The commissioning of a 36 MW solar plant at Centamin’s Sukari mine, in Egypt, marked the “tangible progress” the gold mining company was making towards reducing its Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse-gas emissions by 30% by 2030, CEO Martin Horgan says.

“The team at Centamin take pride in our responsible approach to mining, setting the benchmark for sustainability performance and good industry practice in Egypt. We are acutely aware of our responsibility as an owner and operator of the Sukari gold mine and temporary custodians of the land,” he states in the company’s ‘2022 Sustainability Report’.

In it, the gold miner highlights its commitment to meeting international standards of good practice across its sustainability priorities – governance, safety, health and wellbeing, energy and climate, materials stewardship, socioeconomic partnership, people and transformation.

The report highlights the company’s ongoing progress in these areas and the positive impact of its investment in Egypt.

“Economic contribution to our host countries is fundamental to Centamin’s purpose. In 2022, Centamin distributed $848-million in economic value, from operating costs and employee wages, to capital expenditure, as well as profit share and royalty payments.

“The vast majority of this value distribution remained in Egypt, not least because of our partnership with the Egyptian government but also because 96% of our workforce are Egyptian and 67% of procurement spend is with Egyptian suppliers.

“By delivering on our promises, we have established the credibility and capability to deliver on Centamin’s next phase of growth – a safer, smarter, more sustainable future that delivers value for all our stakeholders,’’ Horgan comments.

The report outlines that a continued reinforcement of health and safety practices resulted in zero fatalities, an 83% year-on-year improvement in the lost time injury frequency rate and a 13% improvement in the total recordable injury frequency rate.

It highlights strong levels of local content, with 96% of the company’s workforce being locals and 68% of the total group procurement spend directed to domestic suppliers.

Centamin has also achieved its interim targets for gender diversity and inclusion at Sukari, including 34 women employed at its sites in Egypt, up from eight in 2021.

The company continued to implement its professional development framework for all employees at Sukari, which resulted in a 62% increase in total training hours to 44 hours per employee.

It sustained zero reportable environmental incidents across the group and no issues of regulatory noncompliance were reported for 2022.