Andrada mining spent 49% of its procurement budget on more than 250 Namibian businesses, the company’s recent sustainability report reveals.
This translated to N$143 million from the total N$294 million spend.
CEO Anthony Viljoen said that the company’s supply chain prioritises procurement from local and national businesses and contractors before looking to wider Africa and internationally.
“Our total procurement spend for the reporting period was in excess of N$294m of which N$143m or 49% was spent across more than 250 Namibian businesses. As our business grows and develops, we fully intend on bringing our Namibian suppliers along with us. Mining needs to create a symbiotic relationship between development and communities.
“We plan to forge a way for integrated sustainable development in whatever we do. Self-sustaining community development initiatives are therefore as important to us as is our own success. Through the multiplier effect which is as a result of our activities at Uis, wider benefits accrue to our community. Our contractors provide a good example of this; businesses have started up as a direct result of the Uis Tin Mine returning to production,” he said.
The reports also noted that Andrada funded over N$185,000 in community projects.
“We will continue to focus on skills improvement programmes as this will have a positive benefit to the Uis Tin Mine and Namibia. Uis has also seen growth and development such as work to tar the road from Swakopmund.
“To ensure an adequate supply of water for the road project, Uis residents and our operations, we contracted hydrogeologists to model the road construction water requirements against our requirements for the extended life of mine. Water will continue to be a strategic item for Andrada and we will continue to optimise how we utilise this valuable resource,” further said Viljoen.
Thinking positively, he added, the tarred road will increase our ability to move goods and materials, allowing us to consider solar or wind energy and desalination technology.
“We are working towards long-term sustainable solutions to ensure safe production, but also benefit our community. Providing basic services like water and power will ensure lasting benefits for Uis. In the spirit of working with our community, we have also commenced with closure planning, as the town of Uis has experienced first-hand the effects of unplanned mine closure on their economy. As we work towards better understanding our environmental footprint, we will continue to focus on reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions at an operational level,” explaining Viljoen.
He went on to say that it would be remiss to overlook the growing pains of such an exceptional project like rejuvenating and growing the Uis Tin mine.
“Through this process, we’ve been given the opportunity to examine our performance statistics across the various ESG topics and identify where we are most at risk. Our Health and Safety statistics and staff turnover have challenged us but we are being proactive in addressing identified issues. Over the past months we’ve contracted two independent Health and Safety Risk specialists who will continue to train us all in improving our safety culture, safety systems and ultimately performance. To advance ESG, we have appointed an experienced ESG Manager to further develop our strategy and drive implementation in the company,” he said.