Article supplied by St Barbara for Australian Mining. (SBM.ASX)
St Barbara is a gold miner at heart, so finding brilliance is what it does. Whether at its operations in Western Australia, Papua New Guinea or Canada, its job is to operate with excellence. But to St Barbara, striving for brilliance is about so much more than what it does.
The mid-sized gold miner is focused on building brilliance; not just in what it does, but in how it does it. Because that’s where the future of mining lies; not only mining for shareholder return, but operating in a way that strengthens employees, builds diversity in all its forms, and creates value in the communities where they operate.
St Barbara take gender diversity seriously. In Australia, it is the only gold mining company to receive the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) ‘Employer of Choice for Gender Equality’ citation for seven consecutive years. It’s also one of only 10 Australian companies, within a total of 380 companies across 11 sectors worldwide, to be included in the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index (GEI).
The company is strengthening its Technical Services and Innovation team expanding to meet the needs of the growing opportunities at its mines and the surrounding provinces.
Sonia Buckley, Senior Resources Analyst attests to this.
“St Barbara is a great place to work as you feel valued in your contribution to a global business, interacting with people all over the world,” she said.
“There is genuine care from management for all staff and they will accommodate individual requirements for work flexibility when needed.”
Building brilliance extends to its support for the community in Western Australia having agreed to renew its sponsorship for the Shooting Stars programs in Leonara and Clontarf in Kalgoorlie, helping Indigenous youth on their educational journey.
And for communities near its operations in Papua New Guinea, St Barbara supports future generations through chocolate farming.
Under the umbrella of Simberi Mine Services (SMS), a community business coordination and governance company, St Barbara have been working with Tabar locals to help them establish a thriving cocoa farming business. To support this thriving business, in 2020, St Barbara worked with them to help produce their first-ever chocolate bar.
Tabar Islands Chocolate is made from 75 per cent cocoa, sourced entirely from cocoa farmed by locals on Tabar Island and is made in partnership with Paradise Foods.
Around 120 family farmers are involved in the project and receive guidance from the miner’s Community Relations team by way of technical and agricultural advice. Farmers are guided through all stages of the delicate process of cocoa planting and production.
St Barbara reintroduced cocoa farming upon purchasing the mine in 2012. Planting began in 2017 and today, a total of 50 hectares have been planted around Simberi and Big Tabar Islands. This will help build a sustainable future for Tabar locals, and the broader PNG community, economically empowering them for a life beyond mining.
It’s an interesting time to be in mining and with a company like St Barbara the future is not only bright, it’s brilliant.