Sierra Rutile is proud of its long association with the local communities in which it operates and makes a significant contribution to the community through wages, local sourcing and suppliers, social investment and numerous other commitments in addition to the statutory rents and taxes that it pays to the Government of Sierra Leone.
We aim to enable local community growth that will deliver positive contributions in Sierra Leone, lasting long after we exit operations.
In 2021, Sierra Rutile partnered with International Finance Corporation (IFC) on a community development program to develop a range of Social Investment projects. Social risk and impact assessments have led to the identification of 4 ‘Social Investment focal areas’ livelihoods, health & well-being, education and community building.
Sierra Rutile has promoted the development of local communities through the following initiatives:
Sierra Rutile’s commitment to its corporate social responsibility focuses on health, education, safety and social investment and development.
Sierra Rutile has actively invested in primary healthcare since 2018, leveraging existing infrastructure including water supply, power, land tenure and security, to provide healthcare to employees and their dependents as well as emergency care to members of the local community.
Our mining operations are in remote hard-to-reach areas in the southern part of Sierra Leone, where the impacts of a challenged health care system are rather pronounced.
The Sierra Rutile Clinic, which was established in the 1970s, one of the best-equipped medical facilities in Sierra Leone. The clinic employs a dedicated team of doctors, nurses, advanced life support paramedics, and ancillary staff to provide medical services to Sierra Rutile employees and their families.
Our initiatives and resources have allowed an effective early warning surveillance and intervention system for responding to outbreaks of infectious diseases.
These improvements complement other core functions of the clinic in terms of its capacity to respond to both workplace and non-work related injuries and illnesses. The clinic is also better poised to offer improved service delivery with enhanced clinical outcomes for patients at the Sierra Rutile Clinic.
Most of the surrounding local communities are several kilometres away from a proper functional healthcare facility that can cope with complicated obstetric cases. Sierra Rutile also commissioned two community health centres in 2022.
This limitation of access to critical obstetric care and maternal health services represents a particular risk to female employees and dependents of childbearing age who otherwise may experience poor outcomes when faced with complications during childbirth. The Sierra Rutile Clinic has prioritised maternal health and ensured the recruitment of competent clinicians to oversee maternity cases.
Sierra Rutile is committed to investing more resources in the unit to ensure that bespoke quality care delivery is obtainable to offer pregnant women the best opportunity of having positive birth outcomes.
Sierra Rutile invests in education in Sierra Leone.
We believe that education is the key to unlocking the potential of young people, which is why we’ve invested significant funding for community and social development projects in our mining concession regions.
Sierra Rutile seeks to promote the development of its local communities through the following initiatives: