The extractive industries have been undergoing a great deal of change over the past decade. Challenges from environmental regulations, an increasing demand from the public and investors to proactively implement corporate social responsibility and human rights programs, and difficulty finding and extracting easy commodity targets combined with price volatility have forced many in the industry to reconsider the way they have traditionally done business.

Seeing this shift and the increasing need to take an aggressive approach toward understanding ways to undertake mineral exploration and mining programs in a more responsible fashion, Burgex decided to send it’s CEO, Stuart Burgess, as a delegate to the 2016 Responsible Extractives Summit in London this June. Mr. Burgess attended the two-day summit and brought back many ideas and suggestions that he believes will be beneficial to both the current and future clients of the company. At the summit he collaborated with a select group of other top executives and CEOs from companies ranging from Rio Tinto and Barrick to BG Group and Tullow Oil. This collaboration spanned a variety of topics related to artisanal mining, social responsibility, human rights, environmental issues, and sustainability.

” I thought the responsible extractives forum was a great melting pot for executives across the extractives spectrum to come together and discuss ways in which they are currently tackling environmental and social responsibility issues in this challenging commodity price environment. The setting and round table format allowed for open discussion on a variety of pressing topics, such as the best ways to understand and mitigate the issues around artisanal mining throughout Africa and South America.” – Stuart Burgess

Responsible extractives are the future

Many of the challenges facing the mining and mineral exploration industries today are likely to increase moving into the future. The 2016 Summit has shown, through the examples provided by the delegates, that a strong policy of considering environmental and social responsibility challenges throughout the exploration and development phases can lead to positive outcomes that can last beyond the life of the mine. Mr. Burgess believes Burgex can provide the best value to its clients by collaborating and staying abreast of these issues on a regular basis, and is looking forward to attending the 2017 Responsible Extractives Summit next year.

You can find out more about the Summit on the Ethical Corporation Website.