7.2 Independent Assurance Provider's Report
Report on Selected Sustainability Performance Information
We have undertaken an assurance engagement on selected sustainability performance information, as described below, and
presented in the Integrated Annual Report of Gold Fields Limited (Gold Fields) for the year ended 31 December 2015 (the
Report). This engagement was conducted by a multi-disciplinary team of health, safety, social, environmental and assurance
specialists with extensive experience in sustainability reporting.
Subject matter (presented in compliance with subject matter 4 of the International Council of Mining and Metals’ (ICMM) Sustainable Development Framework: Assurance Procedure).
We are required to provide reasonable assurance on the selected sustainability performance information set out in the table below. The selected sustainability performance information described below has been prepared in accordance with Gold Fields’ reporting criteria that accompanies the selected sustainability performance information on pages 143 to 146 (the accompanying Gold Fields reporting criteria).
| Reasonable Assurance (RA) | Unit | |
| Environment | ||
| Total CO2 equivalent emissions, Scope 1 – 3 | Tonnes CO2e | |
| Total energy consumed (GJ)/ounce of gold produced | Total GJ of energy consumed per ounce of gold produced | |
| Total energy consumed (GJ)/total tonnes mined | Total GJ of energy consumed per tonne mined | |
| Number of environmental incidents – Level 3 and above | Number | |
| Electricity | MWh | |
| Diesel | kℓ | |
| Total water withdrawal | mℓ | |
| Total water recycled/re-used per annum | mℓ | |
| Water intensity | kℓ withdrawn per ounce of gold produced | |
| Health | ||
| Number of cases of silicosis reported | Number of cases | |
| Number of cases of noise induced hearing loss reported | Number of cases | |
| Number of new cases of cardio respiratory tuberculosis reported | Number of new cases | |
| Number of cases of malaria tested positive per annum | Number of positive cases | |
| Number of South African and West African employees in the highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) programme | Number of employees | |
| Percentage of South African and West African workforce on the voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) programme | Percentage of workforce | |
| Safety | ||
| Total recordable injury frequency rate (TRIFR) | Rate | |
| Number of fatalities | Number | |
| Social | ||
| Total socio economic development (SED) spend in US dollars | US Dollars | |
| Mining Charter | ||
| Percentage historically disadvantaged South Africans (HDSA) in management who are classified as designated groups and who are employed at management levels (top management (Board), senior, middle, junior, core skills and total), including and excluding corporate and including and excluding white females | Top management % | |
| Senior % | ||
| Middle % | ||
| Junior % | ||
| Core % | ||
| Total % | ||
| Number of houses built as part of home ownership scheme | Number of houses | |
| Maintenance of the conversion rate of hostels to ensure an occupancy rate of one person per room | Number of people per room | |
| Percentage conversion of hostels to family units | Percentage | |
| Human Resource Development (HRD) Expenditure as a percentage of total annual payroll (excluding mandatory skills levy) | Percentage | |
| Number of bursaries/scholarships provided | Number of bursars/scholars | |
| Research and Development initiatives supported (total number, percentage of South African Institutions in the total and expenditure) | Number | |
| Percentage | ||
| Rand value | ||
| Rand value spent on Local Economic Development (LED) projects in the SLP in the current reporting year | Rand value | |
| Total procurement spend from BEE entities (BBSEEC, 2010) | Rand value | |
| Procurement spend from BEE entities (in line with the Mining Charter categories of capital goods, services & consumable goods) | % Capital goods | |
| % Services | ||
| % Consumable goods | ||
| Annual spend on procurement from multi-national suppliers: Contribution to the social fund | Percentage | |
| Percentage of samples sent to South African facilities | Percentage | |
| Implementation of approved Environmental Management Plans (EMPs) (defined as per the categories contained in the on-line Mining Charter submission template to the DMR) | Percentage | |
| Implementation of the tripartite action plan on health and safety (defined as per the categories contained in the on-line Mining Charter submission template to the DMR) | Percentage |
Directors’ responsibilities
The Directors are responsible for
the selection, preparation and
presentation of the selected
sustainability performance
information in accordance with the
accompanying Gold Fields reporting
criteria. This responsibility includes
the identification of stakeholders and
stakeholders’ requirements, material
issues, for commitments with
respect to sustainability performance
and for the design, implementation
and maintenance of internal control
relevant to the preparation of the
Report that is free from material
misstatement, whether due to fraud
or error.
Our independence and quality
control
We have complied with the Code of
Ethics for Professional Accountants
issued by the International Ethics
Standards Board for Accountants,
which includes independence and
other requirements founded on
fundamental principles of integrity,
objectivity, professional competence
and due care, confidentiality and
professional behaviour.
KPMG Services Proprietary Limited applies the International Standard on Quality Control 1 and accordingly maintains a comprehensive system of quality control, including documented policies and procedures regarding compliance with ethical requirements, professional standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements.
Our responsibility
Our responsibility is to express an
opinion on the selected sustainability
performance information based on
the evidence we have obtained.
We have conducted our engagement
in accordance with the International
Standard on Assurance
Engagements (ISAE) 3000 (Revised),
Assurance Engagements Other than
Audits or Reviews of Historical
Financial Information, issued by the
International Auditing and Assurance
Standards Board. That Standard
requires that we plan and perform
our engagement to obtain
reasonable assurance about whether
the selected sustainability
performance information is free from
material misstatement.
A reasonable assurance engagement in accordance with ISAE 3000 involves performing procedures to obtain evidence about the quantification of the selected sustainability performance information and related disclosures. The nature, timing and extent of procedures selected depend on the practitioner’s judgement, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments we considered internal control relevant to Gold Fields’ preparation of the selected sustainability performance information. A reasonable assurance engagement also includes:
- Assessing the suitability in the circumstances of Gold Fields’ use of the accompanying Gold Field Reporting criteria as the basis for preparing the selected sustainability performance information;
- Evaluating the appropriateness of quantification methods and reporting policies and internal guidelines used, and the reasonableness of estimates made by Gold Fields; and
- Evaluating the overall presentation of the selected sustainability performance information and whether the information presented in the Report is consistent with our findings, overall knowledge and experience of sustainability management and performance at Gold Fields.
Our work included the following evidence-gathering procedures:
- Interviewing management and senior executives to obtain an understanding of the internal control environment, risk assessment process and information systems relevant to the sustainability reporting process. Inspecting documentation to corroborate the statements of management and senior executives in our interviews.
- Testing the processes and systems to generate, collate, aggregate, monitor and report the selected sustainability performance information.
- Inspecting supporting documentation and performing analytical procedures on a sample basis to evaluate the data generation and reporting processes against the reporting criteria.
- Undertaking physical site visits to Gold Fields’ South Deep, Tarkwa and Damang operations and remote reviews of the Granny Smith, St Ives, Agnew/Lawlers, Darlot, and Cerro Corona operations.
We believe that the evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
Opinion
In our opinion, the selected
sustainability performance
information set out in the subject
matter paragraph for the year ended
31 December 2015 is prepared, in all
material respects, in accordance with
the accompanying Gold Fields
reporting criteria.
Comparability
Our report includes the provision of
assurance on the Research and
Development initiatives supported
(Total Number, Percentage of South
African Institutions in the total and
Expenditure), Annual spend on
procurement from multi-national
suppliers: Contribution to the social
fund (percentage), Implementation of
Approved EMP’s (percentage),
Implementation of the tripartite action
plan on health and safety
(percentage), and Total Energy
Consumed (GJ)/Total Tonnes mined.
We were previously not required to provide assurance on this selected sustainability performance information.
Report on the ICMM
assurance procedure
We are required to report our findings
on the International Council of Mining
and Metals’ (ICMM) Sustainable
Development (SD) Framework:
Assurance Procedure (ICMM
Assurance Procedure) in respect of:
- The alignment of Gold Fields’ sustainability policies to the ICMM 10 SD Principles and any mandatory requirements set out in ICMM Position Statements (ICMM Subject Matter 1)
- The reporting of Gold Fields’ material sustainable development risks and opportunities based on a review of its business and the views and expectations of its stakeholders (ICMM Subject Matter 2).
- The implementation of systems and approaches that Gold Fields is using to manage its material safety risks and opportunities (ICMM Subject Matter 3).
Directors’ responsibilities
The Directors are responsible for:
- The alignment of Gold Fields’ sustainability policies to the ICMM 10 SD Principles and any mandatory requirements set out in ICMM Position Statements.
- The reporting of Gold Fields’ material sustainable development risks and opportunities based on a review of its business and the views and expectations of its stakeholders.
- The implementation of systems and approaches that Gold Fields is using to manage its material safety risks and opportunities.
Our responsibility
Our engagement included reporting
on the ICMM Assurance Procedure
in respect of 1, 2 and 3 above based
on the knowledge obtained in our
evidence gathering procedures in our assurance engagement on the
selected sustainability performance
information set out in the subject
matter paragraph in our ‘Report on
Selected Sustainability Information’
on pages 139 and 140.
Findings
Based on our evidence gathering
procedures in our assurance
engagement for the year ended
31 December 2015 on the subject
matter set out in our ‘Report on
Selected Sustainability Information’
139 and 140, nothing has come to
our attention that causes us to
believe that:
- Gold Fields’ sustainability policies are not aligned with the ICMM 10 SD Principles and any mandatory requirements set out in ICMM Position Statements.
- Gold Fields has not reported material sustainable development risks and opportunities based on a review of its business and the views and expectations of its stakeholders.
- Gold Fields has not implemented systems and approaches to manage its material safety risks and opportunities.
Other matters
The maintenance and integrity of the
Gold Fields website is the
responsibility of Gold Fields
management. Our procedures did
not involve consideration of these
matters and, accordingly we accept
no responsibility for any changes to
either the information in the Report
or our independent assurance report
that may have occurred since the
initial date of presentation on the
Gold Fields website.
Restriction of liability
enable us to express the opinions on
the sustainability performance
information set out in the subject
matter paragraph in our ‘Report on
Selected Sustainability performance
Information’ together with findings on
1, 2 and 3 in our ‘Report on the ICMM Assurance Procedure’ to the
Directors of Gold Fields in
accordance with the terms of our
engagement, and for no other
purpose. We do not accept or
assume liability to any party other
than Gold Fields, for our work, for
this report, or for the conclusions we
have reached.
KPMG Services Proprietary Limited
| Per PD Naidoo Director |
Per C Basson Director |
| 22 March 2016 | 22 March 2016 |
KPMG Crescent
85 Empire Road
Parktown
Johannesburg
2193