Our approach to managing sustainable development, and consequently our license and reputation is guided by our sustainable development strategy, policy and framework. We share our approaches to various elements of this on our website.

The success of our business is dependent on our relationships with a number of key external stakeholders that determine both our regulatory and social licences to operate as well as the reputation we have with these stakeholders. As such, protecting our reputation and our licences to operate remains a priority on our scorecard.

Sustainable Development Policy Statement

Gold Fields Limited seeks to operate in a manner that represents a platform for responsible and ethical investment. Our strategy is to integrate sustainable development principles into strategy, business planning, management systems and decision-making processes to maintain our licence to operate and leave a positive legacy. The results will be an appropriate balance of the company’s requirements to perform financially, to manage the environment responsibly and to ensure broad social benefit.

For further details, please refer to our website for our sustainable development commitments, which were approved by the Board during 2017.

The sustainable development strategy supports Gold Fields’ overall business strategy and is designed to deliver reduced and stabilised costs, community acceptance, sustainable use of natural resources, managed asset liabilities as well as strengthen Gold Fields brand. The five key elements of the strategy are:

Our objectives		Priorities	More info
	Energy and climate change	Stabilise energy costs at current levels Drive renewables and lower carbon energy mix Start managing climate change adaptation risk	IAR 2017 p61-65, p96-98
	Social acceptance	Build strong community and government relationships Drive impact through shared value Enhance stakeholder engagement and communications	IAR 2017 p105-123
	Water stewardship	Set and achieve water withdrawal and recycling/reuse targets Achieve water security through catchment approach	IAR 2017 p99-102
	Integrated mine closure	Business wide integrated approach Liabilities optimised through progressive closure and rehabilitation Address social closure	IAR 2017 p104
	Integrated approach	Achieve collaboration across disciplines Regional leadership Integrated planning	IAR 2017 CEO Report

To ensure our strategy is effectively implemented and monitored, we have a clear sustainable development framework. Our framework consists of four key pillars that are interconnected and operate together to ensure we manage sustainable development is a manner that protects of our licence and reputation.

Gold Fields’ sustainable economic performance is critical to the value creation of the Company. Its financial and operational performance largely determines the profitability of the Company, which is essential for its future growth and longevity.

The four pillars of the Gold Fields strategy are critical in achieving our economic performance:

• Safe production delivery
• Captial discipline
• Portfolio management
• Licence & Reputation

These are outlined in detail in the Strategy section of the Integrated Annual Report (IAR). (The IAR provides an overview of all aspects of Gold Fields’ economic performance) 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 Corporate Office with implementation by the Regional offices and the various operations.

The economic performance of the Company is presented on a quarterly basis to shareholders and other stakeholders at quarterly results presentations. The Board – representing shareholders – evaluates the economic performance of management.

Also see Sustainable Development and Social Licence to Operate management approaches

The imposition of penalties, sanctions and/ or fines, due to non-compliance to laws and regulations, as well as to international declaration, convention, and/or treaty, can substantially impact on GFs reputation and the behaviour of investors. In addition, the nature and extent of fines can also have a negative financial impact and remediation of actions required by Regulators can have an effect on operational efficiency and progress.

Gold Fields has established a risk-based Group Compliance Framework to provide high levels of assurance for regulatory compliance. This framework forms an integral part of the Group Governance and Compliance Framework. In terms of the Compliance Framework, Gold Fields:

• Scan the regulatory environment to identify current and upcoming regulatory change. This is to ensure recorded control environments are frequently review re changes in order to confirm control design effectiveness.
• Identifies and consistently reviews all statutes in its operating jurisdictions and assesses the exposure to non-compliance and subsequent regulatory risks.
• Ensures that the internal control environment is aligned to prioritised statutory requirements.
• Conducts annual reviews by Internal Audit to assess that appropriateness and design/ operating effectiveness of control measures implemented.

A Group Compliance Index is annually calculated to report on the level of compliance in the Group, and per region.

Approach purpose

• Pro-active response to regulatory change
• Ensuring controls are aligned to statutory requirements
• Maintenance of the control environment
• Assessment of risk exposure and a risk-based approach to mitigate the exposure

Approach components

The responsibility for Compliance oversight resides with the Board and the accountability with the regional executive teams. Execution and oversight are enabled via an interactive Group Compliance Portal which systemically record, analyse and report on the level of compliance in the Group, in line with the adopted risk-based approach.

Mechanisms

The annual Group Compliance Plan is project managed by the in-country legal teams per operating jurisdiction. Progress is reported monthly to the regional EVP and quarterly to the Board’s Audit Committee. The Group Compliance Portal has systemic solutions to guide, track and manage the process of the Plan, proactively.

Meta data analysis is conducted for each phase of the plan to determine trends, gaps and enhance the interpretation and application value of the guidance offer to the business. The analysis outcome is also reported to the Audit Committee on a quarterly basis.

Structured Internal Audit (IA) reviews

Results

During 2017:

• 864 laws and regulations have been identified and assessed as applicable
• 93 laws and regulations have been assured for control to regulatory requirement alignment
• 5 IA reviews have been conducted to assess control design and operating effectiveness

Gold Fields’ commitment to safety and health as our foremost priorities, reflects the need to minimise any potential negative impact on our employees and contractors, maintain operational continuity and protect our reputation. Gold Fields remains committed to running its operations safely, productively and cost-effectively without undermining their longevity.

Safe operational delivery at the mines and projects remains the Board's priority and the Board has urged management to take a much firmer line on safety standards and behaviour. It is unacceptable that miners continue to lose their lives while working at our mines. Safety must remain our overarching production priority.

As stated in our Occupational Health and Safety Policy, Gold Fields strives for zero harm at all of our operations and to minimise occupational health and safety hazards. All of the Group’s operations are certified to the OHSAS 18001 international health and safety management system standard. Innovation and technology is critical in improving safety at our mines over time.

Gold Fields’ annual performance bonus - both for managers and the wider workforce - contains a significant safety component. Furthermore, maintaining safe and healthy working conditions is a key compliance issue. The work on safety is integral to our operational discipline and is accepted as the foundation for improved operational performance. As such, there is no conflict between pursuing safety and productivity at the same time.

We will continue to embed a zero-harm mind-set across the Company. Safety remains our number one value and safeguarding the lives and the health of our people is critical from a moral perspective as well as a commercial one as it also protects against the risk of safety-related stoppages.

Behaviour-based safety programmes are in place across the Company and our work at embedding these into our day-to-day performance, along with visible management leadership on the ground, will be strengthened in the wake of the fatalities during 2017. A safety leadership forum has been establish to share learnings and good practices across the Company. Our regions have also intensified operation-specific health and wellness programmes, focusing on improving the physical and mental health of our employees.

The management approach comprises Gold Fields’ approach to employment or job creation, including hiring, recruitment, retention and related practices, and our working conditions. Gold Fields’ abides by the principles of the International Labour Organization.

Approach details

Our approach to employment considers, but is not limited to:

• New employee hires and employee turnover
• Benefits provided to full-time employees
• Parental leave

At Gold Fields we track the age, gender, nationality, diversity, localisation and Employment Equity Status (in South Africa) of our employees and new hires as part of our strategy to track our ability to attract a diverse range of qualified employees. This ensures, that we not only have the best talent but also helps to ensure that we implement inclusive recruitment practices based on age and gender and implement talent strategies to make the best use of available talent in the regions in which we operate.  Our turnover rates are key indicators of employee satisfaction amongst employees and also changes in market conditions and is therefore a key indicator in the management of our human capital.

The benefits that Gold Fields provides to employees are governed by the local legislation in the countries in which we operate but as an organisation we include: health care, life insurance, disability cover, maternity leave, options for parental leave from annual leave or parental leave benefits,  retirement provision and other benefits that employees may opt to select from.

Approach purpose

Gold Fields’ will ensure that we abide by the all the local legislation in the countries in which we operate but will also ensure that our employment practices are based on the principles of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).  We seek to ensure that we offer fair employment practices, use advanced metrics to ensure that we have inclusive recruitment practices and constantly strive to create an environment where women can have a great career in mining. We do this through allowing women to take maternity leave and return to work in the same or comparable position and ensuring that our practices in no way affect their employment security, remuneration and career path.

Approach components

The responsibility for employment resides with the Human Resource teams and Executive teams in the Regions with accountability for senior appointments resting with the EVP People and Organisational Effectiveness. Execution and oversight are enabled via a Recruitment system which systemically records, analyses and reports on the number of positions advertised, recruited and placed and is being embedded in each region.

Mechanisms

Group Recruitment policy outlines the recruitment policy for Gold Fields, and this is supported by regional recruitment policies where local legislation has specific requirements Employment is approved as per the Gold Fields approvals framework, with employment decisions requiring a formal process of approval. Recruitment statistics and turnover data are collated and reported.

Benefits are reviewed periodically in line with local requirements and international best practice and all employment policies and procedures are subject to internal and external audit requirements.

Maternity leave in all regions and paternity leave (where provided in line with local legislation) is tracked and recorded along with other leave types.

Gold Fields endeavours to engage with our contactor workforce in relation to matters relating to safety and health. We also seek to work with our largest contractor mining partners, where we can, specifically to engage on working practices.

Results

During 2017, turnover was low in Gold Fields (6%) – with voluntary turnover being 3% (this excludes retirement, disciplinaries, retrenchments)

Gold Fields’ employees have the full range benefits in line with legislative requirements in the regions that we operate in.

Parental leave is applied as per local legislation but if this is not a leave entitlement employees can opt to take annual leave for parental leave purposes.

Australia region needed to develop a compelling value proposition to attract and retain skilled staff for the project’s construction in an increasingly competitive market. The benefits offered, while well within industry benchmarks, enabled us to attract the rights skills for the timeous completion of the project (annual report reference)

This covers Gold Fields consultative practices with employees and their representatives, including our approach to communicating significant operational changes. Gold Fields’ approach to consultation is aligned to international norms and standards. In our environment with a large workforce we have 85% of our employees in Ghana, 93% in South Africa, 19% in Peru as members of a union (the % in Australia in smaller and harder to determine). Collective bargaining therefore plays an important role in in our consultation practices. Typically Gold Fields will consult employees on working conditions and terms of employment and to manage relationships between ourselves and our workforce.

Approach details

• Gold Fields recognizes the right of employees to have the freedom to choose to join a union of their choice
• We have policies in place to recognize and engage with organised labour once a certain threshold is achieved in membership
• Interactions with organised labour is through a series formal decision making forums depending on the decision required as well as informal discussions
• We consider organised labour as a key stakeholder in our business and they form part of key decisions around the safety and health of our employees.
• Consultation practices are in place to ensure that we take the views of employees into account when making specific decisions, particularly when there are plans for substantial operational changes
• Meaningful consultation by Gold Fields includes the timely provision of all information needed to make an informed decision by employees or their representatives. This includes extensive dialogue and discussion between management and representatives or employees on the proposed changes.
• In the case of any potential restructuring Gold Fields makes every effort to explain to the affected parties the impact of the changes, and given them an opportunity to jointly find alternative solutions to avoid or mitigate any potential negative impacts as much as possible. This engagement is done in order to try and ensure good industrial relations and a positive work climate.

Approach purpose

• Fair and transparent process of engagement to ensure the needs of organised labour are addressed and considered
• Ensure the facilitation of the resolution of key business issues jointly between management and organised labour where required
• Recognition of shop stewards or representatives of organised labour on our operations
• Facilitating a structured engagement approach to ensure that all issues raised are dealt with in a timely and professional manner

Mechanisms

• Formal engagement forms some of which are mandated by legislation
• Formal processes by which to lodges grievances and issues with management and the organization
• Formal processes and procedures for negotiating wages

Results

• Stable industrial relations climate in all regions over 2017 period
• The Australian Employee Collective agreement’s engagements have been concluded with both the workforce and unions on a new agreement, though this still has to be ratified by the government’s Fair Work department. The agreement, which will apply for the next four years, will see improved benefits and conditions of employment

Management at South Deep has engaged extensively with organised labour, which represents 93% of our employees, most of them by the National Union of Mineworkers. Constructive engagement has helped to improve the relationship between the two parties, and during 2017 management resolved a significant portion of the key outstanding issues with the unions. There is also understanding among the union representatives of the challenges facing the mine and the need to change to an operating model that is more aligned to bulk mechanised mining.

Approach details

The Group Code of Conduct (CoC)specifically prohibits any form of political contribution, unless approved by the Board.

Apart from the prohibition, the CoC also recognises that the Group needs to engage. Governments are one of the key defined stakeholder groupings Gold Fields frequently interacts with.

These interactions are either indirect, through the respective Chambers of Mines or direct, with departments in government in the various operating jurisdictions or during on-site regulator reviews/ inspections. The focus is inter alia to partake in policy development or material regulatory change, engage on licensing and/or reporting requirements and pro-active partnership development between the Group and Government.

As such, the CoC requires that all interactions are recorded via an External Interaction and Commitment Register. The construct of the Register enables the regional legal team to assess and analyse information to give effect to the states approach purpose.

Apart from the CoC requirements regarding interactions, business rules have also been drafted.

Approach purpose

• Creating a systemic view of all interactions across the Group’s operating jurisdiction in order to pro-active manage any actual, potential or perceived ABC risk, reputation risk and the risk of association.
• Ensuring only mandated employees engage and interact with government entities and/or public officials.
• Facilitating a structure engagement approach when dealing with issues effecting the industry.

Mechanisms

Meta data analysis is conducted on a quarterly basis to determine trends and enhance the interpretation and application value of the CoC requirements. The analysis outcome is also reported to the Audit Committee on a quarterly basis.

CoC eLearning to assess the employees understanding of the CoC re interaction with government.

Structured Internal Audit reviews

Results

During 2017, 485 interactions with government entities and/or public officials were recorded.

None of the declared interactions was related to or focused on any political and/or in-kind contributions made.

The 2017 Internal Audit review recorded no findings re the declaration of interactions and any contribution made without approval.

Community value creation

Introduction

We recognise the importance of solid community relations to our social licence to operate. We are committed to avoiding, where possible, or minimising and managing, the negative impacts of our operations on host communities and other stakeholders in the countries where our mines operate, while also maximising the positive benefits. Through active stakeholder engagement and our Shared Value development approach, our focus goes beyond spending to extend to the positive social and economic impacts that its social investments can deliver.

Guiding our Community Relations approach

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  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 needs of our host communities in the areas of infrastructure development, economic diversification, education and training, health and wellbeing, and environment and conservation
• Formalized partnerships with governments, NGOs and other stakeholders
• Creating  shared value through host community procurement and host community employment

Our approach to community relations and stakeholder engagement is guided and informed by the external standards, guides and codes we have adopted, our internal policies and guidelines and commitments as well as the industrial forums we participate in.

Our Society and Community Charter - our commitments to our stakeholders

Our charter commits to:

• Building strong relationships with key stakeholders, based on trust and open, honest and frequent engagement
• Leaving an enduring, positive legacy for host communities and work with our stakeholders to promote sustainable development and to create Shared Value
• Monitoring and measuring our performance against our commitments
• Striving to reach a better understanding of the underlying concerns and aspirations of our host communities and to co-create and deliver the right commitments to secure and maintain our social licence to operate.

Shared Value

Shared Value is created when companies take 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 Shared Value approach is based on four key pillars:

We currently have six Shared Value projects in our regions including our Host Community Employment and Procurement program with the goal of increasing the proportion of sustainable host community procurement and employment. Each region is implementing three year action plans that include targets for host community procurement and employment.

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

Our performance in social investment is subject to independent measurement by external assessors. We want to employ a standard methodology, across all our operations, which measures socio-economic metrics, return on social investment and shared value created in order to determine which investments strengthen our social licence to operate, informing our future investment. We piloted a study in South Africa in 2017.

As a mining business, our operations have a material impact on the surrounding environment. To manage this, we remain committed to responsible environmental stewardship.

Our approach to environmental stewardship is guided and informed by several external standards as well as local legislation, supported by internal policies and priorities.  Additional local priorities are identified through stakeholder consultation. Each of the Group’s operations is certified to ISO 14001. All of our eligible operations are fully compliant with the International Cyanide Management Code. Gold Fields does not use mercury for the beneficiation of gold or in any of its processes.

Internally, Gold Fields has implemented policy statements and four Group-level guidelines, which reflect our environmental priorities. These concern energy and carbon management, water management, tailings management and mine closure. A summary of the Group guidelines can be found on the Gold Fields website at www.goldfields.com>sustainability. These guidelines set out the systems and processes necessary to ensure the application of consistently good environmental management practices across the Group while allowing a degree of adaptation to local circumstances.

To ensure Group-wide conformance with the guidelines, each operation conducts self-assessments to ascertain the levels of conformance with the guidelines. Action plans have been put in place to address any gaps and these will be assessed during 2017.

We continue to evaluate performance through internal assessment processes, such as environmental management system audits, in which opportunities for improvement are identified and implemented. This is complimented through internal audit reviews of key aspects of environmental management such as waste management. Our material non-financial disclosures are assured independently on an annual basis.

Results of our performance are reported through disclosures such as the CDP reports, as well as through ESG assessments such as DJSI. These assessments and outcomes are publically available.

Environmental Incidents

Gold Fields reports environmental incidents using a Level 1 (most minor) to 5 (most severe) scale. During the year, our environmental incident reporting process was updated to include clear deadlines for reporting incidents to our CEO and Board to ensure oversight at the highest levels.  Level 3 and above environmental incidents are reported externally, through our Integrated Annual Report.

Gold Fields is committed to responsible water stewardship – both for the benefit of host communities and for our own operations. Clean water is a basic human right, a resource that is becoming increasingly scarce and vital to our processing activities. Our approach to managing our impact is essential to maintaining our licence to operate. Through careful management, we are able to reduce our environmental impact through responsible use, storage and release of water, while also reducing our costs, thereby benefitting all stakeholders.

Our water management plans are guided and informed the external standards, guides and codes we have adopted, our internal policies and guidelines and commitments as well as the industrial forums we participate in.

All regions have conducted a gap analysis against the new ICMM Water Position Statement and have developed action plans to close the gaps, with the aim of aligning by 2018. We have updated the Group Water Management Guideline by incorporating the following ICMM Water Position Statement commitments:

• Apply strong and transparent corporate water governance through the following:
• Integrating water considerations in business planning – including strategy, life of mine and investment planning
• Publically reporting company water performance, material risks, opportunities and management response using consistent industry metrics and recognized approaches
• Allocate clear responsibilities and accountabilities for water  -  from Board and corporate to site levels
• Manage water at operations effectively through the following:
• Maintaining a water balance and understanding how it relates to the cumulative impact on other users
• Setting context-relevant water targets and objectives for sites with material water-related risks
• Proactively managing water quantity and quality to reduce potential socio-environmental impacts and realizing potential opportunities
• Ensuring all employees have access to clean drinking water and gender-appropriate sanitation facilities
• Collaborate to achieve responsible and sustainable water use through the following:
• Identifying, evaluating and responding to catchment-level water related risks and opportunities
• Actively engaging on external water governance issues, with government, local authorities and other stakeholders to support predictable, consistent and effective regulation that underpins integrated water resources management
• Supporting water stewardship initiatives that promote better water use, effective catchment management and contribute to improved water security and sanitation

Waste and Tailings

The most significant waste materials produced by our operations are tailings, waste rock, chemical waste and hydrocarbon waste. By carefully managing our waste generated by our operations and consequent TSFs, we minimise the environmental and potential social impact.

Our mine closure is guided and informed the external standards, guides and codes we have adopted, our internal policies and guidelines and commitments as well as the industrial forums we participate in.

Sustainable and integrated mine closure remains one of Gold Fields’ five key sustainability focus areas. Through the careful planning of mine closures, we are able to

• Reduce our environmental impact
• Reduce social and community impact
• Optimise financial liabilities
• Enhance our asset’s value

Our mine closure is guided and informed the external standards, guides and codes we have adopted, our internal policies and guidelines and commitments as well as the industrial forums we participate in.

All Gold Fields operations have Mine Closure Plans that are regularly updated with independent experts supporting the updates on a bi-annual basis. An important component of our Mine Closure Plans in Stakeholder Engagement. All operations have also determined their closure liability for disturbance or liabilities ‘to date’ in line with international financial reporting standards. These liabilities are reviewed and revised annually and are independently assessed. Gold Fields report their closure liability publically, and identify reasons for materials changes on an annual basis.

Our Mine Closure Plans and Closure Liability estimates are guided through the Group Mine Closure Planning Guideline. As we aim to integrated mine closure planning through our business, and optimise our liabilities through progressive closure and rehabilitation, we have set ourselves targets through our scorecards which are assessed on an annual basis (as a minimum). Our Group Sustainable Development Manager is the responsible Group lead for mine closure, with all regions and operations having an environmental and mine closure lead.

We set ourselves a target of utilising the Nevada Standardised Reclamation Cost Estimator (SRCE) tool for all operations’ closure liability estimates, which was successfully achieved.

Mining and processing of gold is an energy intensive process, exacerbated by changing ore geology, declining grades, longer hauling distances and increasing mine depths requiring additional cooling and ventilation infrastructure. Adapting to the adverse impacts of climate change are material for virtually every country and company across the world, given the disruptive nature of the physical risks across our operations and critical supply chain. The management of energy use and spend is vital given our exposure to external energy price volatilities. Managing energy usage enables us to reduce our carbon footprint, thereby reducing our contribution to the impacts of climate change.

Thus, energy use and building climate resilience have been identified as one of Gold Fields’ top five sustainability priorities until 2020. In December 2016, Gold Fields’ approved an updated energy and carbon management guideline to align with the global energy management standard ISO 50001, aiming for full alignment by 2020. We seek to maintain security of supply and assess low-carbon energy options to achieve this and we are committed to 20% renewable energy in all new mining projects.

On climate change, we conduct vulnerability and risk assessments to understand the risks, develop and implement mitigation actions through partnerships and review adequacy of controls every 5-years.

Our approach to managing energy consumption, costs and building climate change resilience is guided and informed by external standards, guides and codes we have adopted, our internal policies and guidelines and commitments as well as the industrial forums we participate in. Many of these forums provide platforms through which effectiveness of our programmes and initiatives are benchmarked.

Climate change affects the availability of natural resources, with availability and infrastructure of water and energy most affected, owing to:

• The impact of extreme weather events on our operations, supply chain and host communities, including severe rain or snow fall, severe winds, extreme temperatures and prolonged drought; and
• An increasing number of climate-related regulations, carbon emissions taxes, stringent water regulations, the impact of new technologies and standards, as well as investor perception.

During 2017, the Board adopted an updated Group Climate Change Policy, which advances and communicates a balanced mitigation and adaptation approach to achieving our climate change objectives. The policy contains a set of commitments that include:

• Conducting climate change vulnerability assessments utilising Group risk guidelines and International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) tools and guidelines
• Annual reporting and disclosure via a number of reporting frameworks including the Carbon/Water Disclosure Project (C/WDP) and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index
• Mitigating the effects of climate change by increasingly investing in renewable energy and low-carbon energy sources, energy efficiency initiatives and water use optimisation initiatives
• Supporting research, development and innovation to assist our operations to cope with climate change
• Factoring in a regional carbon price for both costing and as a potential revenue streams
• Participating in various industry forums, including the ICMM climate change and Group energy working group, stakeholder and NGO engagements

In 2017, we noted the disclosure recommendations of the Taskforce on Climate Financial Disclosures (TCFD). Given our long running energy, water security, carbon emissions management and climate change programmes and performance disclosures, we are able to align our disclosures with the TCFD recommendations.

Introduction

We recognise the importance of solid community relations to our social licence to operate. We are committed to avoiding, where possible, or minimising and managing, the negative impacts of our operations on communities, while also maximising the positive benefits. Through active stakeholder engagement and our Shared Value development approach, our focus goes beyond spending to extend to the positive social and economic impacts that its social investments can deliver.

Guiding our Community Relations/Our Approach

Gold Fields’ approach to creating positive community relations comprises the following:

• an informed understanding of our operating contexts, stakeholder priorities and associated risks
• active management of social risks and impacts
• building relationships with our stakeholders through open and honest engagements
• meaningful social investment to address the needs of our host communities
• creating shared value through host community procurement and host community employment

Our approach to community relations and stakeholder engagement is guided and informed by the external standards, guides and codes we have adopted, our internal policies and guidelines and commitments as well as the industrial forums we participate in.

Our performance in community relations and social investment is subject to independent measurement by external assessors.

Partnering to protect the industry/Enhancing the industry’s reputation.

Given the socio-economic and at times political pressures the mining industry faces, several industry organisations, of which Gold Fields is a member, have started communication campaigns aimed at improving the image and reputation of mining and corporate South Africa in general.

These include the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), the South African Chamber of Mines and Business Leadership South Africa. The ICMM’s work can be found on a newly created website, www.miningwithprinciples.com.

Gold Fields is working with these organisations to provide relevant material – mostly relating to community investment initiatives and/or other ESG work, particularly on renewable energy, as well as water and electricity supply.

Gold Fields has developed a Community Relations and Stakeholder Engagement Guideline based on international good practice principles that include the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards, Equator Principles and AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Principles.

These are outlined in detail in the Gold Fields Community Relations Handbook. This Guideline is also aligned to the ICMM Principles 3, 9 and 10, our vision, values and group policies as well as our commitment to being a trusted and valued mining partner to our key stakeholders. The implementation of the nine Community Relations Standards, which guide our interactions with communities as well as other key stakeholders, are key to achieving this commitment. The nine standards are covered at a high level in this guideline and are described in more detail in the Group Community Relations Handbook.

Our Society and Community Charter - our commitments to our stakeholders

Our charter commits to:

• Building strong relationships with key stakeholders, based on trust and open, honest and frequent engagement
• Leaving an enduring, positive legacy for host communities and work with our stakeholders to promote sustainable development and to create Shared Value
• Monitoring and measuring our performance against our commitments
• Striving to reach a better understanding of the underlying concerns and aspirations of our host communities and to co-create and deliver the right commitments to secure and maintain our social licence to operate.

Building Relationships through Engagement

We understand that stakeholders are an integral part of our business – representing a wide range of interests that both influence and are impacted by our operations.  Consistent with our values of Integrity, Respect and Responsibility, we develop relationships with our stakeholders built on open, transparent and constructive engagement. This engagement allows for participative and informed decision making, by balancing the interests, needs and expectations of our stakeholders with the best interests of Gold Fields.

We actively identify and regularly engage with the representatives of the following stakeholders in a formal and informal manner:

• Employees;
• Host Communities;
• Financial market participants (Shareholders, Investors, Capital providers and Analysts);
• Governments (national, regional and local) and Regulators;
• Industry associations;
• Media;
• Non-governmental organisations;
• Organised labour;
• Third Parties (Business partners, Contractors and Suppliers); and
• Traditional authorities

During 2017, we reviewed and updated our Stakeholder Relationship and Engagement Policy to be inclusive of our material business-wide stakeholders (the policy is now aligned with ICMM’s Sustainable Development Principles and King IV).

Operations in Peru, South Africa and West Africa also regularly publish and distribute communication materials to stakeholders, keeping them informed about our community relations activities and initiatives. Gold Fields also uses its Group and Australian social media sites to communicate both with employees and communities as well as the wider public.

In 2016, all operations prepared community relations and stakeholder engagement (SE) strategies and three-year plans focused on maintaining their social licences to operate. The Regions are progressing with implementation of their three-year community relations and stakeholder engagement plans. Progress highlights for all of our mines are outlined in the infographics.

Understanding our grievance mechanisms

We are committed to timeously and effectively addressing community issues and concerns. To this end, all our operations have established mechanisms through which stakeholders can share their grievances about Gold Fields, its actions or the behaviour of its employees on social, environmental and human rights issues. We use a three-order system. The first order is where complaints can be resolved between ourselves and the complainant in a timely manner.  Grievances are escalated to the second order when time is needed to investigate and resolve the claim.  Mediation by a third party, usually from the local community, may be involved.  A grievances is escalated to the third order when it cannot be resolved by the parties involved and is forwarded for legal action.

Summaries of the engagements held by each region in 2017 are available at www.goldfields.com/investors.

Shared Value

Shared Value is created when companies take 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 Shared Value approach is based on four key pillars:

We currently have six Shared Value projects in our regions, either already running or at implementation stage – which are profiled in the Host Community Employment and Procurement section and the infographics on p110-121 of the IAR 2017.