ACACIA’S
RESPONSIBLE
SUPPLY CHAIN
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CONTENTS
Acacia’s Three Pillars ................................................................................................................................... 3
About Acacia Mining ................................................................................................................................... 4
Acacia’s Supply Chain Mission ..................................................................................................................... 5
Acacia’s Supply Chain Objectives ................................................................................................................ 5
Acacia’s Responsible Supply Chain .............................................................................................................. 6
The right goods and services ....................................................................................................................... 7
The right quality and value .......................................................................................................................... 8
The right timeframe .................................................................................................................................... 8
Managing and Building Partners ................................................................................................................. 9
Acacia’s Supplier Expectations .................................................................................................................... 9
Supplementary Information ...................................................................................................................... 11
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Acacia’s Three Pillars
Our new approach to operating our assets has focused on three specific areas:
Our business
We have made significant technical changes to the way we have engineered each of our
mines:
 At Bulyanhulu, we have moved to a mechanised mining method, with long hole
stoping becoming the primary mining method. This will assist in the ramp up of the
mine and is both safer and more cost effective than previous hand-held methods
 At North Mara, we are moving forward with the creation of an
underground operation at the Gokona pit. We believe that this will be more
profitable than open pit mining and has a much lower impact on the community.
 At Buzwagi, we shortened the life of the mine so that we were mining only profitable
ounces. Our five year plan now produces positive cash flow over each year of its
remaining life.
Our people
We have a very strong focus on our people, who are our core asset. We have
significantly reduced the levels of management, restructured our corporate offices,
commenced a new cultural transformation programme (Tufanikiwe Pamoja / Together
We Succeed) and introduced a behavioural safety programme (Tunajali / We Care). We
are focused on creating a high performing culture where our people are held
accountable, but are given the tools to succeed. As part of this process we have already
uncovered real talent emerging from within the workforce as well as seeing talented
people returning to Acacia.
Our relationships
There has been a strong focus on improving the relationships with the communities
around our mines and with the Government. We have become very proactive with our
public profile in the community, in the media and with our broader stakeholders. We
have also worked hard to build our relationships with local and national Government
officials in order to ensure that we receive the appropriate support to ensure our
business can continue to be a key economic development driver for our host countries.
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About Acacia Mining
Acacia Mining plc (Acacia) is a leading African focused gold miner
committed to operating and exploring in a safe and sustainable
manner.
We have been operating in Tanzania for over a decade and during that time have
produced nearly 8 million ounces of gold from our combination of open pit and
underground mines, making us the leading gold producer in Tanzania.
Currently, all of Acacia’s mining operations are in Tanzania, a country consistently
ranked highly in Africa in terms of political stability with a history of democratically
elected governments. The country has an established legal and regulatory framework
for mining companies and has built up a 15 year history of commercial gold mining. We
have three producing mines (Bulyanhulu, Buzwagi, and North Mara), all located in
northwest Tanzania.
We hold over 6,500 square kilometres of licenses around the major gold-mining projects
in the Lake Victoria greenstone belt of Tanzania and the highly prospective greenstone
belts of Western Kenya and Western Burkina Faso. From this base, we are also well
placed to continue widening our interests into other parts of Africa.
Acacia Mining plc is a UK public company with its headquarters in London. We are listed
on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange under the symbol ACA and have a
secondary listing on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange in Tanzania.
In everything we do, we aim to act responsibly towards our people, the environment
and our communities. This sits at the heart of our culture, and our license to operate
depends on it.
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Acacia’s Supply Chain Mission
Using a collaborative relationship between our customers, supply partners, and supply
chain team, we will ethically source the right goods and services, of the right quality and
value, within the right timeframe.
Acacia’s Supply Chain Objectives
We are a dynamic Supply Chain team that anticipates emerging needs and delivers
exceptional service anywhere, anytime, to ensure we provide our “customers” with a
value-added service by:
 Developing new strategies and working with our customers to continually assess the
appropriateness of the services to meet their targets;
 Accurate and timely procurement of goods and services, which are ethically sourced
and meet budgetary requirements and company standards;
 Improving and growing supplier relationships, especially within Tanzania, to
demonstrate excellence, fairness, and integrity in all aspects of supply chain.
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Acacia’s Responsible Supply Chain
Responsible Supply Chain is Acacia’s statement of business practice
as it relates to the Supply Chain function.
It outlines Acacia’s supply chain standards and processes. It has been written to ensure
that the manner in which procurement and contracts are conducted is transparent and
understood by all key stakeholders.
Responsible Supply Chain sets out a range of expectations and commitments pertaining
to how business will be conducted between Acacia Centralised Procurement, the Acacia
mine sites, and all contractors and suppliers to Acacia.
This document outlines the entire supply chain process and details the standards that
Acacia requires from its suppliers and contractors, as well as its employees.
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The right goods and services
Acacia’s Supply Chain develops and executes sourcing strategies for
goods and services on behalf of, and in consultation with its
customers.
Knowing the Market
As a pre-requisite to any significant sourcing exercise a marketplace analysis is
performed. A marketplace analysis is a detailed review of the total available supply and
the total estimated demand for a particular product in a given market. This process
enables Acacia’s Supply Chain to get to know and understand, in a specific geographic
area, all key suppliers, their value offerings, their demand and overall direction in which
the market is heading. Marketplace analysis identifies the market dynamics so that
Acacia can make an educated supply decision base on the current supply and demand
forecast figures.
Global vs. Regional vs. Local
Acacia’s Supply Chain group operates at the local, regional and global level. Regional or
Global sourcing results are used to increased leverage. Increased leverage gives better
pricing, stronger contractual agreements and stronger relationships.
However, the development of Local Suppliers of goods and services not only leads to
better delivery conditions and easier contract management, but it helps develop a
partnership commitment from the local communities to the mining operations.
Acacia has a “Source Local First” supply chain policy. This means that, all other things
being equal, preference should be given to companies from (in preferential order):
1. Mine site’s immediate impact area;
2. Mine site’s local district or region;
3. Country of operation (as opposed to a country office of a multinational company).
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The right quality and value
Competition – Sourcing the Best
In order to solicit the best products and services for the best value, Acacia has a
competitive sourcing process. Whenever practical the supply chain process will go
through competitive sourcing.
Pre-qualification and accreditation of suppliers and contractors are considered critical to
ensuring the safety and quality of goods and services delivered to customers, and may
be conducted before suppliers / contractors are accepted into a supply chain process.
Supplier / contractor quotes and proposals are assessed in a consistent manner using
criteria that were established prior to them being received. Evaluation criteria are
developed in cooperation with all relevant Acacia stakeholders. Quotes and proposals
are evaluated using the concept of the lowest total cost of ownership and the ability of
the supplier / contractor to meet the specified requirement in the time period needed.
The Acacia Supplier Expectation section (below) outlines what we expect from our
suppliers and contractors, and how we expect them to act.
Care is taken to maintain a level playing field to ensure a fair chance for all potential
suppliers / contractors.
The right timeframe
Logistics and Human Resources is the key to remote mining
All of the Acacia mining operations situated are in remote locations in Africa. Getting the
right supplies and/or contractors to the mine can be the difference between a profitable
site and an unprofitable site. Acacia’s Supply Chain works closely with our freight
forwarding partners to ensure the items are delivered when they are needed. Similarly,
Acacia’s Supply Chain engages with Acacia’s Human Resources and Legal teams to assist
contractors meet the country’s employment and immigration legislation, and to ensure
fair and equitable contracts between both parties.
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Managing and Building Partners
Acacia takes a partnership approach to sourcing. A supplier is seen as a mining partner
who needs to be developed and managed to ensure best value for both sides of the
relationship. In developing strategic partners Acacia looks for companies who are willing
to not only supply but to support the goods and service they have supplied long after
the original order. When Acacia finds a partner it will enter into a long term contractor
or forward pricing agreement showing its commitment to the relationship and expects
that commitment to be returned.
Acacia’s Supplier Expectations
Safety First
Acacia has a ‘Safety First’ philosophy. This is integrated into every aspect of our business
and how each employee of Acacia conducts themselves while performing their duties.
It is a strict Acacia requirement that our contractors have the same safety attitude. This
means that all suppliers are expect to meet Acacia safety standards on site as well as
follow the Safety First attitude while conducting business with Acacia.
Environment
As a minimum we require our contractors to maintain a consistent record of compliance
with all site environmental requirements while demonstrating a strong commitment to:
 responsible environmental management;
 elimination of environmental incidents;
 waste minimisation;
 responsible resource utilisation; and
 remediation of damage caused by operations and incidents.
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Business
and
Employee
integrity,
corporate
governance
and
transparency
It is imperative that Acacia, its employees and contractors / suppliers:
 undertakes its business with integrity, honesty and fairness at all times;
 endeavours to build from a foundation of compliance with relevant local laws and
regulations and international standards;
 seeks to avoid conflicts of interest;
 supports free and fair competition and prohibits bribery, in all its forms; and
 ensures all payments (direct or indirect), are made solely for legitimate business
services at a rate that reflects their market value.
Acacia requires all suppliers to sign up to its Supplier Code of Ethics. This is a
commitment by the contractor / supplier that they will act in the manner expected by
Acacia. If a contractor / supplier is found not to have acted in this manner and breaches
the supplier code of ethics then Acacia may take action to end the business with said
supplier.
Supplier Standards
Acacia strives to build a partnership with our major contractors / suppliers. These
strategic relationships are based on mutual benefit and centred on contractor / supplier
standards. Acacia focuses on the following areas when selecting strategic partners:
 Aligns with Acacia business objectives;
 Willing to contract under Acacia terms and conditions;
 Financially security;
 Builds and trains national workforce, and operates fairly under national employment
legislation;
 Manufacturer / OEM not a buying house or trader;
 Robust quality assurance and quality control procedures;
 Ability to undertake electronic procurement and payment.
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Supplementary Information
Acacia puts all public information on its website www.acaciamining.com. Stakeholders
can find additional information about Acacia and the way we operate our business
within this website.
Disclaimer
The policies and procedures in Responsible Supply Chain are internal to Acacia and
Acacia is not required to disclose any documents to any external party it elects to
withhold.
The policies and procedures in Responsible Supply Chain are a guide only; they are not
intended to create any contractual obligations or rights. Acacia reserves the right to
interpret its policies and to vary its procedures when it determines it is appropriate.
Acacia may at its sole discretion change, make exceptions to, or discontinue any of the
provisions in this document at any time, without advance notice. Acacia hereby
expressly disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed by any
third party on the information contained in this document, or by anyone who may be
informed of any of its contents.
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