LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT S tr a t egy and s tructur e Mx olisi Mgojo Pr esident Miner als C ouncil South A frica T he mining indus try achie v ed a signifcant impr o v ement in saf ety perf ormanc e I do need t o begin ho w e v er b y addr es sing a ma tt er of which none of us had hear d b y the end of 20 19 but which is ha ving a gr ea t er impact on our indus try and on the w orld than an ything in living memory C O VID 19 is a ma tt er tha t is difcult t o addr es s in a lett er of this sort because wha t e v er I sa y a t this time of writing will ha v e da t ed b y the time y ou r ead this I w ould lik e t o sa y ho w e v er tha t our indus try appears t o ha v e sho wn its mettle b y addr es sing this sc our ge r apidly and head on in a w a y tha t has held out the bes t chanc e of sus taining our indus try thr ough this disas tr ous period It has optimised pr e v enta tiv e measur es and has so f ar suc c eeded in minimising disruptions In doing so it has also serv ed the int er es ts of mining c ommunities and of our entir e society in the bes t w a y it pos sibly c ould But let s go back a y ear and e x amine the is sues of health and saf ety mor e dir ectly r ela t ed t o our indus try T r agically the y ear 20 19 began with the tailings dam tr agedy a t Brumadinho in Br azil tha t killed 2 7 0 emplo y ees and t o wnspeople caught in the pa th of the dam c ollapse T his tr agedy impr es sed on all of us the need t o as ses s and r eas ses s the s ta t e of our tailings f acilities and wher e nec es sary tak e action t o s tr engthen them T he Miner als C ouncil and a number of its members ha v e also pla y ed an activ e part in the w ork of the independent task t eam appoint ed b y the Int erna tional C ouncil on Mining and Metals ICMM t o de v elop a global tailings s tandar d W e c ontinue t o f ollo w its w ork with activ e int er es t T he y ear 20 19 w as something of a turning point in health and saf ety in South A frica W e ar e gr a tifed tha t the indus try achie v ed a signifcant impr o v ement in perf ormanc e mos t notably ha ving r ec or ded the lo w es t number of f a talities due t o ac cidents in the indus try s r ec or ded his t ory T his is particularly the case aft er the r e v ersals of 20 17 and only limit ed impr o v ements in 20 18 T he impr o ving tr end in oc cupa tional health perf ormanc e w as notable t oo Ho w e v er as is clear fr om the launch of our Khumbul ekha y a campaign in Oct ober 20 19 w e will r emain dis sa tisfed with our perf ormanc e f or as long as it tak es t o elimina t e los s of lif e fr om our w orkplac es Z er o f a talities can be our only ac c eptable goal C O VID 19 is of c ourse not the only e xt ernal f or c e buf eting our indus try and our ec onom y Esk om s fnancial and oper a tional tr a v ails will s till be with us long aft er the C O VID 19 nightmar e has pas sed In 20 19 load shedding and load curtailment se v er ely c ons tr ained mining output f or cing it oft en t o ha v e t o r educ e po w er c onsumption b y up t o 20 Almos t in v ariably this halt ed pr oduction of metallur gical plants It has been a se v er e disinc entiv e t o ne w in v es tment and pr e v ent ed our mines fr om taking adv antage of impr o ving c ommodity pric es in man y sect ors L oad curtailment r eached a peak on 9 Dec ember with the adv ent of s tage 6 load shedding bringing home t o busines ses householders and go v ernment the parlous s ta t e of Esk om T ha t w as les s than thr ee w eeks aft er the announc ement of the appointment of Andr e de Ruyt er as the or ganisa tion s ne w CEO T his is m y thir d pr esidential mes sage in the Miner als C ouncil s Int egr a t ed Annual R eport As I r efect on the e v ents of 20 19 I d lik e also t o r efect on the de v elopments and tr ends of the pas t thr ee y ears as I belie v e the y t ell some pr of ound s t ories of our indus try and of our c ountry P age 28