Our vision and the values we derive from it are only as meaningful as our actions. Every day, our team works to live out our values and we hope this year’s sustainability report shows you just how we do it.
MIDAS GOLD 2018 ACCOMPLISMENTS
Take a look at the work we are doing in our community and you will see our commitment to help our neighbors and take care of the environment.
ENVIRONMENTAL
RESPONSIBILITY
Staring at the night sky has guided ships, fueled dreams and given birth to scientific fields of study.
Industry can do a lot to reduce light pollution, while increasing worker safety and company outcomes at the same time.
Most of us in Idaho know the beauty of a star-studded sky and find it an iconic piece of our outdoor experience. That’s why, when Midas Gold learned of the dark sky reserve in central Idaho, we were inspired to see what we could do to protect this part of our heritage.
A 2010 study determined that 94 percent of North Americans live under a night sky that is at least twice as bright as its natural level. 70 percent of the population experiences a night sky that is four times brighter than its natural level.
In 2018, we hired Benjamin Banet as our Dark Skies Intern to help us understand what we need to do to reduce light pollution. His findings will guide our engineering team as they enter into the next phase of design for the project.
Light at night is essential for safe operations. Proper design, with basic lighting principles, will help protect Idaho’s dark skies while also increasing worker safety, mitigating potential ecological impacts and saving Midas Gold money. Planning on smart lighting now will help the company light only what is needed, when it is needed.
COMMUNITY
INVOLVEMENT
When we first formed our company, we knew we wanted to become a part of our community.
Over the years, we’ve held community barbecues, served on local boards, helped organize and fund community events and needs in the region, but one of our favorite activities is helping students develop a love for science.
Midas Gold regularly goes into classrooms throughout Valley and Adams County to help bring science to life. In addition to our ongoing worm composting at local schools, this year, we sponsored an after-school program at the Cascade Cultural Arts Center.
The after-school program focused on teaching students about technology and coding through lessons on how to build robots, rockets and a Rube Goldberg machine. We have more fun gadgets to build in 2019. Check out some of the lesson plans we use below.
"The compost bins provided by Midas Gold have been a great tool for introducing and studying decomposers and the process of decomposition. Students get first-hand experience observing, measuring and explaining the role of decomposers breaking down organic matter and contributing in the nutrient cycling process."
CHEYENNE JEDRY, Science Teacher at Cascade Schools
Want to learn how to mine for gold?
Click here to download our lesson plan.
Also, don’t forget to check out the educational resources available through the Idaho Mining Association.
We are always looking for ways to maintain an open-door policy with the community and give our neighbors more information about our project. One of the best ways we do this is by bringing people up to see the Stibnite Gold Project site and explain our vision for the future.
During 2018, we hosted more than 50 tours and brought over 500 people to the site. The tours give people an opportunity to see the condition of the site today, learn about our plans to improve the area through mining and our vision to restore the site.
After spending the day learning about the project and the people running it, I fully support the Stibnite Project and what Midas Gold is going to do. When their plan is approved in 2020 they will quickly become the largest employer in Valley County, Idaho. I look forward to a new day for mining in Idaho, a new day for economic development in Valley County, and a new day for the way that the public and business find more win‑win solutions that work for everyone involved including future generations.
2018 Summer Tour Participants
Do you want to see the site for yourself?
Email couture@midasgoldinc.com to arrange a tour this summer.
In the meantime, check out our tour booklet to learn more about the site and our plans to use mining to help restore the environment.
ACCOUNTABILITY
To us, accountability means we are responsible for our actions and follow through on our promises.
As Idahoans ourselves, it has always been important for Midas Gold to make sure our neighbors have a voice at the table. This year, we formalized our commitment by developing a community agreement with eight of the cities and counties closest to our site.
COMMUNITIES
INVOLVED
New Meadows
Close to 500 Idahoans call New Meadows home. This community is proud host Meadows Valley Days annually over Labor Day weekend.
Cascade
No matter if you like hiking, kayaking or snowmobiling, Cascade has something for everyone. This community is home to 1,000 full-time residents.
Riggins
The Salmon River and Little Salmon River meet in Riggins, making it known as one of the best fishing communities in all of Idaho.
Council
Council is the county seat for Adams County and known throughout Idaho for its annual Fourth of July porcupine races.
Donnelly
Known as the Crossroads of Recreation, Donnelly is surrounded by beautiful lakes, mountains, meadows and hot springs and home to many exciting outdoor opportunities.
Adams County
Named after America’s second president, John Adams, and spanning 1,376 square miles, Adams County is home to close to 4,000 Idahoans.
Yellow Pine
The community of Yellow Pine was first established in 1902. Each August, the community swells in size as people travel from all over to attend the Harmonica Festival.
Through the life of our project, these communities will have a seat at the table and a direct line of communication with us to address concerns and opportunities.
I am grateful Midas Gold sees the value of working collaboratively with those who live closest to the site. As the Stibnite Gold Project moves forward, it gives me peace of mind knowing the community agreements are in place and local voices will be able to help shape the plan for the restoration and redevelopment of the site.
HEALTH +
SAFETY
Midas Gold considers the safety of our employees, consultants and the public our #1 priority.
We are proud of our safety record of just one "lost time incident" (a twisted ankle) in the past 70 months despite hundreds of thousands of hours worked. Just as important as avoiding accidents is knowing how to respond in the face of an emergency. Uncontrolled bleeding is the leading cause of preventable deaths from trauma in our country. When we learned this startling statistic, our company wanted to do something to help.
BRINGING STOP THE BLEED KITS TO VALLEY COUNTY
In 2018, we partnered with St. Luke’s Health System to fund Stop the Bleed kits for Valley County schools and provide training to teachers in case they ever need to use the kits during an emergency.
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Stop the Bleed is a national program designed to help save lives by providing kits and training to community members on how to stop bleeding during an emergency.
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During the fall of 2018, St. Luke’s McCall assembled kits and provided training for schools in the area.
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“Uncontrolled bleeding is a leading cause of death in trauma. The Stop The Bleed program was developed by the American College of Surgeons to teach community members how to control significant bleeding in an emergency situation. Midas Gold and St. Luke’s McCall Level IV Trauma Center have joined forces to bring this training to teachers and support staff in the West Central Mountains Schools and to provide bleeding control kits for each classroom. Through this collaboration and partnership, we work together to promote the safety of our community.” – Jill Morris Chapman, Trauma Program Manager at St. Luke’s Health System
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Midas Gold provided Stop the Bleed kits for many schools in the region.
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Teachers, students and parents can now all feel safer knowing we have the right training and supplies if there ever is an accident.
Do you know what to do in an emergency?
INTEGRITY +
PERFORMANCE
A culture of safety and environmental protection is not built overnight. That is why our team at Midas Gold continually implements new safety and environmental protection protocols.
Each week, the entire company participates in a safety briefing, covering topics from how to properly use a ladder to driving in harsh conditions. Each day, our employees at site start by reviewing potential hazards and discussing how to conduct the day’s tasks in a safe and mindful way with a “Six Minutes of Safety” briefing. The potential environmental risks related to every task are considered before work starts. As a result, we’ve gone 82 consecutive months without a reportable oil or chemical spill and 36 months with no "lost time incidents."
TAKING OUR SAFETY PROGRAM ONE STEP FURTHER
This year, our safety team, led by Dave Williams and Cindy Kneen, decided it was time to take our safety program one step further.
In 2018, site and office employees went through 10 hours of Occupational Safety and Health Administration Training, totaling 448 hours of instruction. We also begun adopting some of the safety standards that will be required when Stibnite becomes an operating mine. Our training and new standards gives our team the ability to recognize and reduce hazards in our workplace and tools to support our ongoing environmental, safety and health programs.
IN
CONCLUSION
This report only gives you a small snapshot of the work we did in Idaho last year.
Our company also continued our efforts to reduce erosion and, in turn, improve water quality and fish habitat by planting more than 3,000 trees at site. We reduced greenhouse gasses by using solar power to generate most of our energy at site, except in the darkest months of the year. In 2018, we invested over $330,000 on road maintenance activities to help improve road conditions and keep Idahoans and our rivers safe.