SUPPLIERS AND BUYERS
A$134 million, or 85% of all purchases, is spent directly in Thailand.
94% of warehouse items are sourced from Thailand, which excludes the new expansion equipment. This demonstrates our continued focus on local capacity building. Local sourcing also helps to reduce our overall carbon footprint.
Support for contractors
Nucharee Brown is the Managing Director of the Thai mining contractor, Lotus Hall, which has provided services to the mine since inception. Akara guided Lotus Hall initially with positive
examples of mining contracting in other countries and also on best practice health and safety standards which were then adopted. Recently, Akara urged Lotus Hall to consider training women to drive the trucks which haul ore and waste from the mine. After some initial scepticism, the improved performance, efficiency and lower maintenance has meant that Lotus Hall has expanded the number of female drivers.
Khun Nucharee has been awarded "Business Woman of the Year- Phichit Province" by the Phichit Governor in March 2010 and the same award in Lampang Province.
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GOVERNMENT
Royalties and Taxes
The total royalties paid to the Thai authorities during the year was in excess of A$12.9 million.
These royalties go to the provincial government and the local village councils (60%) and the central government (40%).
The royalty rose to US$78 per ounce, up from US$60 last year and US$40/ounce the year before, due to the nature of the Thai royalty regime which is an incremental royalty rate based on the Baht denominated gold price.
Certification
Chatree is the only mine in the world to be certified in the SA 8000:2008 standard for social accountability. SA 8000 is based on the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights Convention on the Rights of the Child and various International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions. Chatree also has TLS 8001 (Thai Labour Standard 8001) certification.
Chatree management systems are certified to ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004 and OHSAS 18001:2007 standards for quality, environment and occupational health and safety. The Company laboratory is certified to ISO 17025 for fire assaying and bullion assaying.
Kingsgate Consolidated Limited is also a signatory to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. The EITI sets a global standard for transparency in oil, gas and mining industries. It aims to strengthen governance by improving transparency and accountability in the extractive sectors.
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