ESG Reporting Framework for a Listed Mining Company

A Namibian mining company listed on the NSX with diamond and base metal operations, under increasing pressure from institutional investors and its NSX listing obligations to produce credible ESG disclosures.

The company had been producing an annual sustainability report but it was largely narrative, contained no quantitative data against defined metrics, and had not been benchmarked against any recognised reporting framework. Two institutional shareholders had independently raised the issue in their engagement letters for the prior year. The company's board wanted a credible ESG report for the current year and a framework that the company could maintain going forward without being entirely dependent on external consultants.

We assessed the company's existing sustainability disclosures against the GRI Standards and the ISSB's IFRS S1 and S2 sustainability disclosure standards. We identified the material topics relevant to the company's sector and operations (environmental impact of mining operations, community investment, safety, employment equity and localisation) and designed a reporting framework aligned to GRI Core. We worked with the company's operations and HR teams to gather quantitative data for each material topic, prepared the ESG report, and produced a gap analysis identifying the additional disclosures the company would need to move toward full IFRS S2 compliance in the next reporting cycle.

ESG report produced for the current reporting year using the GRI Core framework, with quantitative data on all material topics. Institutional shareholders acknowledged the improvement at the AGM. Gap analysis delivered for the following year's planning. The company's sustainability team has been trained on the framework and can run the data collection process independently going forward.