Meeting the EHS and ESG challenges of a multinational gold mining company

Quick facts

Corporate office: London, UK
Listed: London Stock Exchange (LSE), Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX)
Operations located: West Africa
Industry: Mining
Number of employees:7000
Number of operating mining sites: 8
IsoMetrix software solutions implemented by Endeavour Mining:
Environment, Health and Safety (EHS), Environmental Sustainability, Land Access and Resettlement, Social Engagement Management

Endeavour Mining is a multinational gold mining company operating predominantly in West Africa. One of the world’s top ten senior gold producers and the largest in West Africa, Endeavour Mining operates eight mines throughout Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and Senegal. The company also has a portfolio of advanced development projects and exploration assets on the Birimian Greenstone Belt, across the region.

The challenge

Endeavour Mining was facing difficulties collecting data from its various mining sites spread throughout West Africa. The existing data being collected was not sufficiently comprehensive nor was it being received timeously enough to satisfy the organization.

It also did not suit its reporting purposes with regards to the increasingly important ESG measures and standards which are now typical throughout the industry. Furthermore, the company was saddled with an outdated EHS software system that did not offer the functionality and ease-of-use that Endeavour Mining desired. Finally, the organization needed a software package with multi-language support that catered for users with a primary language other than English.

Goals and desired outcomes

In approaching IsoMetrix, Endeavour Mining’s main objective was to collect data more efficiently at site-level and to host this data within a centralized software system that is user-friendly and conducive to producing the required reports.

Not only are EHS standards becoming ever more pervasive within the global mining industry, but reporting on ESG requirements is becoming increasingly important and expected by both investors and the general public. By implementing a quality EHS system like IsoMetrix, Endeavour Mining would improve its ability to match or surpass these standards, and produce the necessary reports more quickly and efficiently.

Requirements, challenges, and solutions

Challenge no.1

Improve the comprehensiveness and timeliness of data collection from various mining sites in three countries.

Solution

The first component to improving data collection pertains to availability. IsoMetrix offers mobile offline functionality which enables field workers to collect vital information on-site in remote locations and in areas without wi-fi connectivity. Endeavour Mining found this to be a crucial aspect of improving its data collection ability. On-site supervisors can now log observations, incidents and inspection findings with no delays or distance, improving the accuracy of their primary data collection.

This information is then synced with IsoMetrix’s centralized software system, ensuring that relevant information is available throughout the organization with little to no delay. The breadth of solutions offered by IsoMetrix facilitates comprehensive data collection as well. Endeavour Mining implemented IsoMetrix’s EHS solution, followed just a few months later by its Environmental Sustainability solution.

This means that Endeavour Mining can now record detailed data pertaining to:

• Inspections, observations, incident management, audits and suggestions within its EHS solution

• Water, air, waste and noise measurements within its Environmental Sustainability solution

• Stakeholder individuals and stakeholder entities, grievances & complaints, and engagement strategies within the Social Engagement Management module

Challenge no.2

Make data available throughout the organization and ensure that data outputs can be intuitively analyzed. Visualize information within the system so that key insights can be better understood and messages distributed throughout the organization.

Solution

In addition to centralizing all collected information, IsoMetrix’s software was praised by Endeavour Mining for its ease of use in making data available, and the way in which it lays out its system data in a series of user-friendly dashboards. As IsoMetrix is a roles-based system, data is available only to those who have authorized access.

Endeavour Mining appreciates how managers can, utilizing the dashboards, see how their sites are doing across a range of measures, as well as where trends lie and if any issues have arisen, using real-time drilldowns. By analyzing the data, Endeavour has been able to place accountable individuals in key locations throughout the business to deal with existing and potential issues, as well as make recommendations to stop the recurrence of negative incidents and unwanted events.

Challenge no.3

Close out actions once they’ve been identified as necessary.

Solution

IsoMetrix’s variety of dashboards present vast amounts of data in an easily understandable format, in turn enabling Endeavour Mining to keep an eye on how their sites are performing across a range of metrics, identify trends and determine whether follow-up actions are necessary.

Collecting data and identifying issues is only one half of the job however – recommended actions need to be followed up on and carried out to maximize the utility value of the software. One of the useful features of IsoMetrix’s software is that it enables managers to see at a glance the status of actions, and for these actions to be tracked until successfully closed out.

This enables Endeavour Mining to follow-through on recommendations and to make the most of using its range of risk management software.

Challenge no.4

Close out actions once they’ve been identified as necessary.

Solution

IsoMetrix’s variety of dashboards present vast amounts of data in an easily understandable format, in turn enabling Endeavour Mining to keep an eye on how their sites are performing across a range of metrics, identify trends and determine whether follow-up actions are necessary.

Collecting data and identifying issues is only one half of the job however – recommended actions need to be followed up on and carried out to maximize the utility value of the software. One of the useful features of IsoMetrix’s software is that it enables managers to see at a glance the status of actions, and for these actions to be tracked until successfully closed out.

This enables Endeavour Mining to follow-through on recommendations and to make the most of using its range of risk management software.

Summary

As the largest gold producer in West Africa with eight mining sites throughout three countries, Endeavour Mining could ill-afford to use out-dated software and point solutions in its EHS and ESG operations.

After implementing EHS, Environmental Sustainability, Land Access and Resettlement, and Social Engagement Management software from IsoMetrix, Endeavour Mining has improved the data collection from its various sites. A variety of user-friendly dashboards makes it easy for managers to analyze the data and identify where trends or issues may be occurring, assign actions to responsible individuals, and track them to close-out.

The amount of time required to do reporting is now substantially reduced, as is the potential for human error, as IsoMetrix’s software makes it easy for management to generate the necessary reports at the click of a button. As Endeavour Mining’s employees grow further acquainted with the software, the organization hopes to unlock yet further utility value from the product in the future.

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