments. We will put in place chance finds procedures at all relevant operations.
6. Resettlement:  We will seek to avoid involuntary resettlement. Where this is unavoidable, we will proceed on the basis of meaningful consultation with affected communities, a publicly available planning framework, the restoration of established livelihoods and the provision of fair and timely compensation. We will seek to minimise adverse impacts on displaced people.

We interact with peers on Indigenous Peoples engagement and relations in the ICMM Indigenous Peoples Working Group.

National industry associations in our countries of operation also address Indigenous Peoples engagement and relations and we participate actively in these forms.

Management Actions

We recognize that Indigenous People often have cultural characteristics, governance structures and ways of integrating and decision making that sets them apart from non-indigenous population. This requires engagement in ways that are culturally appropriate, paying special attention to the capacities, rights and interests of Indigenous Peoples, within the broader context of community engagement.

Two of the most important outcomes when dealing with Indigenous Peoples are Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and formal agreements with Indigenous Peoples. These are enabled by:

• Baseline studies, conducted by appropriately skilled and experienced practitioners, of Indigenous communities including socio-economic conditions, land use practices, rights, interests, connections to land and water, decision making and conflict resolution practices
• Preparation of a stakeholder engagement plan for all stages of the life of mine

Our mines apply the Gold Fields nine Community Relations Standards, which guide our interactions with communities, including Indigenous Peoples, as well as other key stakeholders.

Gold Fields has a Social Performance Framework which requires our operations to assess the baseline social context, engage and build relationships, create and share value, management impacts, measure delivery and action improvement to align delivery with commitments. We actively identify, map and engage with stakeholder representatives, including host communities and governments, on a regular basis – both formally and informally.

All of our operations are required to implement culturally appropriate stakeholder engagement plans for all stages of the life-of-mine.

All mines and projects have established mechanisms through which communities can voice their grievances and concerns about the company and have these issues assessed and resolved within a specified period.

In accordance with our commitments and our vision and purpose statements, all Regions have societal acceptance charters aligned to the Group Charter. Annual community action plans and government action plans are in place to deliver the charter commitments.

Working with Indigenous communities in Australia:
As a company operating in Australia, on the traditional lands of Aboriginal peoples, we have a responsibility to develop understanding and respect for the many diverse cultures and experiences of not only these traditional owners, but also Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples more broadly.

Our Aboriginal Engagement Strategy is built on three strategic pillars:

• Building and maintaining strong and respectful relationships with the traditional owners of the lands where our operations are located
• Empowering Aboriginal peoples by providing meaningful and sustainable opportunities
• Championing the preservation and celebration of Aboriginal lands, culture and heritage

These strategic pillars are aligned with the key elements of our Reconciliation Action Plan, which is discussed below.

Each of Gold Fields' Australian mines is situated on lands that either have a Native Title determination or an active claim. The table below describes the current claims and determinations:

Site	Native Title	Group
Agnew (north)	Determined Native Title claim	Tjiwarl People
Agnew (south)	Currently no claim or determination
Agnew (far south)	Determined Native Title claim	Darlot People
Granny Smith	Entire operation: Registered Native Title claim	Nyalpa Pirniku People
Gruyere	Entire operation: Determined Native Title claim	Yilka People and Sullivan Edwards families
St Ives	Main area of operations: Determined Native Title claim Remaining area (exploration): Registered Native Title claims	Determined: Ngadju People Claim: Marlinyu Ghoorlie People Claim: Kakarra People

The Native Title Act of 1993 details the process for traditional owners who claim traditional rights and interests on certain land, to have those rights recognised by the Federal Court of Australia in the form of a Native Title determination.

Gold Fields is required to engage with registered Native Title claimants and determined Native Title holders in relation to its activities, including before new tenements are granted. Depending on the type of activity, this may require us to enter agreements. While these agreements historically focused on ensuring the proper identification and management of Aboriginal cultural heritage, and to provide a process for the conduct of cultural heritage surveys, these agreements are now more comprehensive in nature.

A key element of our Aboriginal Engagement Strategy is our commitment to agreement-making with determined Native Title holders. These agreements can help foster strong and transparent relationships by establishing structured channels of communication; providing commitments and identifying initiatives to achieve greater education, employment and contracting outcomes; allocating funding for community programmes; building cultural competency through training and awareness; and incorporating best practice environmental and cultural heritage management practices. In addition, these agreements can provide financial benefits to Native Title parties that could settle any liability for Native Title compensation that Gold Fields may have.

At our Gruyere mine, Gold Fields is party to a comprehensive agreement with the determined Native Title holders for the area: the Yilka People and Sullivan Edwards families. Through this agreement, we explore ways to sustain and grow employment and business opportunities, as well as supporting health, education and other programmes for the Group, including the nearby Cosmo Newberry community. We also actively support and promote the Group's conservation and land management activities, including the Yilka Ranger programme.

We will look to negotiate and enter into similar comprehensive agreements at our other operations in Australia, as the Native Title landscape becomes progressively more settled across the region.

In 2018, we partnered with Reconciliation Australia (an independent, not-for-profit organisation) to embark on its Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) programme – a strategic framework to assist organisations to take meaningful action to advance reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Based around the core pillars of relationships, respect and opportunities, this supports our desire for First Nations peoples to participate equally in our workforce and business, feel culturally safe and empowered to deliver sustainable solutions for their communities.

Gold Fields formally launched its Reflect RAP in early 2020, focused on building and strengthening relationships, raising awareness of the process and the broader reconciliation effort. It also gave us an understanding of the barriers to progress in areas, such as employment and procurement. It informed our second (Innovate) RAP, which we launched in 2022 to implement key programmes – supporting education, training and employment, procurement, cultural competency and heritage management, as well as community development.

Our Innovate RAP is a blueprint for how we want to achieve long-term, sustainable outcomes. To support its implementation, Gold Fields has to date:

• Created dedicated Aboriginal Recruitment and Engagement positions to support the recruitment and employment of Indigenous Australians
• Improved conditions for Indigenous-owned and operated businesses to supply goods and services to our mines

Key actions in our Innovate RAP include:

• Developing a cultural learning framework to increase the understanding, value and recognition of Aboriginal peoples' cultures, histories, knowledge and rights within our organisation
• Improve employment outcomes by increasing recruitment, retention and professional development of Aboriginal peoples
• Increase the number of Indigenous-owned businesses to support improved economic and social outcomes

We already support a range of activities and programmes that directly benefit our Aboriginal communities, including through our partnerships with organisations such as Shooting Stars (which supports the education and empowerment of young Aboriginal girls and women), and Teach Learn Grow, which also supports educational outcomes for remote communities.

We continue to demonstrate good progress in employing Indigenous Australians and engaging Indigenous-owned businesses. In 2022, the number of Indigenous Australians employed increased to over 3.4%, reflecting the overall population of Indigenous Australians within Australia. A$3.5m (US$2.7m) was spent on 25 Indigenous businesses across our sites in 2022.

Cultural heritage protection in Australia

In response to the findings from the parliamentary inquiry into the Juukan Gorge incident in 2020, the Western Australian government passed the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage (ACH) Act in December 2021. While limited parts of the legislation are currently operational, the government intends for the ACH Act to substantively commence in mid-2023, subject to finalising the associated regulations and guidance materials. The key implications of the new Act for Gold Fields are:

• A new definition of Aboriginal cultural heritage that moves beyond the current focus on sites and artefacts, capturing more diverse perspectives of cultural heritage – including its tangible and intangible elements. The concept of "cultural landscapes" has also been introduced for certain purposes
• New structures that empower Aboriginal voices in the management of Aboriginal cultural heritage, including the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Council as the peak strategic body (with responsibility for deciding applications for permits, and the approval of Cultural Heritage Management Plans), and Local Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Services (representing knowledge holders for certain areas) to provide Aboriginal heritage services – creating more certainty on who we should engage with in relation to cultural heritage matters
• A new tiered land-use assessment and approvals system that considers the type of proposed land-use activity, and prioritises notification and consultation with Aboriginal people with a focus on agreement-making between traditional owners and land users
• Greater penalties for any unauthorised disturbance to Aboriginal heritage sites

Gold Fields supports this approach, which aligns with its commitment to consultation and agreement-making with traditional owners.

While Gold Fields anticipates that some amendment of the existing control framework (set by our Regional Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Management Standard and implemented through our site-based Cultural Heritage Management Plans) will be required to address some of the new requirements of the legislation, this framework addresses the core due diligence obligations that will remain in place. These controls include existing protocols for the recording, impact assessment and protection of identified Aboriginal cultural heritage sites, through our ground disturbance permitting process.

Chile
While no Indigenous Peoples have a relationship with our Salares Norte project site, as confirmed through the project's environmental approval process, we have engaged with the Colla Indigenous communities located some 70km from the project since 2015. We signed social development agreements with the key Colla communities and hold regular meetings to present our progress against our project plan, updates on the Chinchilla rescue and relocation programme, identify and address any concerns as well as cocreate development opportunities.

Our Stakeholders and Partners

We support the definitions of Indigenous Peoples provided by the International Finance Corporation Performance Standard 7, as well as the definition provided by the International Council on Mining and Metals, as defined in article 1 of the International Labour Organisation’s Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (ILO 169).

We operate on the traditional lands of Aboriginal People in Australia and Colla Indigenous Communities in Chile.

Measurement, Evaluation, Assurance and Assessment

Outcomes from our operational and strategic stakeholder engagement are logged in our Group External Interaction & Commitment Register and communicated through our Enterprise Risk Management process – and so form a vital part of the Group’s risk management programme.

Reporting and Disclosure

Gold Fields community relations and engagement issues and trends are monitored, reported and transparently reported. This includes but is not limited to: 

• GRI
• ICMM Performance Expectations Report
• The Integrated Annual Report suite, including the Report to Stakeholders
• Reconciliation Action Plan – Reflect and Innovate 
• Local, regional and international selected stakeholder platforms. 

The company’s approach and commitment to Indigenous Peoples engagement and relations is publicly disclosed on the Gold Fields website.