First Quantum Minerals Ltd. response to Swedwatch’s report “Copper with a cost – Human rights and environmental risks in the minerals supply chains of ICT: A case study from Zambia.”

First Quantum Minerals Ltd (FQM) has taken note of the Swedwatch report Copper with a Cost which covers the issues facing the global copper mining sector and their impact on mining communities. The report addresses a number of important issues for the industry. Transparency and integrity are key pillars of FQM’s ethos and the company is pleased to see that Swedwatch shares the company’s determination to make a positive economic and social difference to the people living in the areas where it operates.

The US$100 million that FQM has spent on poverty alleviation and social development in Zambia is clear testament to the company’s ongoing engagement and support for local —including resettled— communities.This is in addition to the impact of employment, taxes and local procurement. Through its Trident Foundation, the company relocated 579 households whilst it developed the Sentinel Mine in Kalumbila in 2013. The programme, which rigorously followed international best practice, is recognised as having set a new benchmark in a difficult and sensitive area for the industry. Despite the inevitable challenges with any programme such as this, FQM believes its resettlement work at Kalumbila¸ which encompasses development programmes in health, education, farming, livelihoods and infrastructure; is a model for other companies undertaking similar community work across the world.