Blackstone Minerals Ltd (ASX:BSX, OTCQX:BLSTF) has published its inaugural sustainability report, describing the company’s commitment to create a baseline for future reporting and transparency, and set benchmarks from which to work towards “the highest levels of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) compliance.”
Blackstone’s flagship Ta Khoa Nickel-Copper-Platinum Group Elements (PGE) Project in Vietnam presents what the company calls a compelling opportunity: a nickel product mined and refined using hydroelectric power, with strong support from the local community, in one of the fastest-growing electric vehicle and lithium-ion battery hubs in Australasia.
In the company’s own words
Blackstone Minerals’ social performance lead Anna Cranney discussed the release of its inaugural sustainability report with Proactive earlier today:
Blackstone has been building a district-scale vertically integrated battery metal hub in Vietnam’s Ta Khao district, where the company’s flagship nickel-copper-PGE project will eventually feed the processing mills of Blackstone’s downstream battery metals business.
The company recently partnered with Circulor Ltd, a UK-headquartered industry leader in supply chain traceability, to establish a full nickel and cathode precursor traceability system that accurately and transparently allows the tracing of minerals from mine, through processing to consumer.
The ESG initiative is one of the first of its kind in South East Asia, positioning Blackstone as a pioneer in the ESG space within Vietnam.
Understanding sustainability
Blackstone says it has a responsibility to develop the Ta Khoa Project with best practice ESG considerations as a starting point. The company has the opportunity to develop the district-wide project ethically and sustainably from the ground up.
BSX broke its process down into four main steps, designed to aid in establishing and defining what sustainability means to Blackstone:
The company engaged external consultants, key internal and external stakeholders, local leaders and residents, and the Blackstone team and employees themselves to determine what issues were most material to the company’s circumstances and develop policies and priorities going forward.
These workshops were able to produce a hierarchy of sorts, designed to guide Blackstone’s ESG efforts:
Blackstone says that external stakeholders and employees were concerned that the ESG issues presented could only be addressed while the company is financially sustainable and has a clear level of business continuity.
The current ESG highlights include $607,666 of local spending, 7,300 kilograms of food waste diverted from landfill and donated to Bac Yen Village, a 99% rate of employment for Vietnamese nationals at the Ban Phuc site, with 72% of site employees constituting recognised ethnic minorities and 60% of leadership roles at the Hanoi Office occupied by women.
Voluntary sustainability commitments
Blackstone is developing a formal sustainability strategy including targets and will continue to report on its progress annually. BSX says that ESG performance, when implemented effectively, should be owned by the entire company.
In that vein, the company has made several voluntary ESG commitments:
Safety and skills
In 2020 there were no recordable health and safety incidents across Blackstone’s exploration sites and operations. While these results are ideal, the company acknowledges that a safety record is only as good as the next working day.
At the Ban Phuc site, BSX implemented multiple health and safety processes, not limited to providing onsite emergency and medical support, PPE, hazard education in both English and Vietnamese, and various other health and safety measures necessary for the safe running of the site.
Labour safety training is planned for delivery in 2021, provided by an external company and designed to cover key topics like:
- Vietnamese labour legislation;
- Working at heights;
- Job safety analysis;
- Confined space entry;
- Electrical safety;
- Fire safety;
- Housekeeping/health/hygiene;
- Hazardous substances; and
- Future actions and activities.
While this inaugural report concerned 2020, Blackstone intends to ramp up its ESG reporting and compliance into the future, marrying its ESG commitments to its business practices.
Its immediate focus going forward will be:
- Finalise an ESG strategy with metrics attached to each functional area to assess future performance;
- Comply with the reporting frameworks of the TCFD and the UN Global Compact;
- Identify other suitable external assurance frameworks and reporting metrics to strengthen our ESG quality process and alignment to best practice approaches; and
- Align future reporting more closely to the publication of Blackstone’s annual report, to work towards an integrated reporting of ESG and our business strategy.
BSX intends to continue to meet Australian Safety standards on site in 2021. The company’s health and safety objectives for the coming year include:
- Improving Ban Phuc Training and Competency requirements and processes;
- Deliver Labour Safety training to all Vietnam employees;
- Recruit 2 x site-based Vietnamese National Occupational Health and Safety Officers Recruit 1 x site-based Expatriate Health, Safety and Security Manager to develop, coach and rollout Blackstone’s HSS strategy;
- Recruit 1 x site-based doctor to provide ongoing care to the workforce;
- International provider to be engaged to provide the project with the ability to respond appropriately to medical emergencies in line with international standards;
- Improve understanding of appropriate PPE selection and use;
- Improve site transport and road safety behaviours amongst employees and contractors;
- Onboard culturally appropriate Employee Assistance Program providers for Australian, Canadian and Vietnamese employees;
- Develop Standard Operating Procedures for all the rigs on site;
- Produce and issue an Emergency Action Plan for guidance to all site staff; and
- Identifying further meaningful uses for RealWear technology to become a training and risk management tool onsite.