External communications and activities

Our external communications were refocused, with a visitors' programme bringing more visitors to the mine. Our Outreach Programme to secondary schools continued after it was launched in 2009. The Rio Tinto brand was further established in Namibia and media relations were strengthened, while Government relations were maintained, culminating in a visit from the Prime Minister of Namibia to the mine.

Government relations

We regard sound government relations as a business imperative. It is against this background that a Government Relations Plan was devised to ensure an ongoing engagement with the Government, with a view to harmonise relations between the company and the Government of the Republic of Namibia.

During the period under review, we heightened the level of government engagements because a new political administration was sworn in after the National Assembly and Presidential elections in 2009. A new minister and deputy minister were appointed in the Ministry of Mines and Energy, which called for a re-engagement strategy to forge links with the new political principals. A number of high level meetings, activities and events between various government officials and the company took place. Key issues that dominated discussions were, among others, company shares held by the Namibian Government and the Iran Foreign Investment Company, product security and the United Nations sanctions against Iran, and the impact of these issues on our operations. The Government continues to show commitment and support for our activities. After visiting the mine, the Prime Minister, Honourable Nahas Angula, and the Chief Executive Officer of Rio Tinto, Tom Albanese, together addressed members of the business community at a gala dinner held in Windhoek. The event was well-received and helped to showcase the company and its activities in the country.

In 2010 we hosted a record number of senior government officials and other stakeholders at the mine, signalling a heightened level of interest in the affairs and activities of the company. Such occasions presented opportunities for sharing best practices in mining operations.

Visitors' programme

The main aim of our visitors' programme is to show that the mine is transparent with regard to its operations, in particular with regard to our HSE standards and practices, and that we are a global leader in the production of uranium oxide for the world's nuclear power utilities.

The number of visitors received during 2010 attests to the success of our visitors' programme. In total, we hosted 183 groups (compared to 95 groups in 2009), with a total of 2,838 visitors, compared to 2,835 in 2009 and 2,600 in 2008. This is the highest number of visitor groups in the past years. The increased interest in the mine is attributed to international interest in uranium mining, and Rössing as a world-class mining operation. Engineering students at the University of Namibia and the Polytechnic of Namibia also visited the mine to gain more knowledge of our operations.

A highlight of the year was the Prime Minister of Namibia's visit to the mine. In addition, the mine hosted visits for various VIPs from all over the world. Tours to the mine for the general public are still very popular and fully booked most of the time. Two tours per month are hosted, first taking the visitors to the Uranium Institute Information Centre, and then driving to the mine.

Other external communication activities undertaken during 2010 are as follows:

Outreach programme

The outreach programme, which was launched in May 2009 to inform senior learners at schools about our operations, HSE practices, radiation, bursary opportunities, recruitment and possible career opportunities at the mine, was continued in 2010, with 661 senior secondary learners reached at various schools in the Erongo Region. This programme has been re-written as a radio programme and will be presented during various episodes in 2011.

Media relations

During the course of 2010, we enjoyed a significant amount of media coverage – locally, regionally and internationally. Although the coverage received cannot be quantified in terms of value created against the dollar invested, the long-term effects of a positive brand image far outweigh the investment. A successful media day to launch the 2009 Report to Stakeholders was hosted in early 2010, with most of the Namibian media attending the event. The overall reporting was positive. The media activities were part of a media relations programme with the aim of fostering healthy, open and transparent relations with the local as well as international media.

Donations and sponsorships

As a corporate citizen in Namibia, the company remains committed to the upliftment of the socio-economic conditions of the communities within which it operates. This is manifested through a well- coordinated Corporate Social Responsibility scheme in the form of sponsorships, donations and community support initiatives. Due to the global financial crisis, we had to limit donations and sponsorships, focusing on continued support for the pre-committed sponsorships as well as truly needy requests. For example, a N$100,000 donation was made to the Swakopmund Emergency Fund in aid of about 50 families in Swakopmund's Mondesa suburb who lost all their possessions and shelters in a fire. In 2010, most of our donations consisted of offering services and in-kind donations, rather than cash. One such in-kind donation was in the form of our computer donation project which supplied a total of 180 refurbished computers to nine schools in the region. Another was the donation of a crop shearing machine to the Namibian Institute of Mining and Technology (NIMT) at Arandis, with the aim of offering students opportunities for practical learning. The crop shearing machine will be used by apprentices at the NIMT's northern campus in Tsumeb. In 2010, donations and sponsorships totalled (cash and in-kind) N$1,361,325 compared to N$1,848,177 cash and in-kind donations during 2009.

Uranium Institute Information Centre

The Chamber of Mines of Namibia Uranium Institute and its Information Centre were opened earlier in the year, co-funded by Rössing as one of the two uranium producing mines in the country. We have a detailed exhibition in place.

First Mining Expo

We participated in the first ever Mining Expo in Namibia and found that it was an excellent platform to promote our company, especially among local businesses and also among secondary school learners who attended the careers presentations. Nearly 4,000 attendants, around 80 sponsors and exhibitors and industry representatives from nearly every county in Africa were gathered at the event. The event was an opportunity for the global mining industry, and especially the African mining industry, to network and share information.

Career fairs

We participated in four career fair exhibitions in Namibia during 2010, introducing many secondary school learners to careers in the mining industry.

Exhibition at Road Safety Indaba

We participated in the first ever Namibia Road Safety Indaba held in Walvis Bay with an exhibition. Rössing depicted its safe driving record and internal training programmes for its drivers.

Rössing website

The aim of our website is to provide information about the company through the worldwide web. It is a quick and efficient way for anyone to obtain public information about the company. During 2010, our website received 110,900 visitors compared to the 82,406 visitors in 2009. The average time that visitors spent on the site was 3 minutes and 15 seconds, which is on par with previous years. By far the majority of visitors came from the US (92 per cent), with 2 per cent respectively from Australia, South Africa, Namibia and European countries.

Rössing Marathon

The Rössing Marathon Championship — held for the 19th consecutive year and comprising of the 10km race, team event and fun walk for the Cancer Association of Namibia — attracted a good number of participants. The Men's Open and Ladies' Open winners won N$10,000 each, with a total of N$60,000 prize money in all categories.

BirdLife International

The Rio Tinto Rössing Birdwatching annual event was once again well attended, and continues to impart significant awareness about the environment to school learners.

Sports days

In May, our interdepartmental sports days were held in Swakopmund, and in July, an inter-mines tournament was held for mines in the Erongo Region. Both sports events were well attended by our employees, family members and employees from other mines. Sports codes hosted were soccer, darts, volleyball, netball and tug-of-war.

Report to Stakeholders

As our flagship communication tool, the annual Report to Stakeholders reflects on the mine's annual operations. Compiling the report is mandatory, and although Rio Tinto requires only an electronic copy, the report is printed to suit the needs of the main bulk of our local stakeholders. Copies were made available to targeted groups and general visitors to the mine.

Internal communications

Effective internal communication, aimed at promoting transparency and honest interactions, is an integral component of the company's culture. By encouraging open communication we are building trust in the organisation. The overall quality of internal communications increased, and in addition to this, the number of communications also increased slightly. This was mainly due to a message list that covered the various communication topics. Internal communications were distributed via a range of platforms, such as the weekly e-Rössing Bulletin, our intranet, business briefs, DVD productions, and numerous project specific news flashes, MD Briefs, dedicated emails and blogs. In total, about 503 internal communication messages were sent to various audiences during the year, which amounts to approximately 40 messages per month. This is a significant increase compared to the total of 240 internal messages in 2009.

Community consultation and engagement

We continue to expand our Corporate Social Responsibility programme through involvement in health care, environmental awareness and safety initiatives in our communities. The public participation process of the Social and Environmental Impact Assessment (SEIA) for our expansion project began in 2010. As part of this process, various focus groups visited the mine. Instead of having only public town hall meetings, several site visits, focus group meetings, road shows and a public meeting in Arandis were held.

The aim was to share information with a range of interested and affected parties about studies conducted on how to manage mitigation measures related to our expansion activities. These studies included comprehensive air quality and ground water modelling, public radiation dose assessment, social and economic impact, traffic, noise, blast vibration, visual impact, archaeological, as well as fauna and flora studies.

Recommendations from the specialist studies will be developed into mitigation and environmental management plans, to ensure that any possible adverse impacts can be out-weighed by the mine's increased contribution to the national, regional and local economy. Following completion and submission of the final SEIA report, we will apply to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism's Directorate of Environmental Affairs for an environmental clearance for our expansion project.

During 2010, we engaged in the Swakopmund Recycling Project, launched by the Municipality of Swakopmund and its stakeholders. The recycling project is the result of an ongoing engagement process between the mine and the municipality that is aimed at making residents aware of the importance of reducing and recycling waste. The project kicked off with the placement of recycle depots in the vicinity of the town's major grocery stores.

Our employees residing in the town were encouraged to support this initiative by separating recyclable waste at home and depositing the waste items in the allocated bins.