Barrick Gold Corporation (USA)(NYSE:ABX) stated that a pipe carrying cyanide at Veladero gold mine faced a small leak and valve failure that resulted in a brief disruption in daily operations. The incident occur a couple of days ago and there was no threat reported to the workers health or on the surrounding river from the spill.
As per the update, the new valve had been put in place and the incident is now being investigated. The leak was noticed almost immediately and the faulty valve was shut down. The production was stopped to prevent increased pumping of the solution. Veladero comes in the list of the largest gold mines in Argentina and produced over 700,000 ounces of gold last year.
The buzz
In unrelated news, Barrick Gold reported that it has been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. This achievement comes for the eighth successive year. Also, the company was placed in the Dow Jones Sustainability ‘North America’ Index.
Kelvin Dushnisky, the President said that they are privileged to be included in this index once again in this year. It indicates that the company is living up to the values that have led Barrick’s success since inception. The values like social responsibility, accountability, the pursuit of excellence and trust and transparency forms the foundation for success. When the company follows these values and creates robust partnerships with governments, host communities, and employees, the company takes firm steps towards long-term success.
The significance
The Dow Jones Sustainability Index analyzes the performance of over 2,500 companies to get the winning performers. Companies’ performances are assessed on basis of various sustainability metrics, which include but are not limited to governance, social performance and environment contributions. The list is prepared after considering both industry-specific and sustainability issues in other sectors. Barrick Gold Corporation (USA)(NYSE:ABX) said that functioning in a responsible and accountable manner is the way to create value for shareholders and employees.
