Newmont has established the $20-million Newmont Global Community Support Fund in an effort to help host communities, governments, and employees who have been impacted by COVID-19.
The Colorado-based gold miner said the fund had been set up in partnership with the communities in which it operates, and builds on earlier contributions the company has made.
In Timmins, where the company operates the Hoyle Pond underground mine, the Hollinger open-pit mine, and the Dome processing facility, Newmont announced it would be donating $100,000 to the Cochrane District Social Services Administration Board, and $50,000 to the community of Chapleau.
“Our employees, local contractors and their families live in the communities that host our operations, and the health of our business is inextricably linked to the health of those communities,” Newmont CEO Tom Palmer said in an April 9 news release.
“We not only want to protect our people and host communities from this pandemic, we want to build lasting resiliency so that our host communities thrive after the worst of this pandemic passes.
“As a global business with operations in eight countries, we are committed to doing our part to combat this disease and protect people and their livelihoods.”
The company said that, in distributing the funds, it would partner with local governments, medical institutions, charities and non-governmental organizations to target funds to the communities’ greatest needs.
Three areas of focus will be employee and community health, food security, and local economic resilience.
The company said it has continued to implement safety measures at its sites around the globe, including physical distancing and reduced workforce presence, as well as ramping down operations at selected sites.
Newmont’s Musselwhite Mine, a fly-in, fly-out underground gold mine located 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, was one of four operations the company placed on care and maintenance in late March.
