SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2010
TRANSPARENCY
INTEGRITY
ACCOUNTABILITY
We are committed to embedding corporate responsibility into our
daily activities and to holding ourselves to the highest standards
of TRANSPARENCY, INTEGRITY and ACCOUNTABILITY. Our goal is to
continuously improve workplace health and safety, as well as our
environmental performance, and to share the benefits of mining with
our local communities.
TRANSPARENCY INTEGRITY ACCOUNTABILITY
01Sustainability Report 2010
We are proud of our 100% national workforce at San Dimas, proof of our
commitment to hiring locally. Our workforce is young – with 40% of our
employees under the age of 30 – representing both the present and the
future of our organization.
In 2010, San Dimas maintained a full-time workforce of 1088, including contractors. The workforce is comprised of
586 employees and labor union workers, and 502 contractors carrying out surface as well as underground activities.
Pioneering gender equality, the ‘Miner Women’ project at San Dimas aims to employ more female workers in all
areas of the operation. Of the eighty-one women employed at the mine, nine are engaged in underground activities.
Our People | Our Future
TRANSPARENCY INTEGRITY ACCOUNTABILITY
03Sustainability Report 2010
Supporting Diversity
Female81
Youth432
Other575
National Workforce
Zacatecas4%
Guanajuato2%
Other7%
Sinaloa9%
Durango78%
We are proud of our 100% national workforce at
San Dimas, proof of our commitment to hiring locally.
07Sustainability Report 2010
TRANSPARENCY INTEGRITY ACCOUNTABILITY
Health & Safety
Safety is more than a policy at Primero;
it is core to our culture.
• In 2010, there were seven lost time accidents at Sim Dimas -
a remarkably low ratio to the over two million man hours of
exposure that year.
• 1.6 million hours with no lost time injuries
• Over 6,000 safety talks were delivered
• In September 2010 San Dimas was a finalist in the Mexican
Mining Chamber’s National Mine Safety Contest
Primero is committed to delivering an
illness-free & injury-free workplace.
San Dimas achieved another outstanding safety performance
in 2010, reducing the all-accident injury index for the fifth
consecutive year.
Our safety program focusses on 4 key areas
1. Best Practices in underground mining
2. Training
3. Government Compliance
4. Monthly Campaigns
BestPractices
GovernmentCompliance
BehaviourTraining
MonthlyCampaigns
SafetySystem
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
All Incidents
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
09Sustainability Report 2010
TRANSPARENCY INTEGRITY ACCOUNTABILITY
San Dimas’s emergency response teams achieved first place in the First
Aid and self-contained breathing machine tests at the 2010 National
Mining Rescue Contest organized by the Mexican mining chamber.
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
Specialized safety courses conducted on-site focus on required job skills, safety and emergency response. Primero
has trained and qualified emergency response personnel in case of accidents who are well equipped to deal with
emergencies in both surface and underground situations. The team works closely with the government authorities
to provide assistance to local communities when needed.
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & WELLNESS
The occupational health of workers is monitored through preventive programs and regular medical examinations.
In 2010, a variety of responsive treatments were offered - from vaccinations against influenza, tetanus and HPV,
to advice on nutrition and family planning.
11Sustainability Report 2010
TRANSPARENCY INTEGRITY ACCOUNTABILITY
Our Environment
Primero strives to be a responsible steward of the environment and to
continually reduce our overall environmental footprint. To achieve this, we
remain focused on minimizing the environmental impact of our operations
and to progressively rehabilitating areas impacted by our mining activities.
4 Certified ‘Clean Industry’ by the Procuraduria Federal de Proteccion
al Ambiente (Mexican EPA)
4 Bioremediation work carried out on 300 tons of soil
4 62% of the water supply used in the processing plant recirculates
into the system
13Sustainability Report 2010
TRANSPARENCY INTEGRITY ACCOUNTABILITY
MATERIAL AND WASTE MANAGEMENT
In 2010 expenditures at the mine focused on capital improvement programs which included a new state of the
art dry tailings plant. Approximately $1.5 million was spent installing a third tailings filter. The full project, which is
expected to cost @2.3 million, was 65% complete at December 31, 2010.
Waste rock impoundment engineering work was completed in 2010.
WATER MANAGEMENT
Water for the mining operations is obtained from wells and from the Piaxtla River. Water is also supplied to the
town of Tayoltita from an underground thermal spring at the Santa Rita mine. Water is recycled several times at the
operations, with 62% of the water used in the processing plant recirculated into the system.
“RESCUE THE PIAXTLA RIVER” CLEAN-UP CAMPAIGN
San Dimas holds annual clean-up campaigns along the Piaxtla River and within the Tayoltita community to coincide with
global milestones such as World Earth Day and World Environment Day, held on April 22 and June 5, respectively.
RENEWABLE ENERGY
In December 2010, Las Truchas Hydroelectric Plant, owned and managed by Primero, was connected to the Federal Power
Commission’s supply system. This 34 kVA power line from Las Truchas Dam, 42 km north of the San Dimas Mine, has
expanded the available power from 1.4 MW to 7.0 MW and reduced power costs from 11 cents/kWj to 1.5 cents/kWh.
15Sustainability Report 2010
TRANSPARENCY INTEGRITY ACCOUNTABILITY
Community
We actively engage with our local communities in order to understand and
contribute to their economic, social and development priorities. Primero
supports innovative community initiatives at San Dimas, generating new
jobs, incomes, technical skills and local capacity.
• Primero partnered with the Ministry of Social Development (SEDESOL) to launch a child daycare program.
• 227 local students at San Dimas attending school as a result of Primero scholarships
• 40 women received skills development training on handicraft production in partnership with the Ministry of
Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT)
PROMOTING EDUCATION
The Company supports various educational institutions attended by employees and their children.
The Company has partnered with the Municipality of San Dimas, to support the Duranguense Institute in Adult
Education (IDEA) provide better education to the community of Tayoltita.
In collaboration with the National Association of Professional Technical Education (CONALEP), Primero provides
training programs to update employees’ skills. In 2010 the company sponsored 47 high-school graduates interested
in pursuing a career in mining.
16Sustainability Report 2010
TRANSPARENCY INTEGRITY ACCOUNTABILITY
ENCOURAGING YOUTH
The Center for Juvenile Integration at San Dimas provides advice on public health issues and addiction awareness
programs.
In 2010, talks on prevention addiction were taught in local schools and a variety of cultural, sporting and social
events were held.
SUPPORTING LOCAL ECOMONIC DEVELOPMENT
By encouraging the development of alternate sources of income, we support strategic local business initiatives that
strengthen local supply chains and increase entrepreneurial opportunities.
EMPOWERING WOMEN
In October 2010, Primero partnered with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Secretaría de
Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales) to deliver skills development training to 40 women entrepreneurs to create
eco-friendly handicrafts using recycled plastic bottles and bags.
CONTACT US
Eduardo Luna
Executive Vice President
Martin Aguilar
Mine General Manager
Marco Navarro
Safety Superintendent of the Mine
TRANSPARENCY
INTEGRITY
ACCOUNTABILITY
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