16 Some have argued we rode a commodities wave in outperforming our peers from 2015 to 2022 by an average 100%. The answer to that of course we did – that was our job!!! But at the same time, we rode it better than anyone else, built on our doubling our productivity and reducing costs in our 2013 to 2016 restructuring to improve our competitive position from the 49th cost percentile to the 27th cost percentile over the same period. And from where we started in 2013 – we average a best in class 22% average annual average Total Return to Shareholders (TSR) for the same reason. 3. A FINAL MESSAGE A few years back, when living in London and being asked to be a member of the UK Government’s Anti-Slavery initiate, the Chairing Baroness was working her way around the room meeting the members, asking them what they did. I recall listening intently to everyone’s relatively colorful critique of their profession. A lawyer specializing in human rights, a banker funding wonderful emerging market development projects and a whole range of other impressive individuals doing important things. I had to think quick – to position my role in the context that the situation demanded. While clunky, my introduction got her attention, “My name is Mark Cutifani, I am an Australian working in an industry that has the most significantly environmentally net positive footprint on the planet. Would you like to take a guess at what I do?” She stopped, blinked a couple of times and said, “she had no idea what that industry could be.” When I explained I worked for the mining industry she simply observed, “that would not be the first industry that would come to mind in that context”. We then spent 15 minutes talking about how I made such a statement about our industry and how did I justify my bold claim regarding our environmental credentials. At the end of the conversation she said, “you have given me much pause for thought”. I can only hope my thoughts today leave you with as much pause for thought as the Baroness. And in leaving you with a final thought, Mark Zuckerberg recently observed, the highest risk position for any business is to not take risks to continuously drive improving business performance. In mining, the very nature of our industry, within our current social context, requires us to be bolder than we’ve ever been before. I’ll leave you all to reflect on whether you think we are collectively up to that task…and if you think we may not be…I can only hope you personally commit to helping the industry be what it can be. The future of our children is too important to be left to those that don’t care about how we shape our future, and/or those that don’t understand what we do. For those that understand what is possible and have the courage to make a difference. we need you and we
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