At OZ Minerals we believe that human development is one of the most significant contributions we can make to our local communities. In many of the locations in which we operate, standards of education are poor and access to education limited. To improve standards of living and build the capacity of local people to take advantage of employment and other opportunities generated by our operations, OZ Minerals undertakes a range of education and pre-employment training initiatives. We also support local education through sponsorships, donations and investments through development mechanisms such as the Sepon Development Trust and Social Mitigation Funds.

Pre-employment training programs offer people who have no experience in the mining industry an opportunity to gain an understanding of what we do and the necessary skills for a career on a mine site. At our Century, Golden Grove and Prominent Hill operations these programs target increased employment for Indigenous communities.

At the Sepon operations in Laos, OZ Minerals continues with its significant investment in training and development through the Apprenticeship Program and the Pre-Employment Technical Training Program. These two programs which are delivered in conjunction with the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) will result in more than 84 trainees, 56 of which will have been trained in a Certificate III in either of:

• Electro-Technology Electrician
• Electro-Technology Instrumentation
• Engineering – Mechanical Trade
• Engineering – Fabrication Trade
• Engineering - Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
• Carpentry and Joinery
• Automotive Technology – Heavy Vehicle Road Transport

Additionally, OZ Minerals Sepon operations sponsor teachers from the Savannakhet Technical & Vocational school who are enrolled into the apprenticeship program. Equipment is donated to the school for the Pre-Employment Technical Training Program.

At the Martabe project in Indonesia, which in 2008 was in early construction, OZ Minerals implemented a series of three month training programs focussing on light vehicle, mechanical, welding, and electrical skills development in cooperation with the Community Development team. The intent of the program was to provide practical work skills to younger members of the local community to assist them to secure employment with OZ Minerals or one of the Martabe project’s contractors.

During 2008 Martabe also conducted financial management courses for former landowners whose land had been purchased as part of the land acquisition program to support development of the project. Guided by World Bank Best Practices on Land Acquisition, Martabe sought and arranged for financial management advice to be provided to former landowners through two training courses. In all 54 former land owners attended the courses and one-on-one counselling was provided to 58 different former land owners. As part of the land acquisition program, over 200 families received significant payments from Martabe as compensation for land and crops. Most of these families had no prior experience with the management of large sums of money. To reduce the possibility that these families might be provided with inappropriate advice and as a result invest their money poorly, Martabe provided training courses on general financial management. This program was undertaken in conjunction with PT Permodalan Nasional Madani (PNM), a state owned capital venture and SME empowerment company.