Newmont Commended for Report on Community Opposition:
Shareholders Call for Substantive Implementation

New York, NY///April 30, 2009///At Newmont Mining’s annual general meeting of shareholders (AGM), held on April 29, 2009, Julie Tanner, Assistant Director of Socially Responsible Investing at Christian Brothers Investment Services (CBIS), commended the board and company for its commitment to understand the root causes of community conflict and for the release of a report last month that included an extensive review of policies and practices relating to its relationships with local communities, including aspects of potential conflict and opposition. Newmont Mining is the second largest producer of gold in the world.

The findings from the report, “Community Relationships Review Global Summary Report,” written by the law firm of Foley Hoag, revealed that the company must manage community relationships more effectively and encouraged the development of a comprehensive management plan for community relations, assigning accountability to local managers for implementing policies, conducting regular social impact and risk assessments, and managing community concerns before conflict arises. (see www.beyondthemine.com/2007/?pid=470).

The findings were informed by interviews conducted with more than 250 stakeholders in 5 countries and analysis of Newmont’s guidelines in order to craft a set of detailed recommendations for the company moving forward (see 'Lessons Learned’ below).

The report grew out of a shareholder resolution filed in 2007 by CBIS and colleagues from the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), including Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Catholic Health East, Tri-State Coalition of Responsible Investing, Catholic Healthcare West, and The Fetzer Institute. It highlighted instances of community resistance to Newmont's operations in Peru, Indonesia, Nevada, and Ghana, over such things as the company's mining waste disposal, the potential for water pollution, cyanide use, development on Indigenous land, and impacts on sacred sites.  Conflicts of this type have the potential to generate lawsuits, negative press coverage and cause shut-downs of company operations.

At the AGM, the shareholders called for the development and implementation of robust mechanisms to augment local participation and ensure there is two-way communication, for an analysis of its interactions with indigenous peoples, and for clarification of Newmont’s commitment to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent. In addition, they are seeking a timetable for implementation of the report’s recommendations, an assignment of responsibilities and oversight, and measurements of success.

Shareholders also recommended that the company post updates to its website every 6-months to inform stakeholders on its progress, meet with the communities that participated in the Review to share results and to design with them a collaborative process that will serve to strengthen its policies and programs to build capacity, resolve conflicts and address grievances.

As part of the process, Newmont’s board created an Independent Advisory Panel that included vocal critics, including highly regarded NGOs such as Oxfam and Earthworks, as well as experts in human rights and artisanal mining. Christian Brothers was included on the panel. The Panel was tasked with assessing the integrity of the research process and with issuing its own report, "Building Effective Community Relationships Final Report of the Advisory Panel to Newmont's Community Relationships Review," with recommendations to the board. (see link above). In its report, The Panel complimented Newmont and its board for its commitment to an innovative and robust process but also called on the company to strengthen its engagement policies and procedures.