Diggers and Dealers Gold Wrap 2022 — Gold Industry Group

We kicked off day two with the biggest ever Gold Industry Group Leadership Breakfast as a record number of attendees packed into the Kalgoorlie Town Hall to hear an open and honest discussion on how we must build safe, respectful, and inclusive workplaces from a panel of industry thought leaders.

Led by Cannings Purple Director Peter Klinger, panelists Evolution Mining Executive Chairman Jake Klein, Northern Star Resources Non-Executive Director Sharon Warburton, Gold Fields Vice President People and Engagement Karen Bradshaw, and West Coast Fever Head Coach Dan Ryan agreed embracing vulnerability as a virtue at all levels and enabling people to live their values as their authentic selves in the workplace was critical to psychologically safe workplaces.

Empowering people to speak up for themselves and call out unacceptable behaviour when they see it, along with educating employees on expected behaviors was key. There was a desire to further embrace the sharing of information among companies to ensure industry-wide standards were adopted and upheld.

Gold Industry Group Chair and Gold Fields Vice President of Legal and Corporate Affairs Kelly Carter wrapped up the breakfast event, saying there was an invaluable opportunity for the sector to reposition itself and further leverage the ongoing work of the Gold Industry Group.

“Diversity and inclusion have long been at the core of the Gold Industry Group’s role and activities in strengthening the reputation of the gold sector with our stakeholders,” Ms Carter said.

“Reflected across everything we do nationally, our perception-changing National Gold Education Program continues to inspire thousands of students to consider careers in the gold industry and our Gold Jobs platform and communications profile women in the industry across a range of roles.

“Our influential diversity debates and leadership forums such as this are driving important discussions on key issues, and our support of women’s sport and education is highlighted through our landmark partnership with West Coast Fever, Netball WA and Shooting Stars.”

Day two on the program saw Bellevue Gold CEO Darren Stralow share some of the Company’s sustainability, community, diversity, and heritage initiatives, which he says are core to its success.

Gold Road Resources CEO Duncan Gibbs touched on their great position to drive growth, due to the Company’s hard work in the ESG space, efficient systems, and strong balance sheet.

Northern Star Resources CEO Stuart Tonkin spoke to the importance of building a respectful and inclusive culture where everyone could bring their best to work, and discussed the solid nature of gold in the near to long term.

Gold Fields CEO Chris Griffith discussed the success of the Company’s Australian operations, reiterating their decarbonisation targets, including being net zero by 2050.