INDEPENDENCE GROUP NL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2018

IGO acquired the Long Operation from BHP Billiton Nickel West Pty Ltd (formerly WMC Resources Ltd) in September 2002. The mine was successfully re-commissioned in October 2002 and has operated safely and successfully since that time. In June 2018, the Long Operation was placed into Care and Maintenance, a process that had a significant impact on all the Long employees, as many prepared to say “goodbye” to IGO when their roles at Long were made redundant. The transition of an operation to care and maintenance and the subsequent redundancies is always a challenging time. In the case of the Long Operation, one of the key elements of the transition was to provide support to those leaving our business or changing roles within the business. To this end, dedicated resources were provided to the site from early in the planning phase to assist employees with managing the change. In late 2017 an employee transition and change management plan was developed to assist Long employees navigate the redundancy process. The final plan was the result of a collaborative process, considering the views of the Long Leadership CASE STUDY / CARE AND MAINTENANCE A LONG GOODBYE Team and the employees themselves, which resulted in the identification of the types of assistance that they required to find new employment. Key features of the plan included: • development of an Operation specific redundancy package, in excess of statutory requirements, which included a retention component to ensure that employees required for care and maintenance preparation were retained • development of an Operation specific re-deployment process to encourage employees to consider employment at IGO’s other sites • early engagement in a partnership with Worklink WA, who helped to deliver a series of workshops to employees • assistance with job readiness (resume writing and job applications, interviews skills and assistance with preparation for life after Long) • collaboration with local employers to promote their vacancies to Long employees, a program that also assisted local employers with their resourcing requirements • Perth based outplacement services for FIFO employees • development of an “exit pack” for each employee which included detailed instructions on pre and post termination requirements, support contacts and a comprehensive portfolio of all training certificates and accreditations acquired with IGO • access to IGO’s Employee Assistance Program for an additional 3 months after their exit from Long. In the end, 54 of Long’s 56 employees were made redundant and two were reassigned to other roles in IGO. Feedback from Long employees throughout the course of the year was extremely positive with most employees who wanted to continue ongoing work having sourced alternative employment prior to leaving Long. IGO is proud of this program and the difference that we made to the transition of our employees to other roles and the support we provided to the community of Kambalda through this period. Sustainable cities and communities IGO SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2018— 55