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 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
Tanzanian mining operations:
 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 have commenced production from a new underground operation
at the Gokona deposit. We believe that this will be more profitable than mining the
deposit via an open pit and has a much lower impact on the community. The Gokona
underground will operate in tandem with the Nyabirama open pit.
 At Buzwagi, we have shortened the life of the mine so that we are mining only
profitable ounces. The life of mine plan is expected to generate 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; and
many of our employees have completed a cultural transformation programme,
‘Together We Succeed’ or ‘Tufanikiwe Pamoja’ (in Swahili), and a behavioural safety
programme, ‘We Care’ or ‘Tunajali’ (in Swahili). 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 exploration areas, and with the relevant governments. 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.
Additionally we hold a number of exploration licenses, covering nearly 7,000 square
kilometres (plus ~700 square kilometres under application) across four African
countries. These areas of exploration are located around the major gold-mining
projects in the Lake Victoria greenstone belt of Tanzania, and in some highly prospective
regions of western Kenya, western Burkina Faso, and western Mali. 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
Acacia’s Responsible Supply Chain is our statement of business
practice as it relates to our Supply Chain function.
It outlines our 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 Acacia stakeholders.
Acacia’s Responsible Supply Chain sets out a range of expectations and commitments
pertaining to how business will be conducted between our centralised procurement
team, our mine and exploration sites, and all our contractors and suppliers.
This document outlines our supply chain process and details the standards that we
require from our suppliers and contractors, as well as our employees.
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The right goods and services
Acacia’s Supply Chain team 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 our Supply Chain team to get to know and understand, in a specific geographic
area, all our key suppliers, their value offerings, their demand and overall direction in
which the market is heading. Marketplace analysis identifies the market dynamics so
that we can make an educated supply decision based 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 our operations (both our mine
sites and our exploration areas).
We have 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. Our operation’s immediate impact area;
2. Our operation’s local district or region;
3. The country of our 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 our 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 are key to remote mining
All of the Acacia mining and exploration operations are situated in remote African
locations. Getting the right supplies and/or contractors to these areas can be the
difference between a profitable site and an unprofitable site. Our Supply Chain team
works closely with our freight forwarding partners to ensure the items are delivered
when they are needed. Similarly, our Supply Chain team 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 ‘strategic
partner’ who needs to be developed and managed to ensure best value for both sides of
the relationship. In developing these strategic partnerships, we look for companies who
are willing to not only supply, but to support, the goods and services they have supplied
long after the original order. When we find a strategic partner, we will enter into a long
term contract or forward pricing agreement, showing our commitment to the
relationship and we expect that a similar 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 of our employees 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 our safety standards on site as well as follow
the Safety First attitude while conducting business with us.
Environment
As a minimum we require our contractors to maintain a consistent record of compliance
with all our environmental requirements whilst 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, our employees and our contractors / suppliers:
 undertakes 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.
We require all contractors / suppliers to sign up to our Supplier Code of Ethics. This gives
us a commitment from 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 we may take action to end the business
with that particular contractor / 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. We focus 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 our 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 Acacia’s Responsible Supply Chain are internal
documents and we are not required to disclose any documents we elect to withhold
from any external party.
The policies and procedures in Acacia’s Responsible Supply Chain are a guide only; they
are not intended to create any contractual obligations or rights. We reserve the right to
interpret our policies and to vary our procedures as we deem appropriate. We may, at
our 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.
Document Updated
4 November 2015
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