Placer Dome a winner for social development project

The World Bank recently presented Placer Dome Inc. with a prestigious Development Marketplace Innovation award for a social development project in southern Africa that helps mine workers and their families cope with the HIV/AIDS crisis.

Placer’s innovative AIDS Campaign Team Mining (ACT Mining) project proposal was one of just 34 winners selected out of over 2,400 project entries from 122 countries. The Placer project was the only entry to receive two awards in the competition, and is the first extractive-industries-sponsored project ever to have made it to the finals of this event.

Placer Dome is working with others in the South African mining industry to provide training and supplies to family members of mine workers suffering from AIDS, so that they can be cared for at home. Most mine workers come from remote villages where there are no medical services.

The ACT Mining project is a partnership between Placer Dome and the Employment Bureau of Africa. The program will provide training in home-based care to more community members and encourage other industries and governments to give support to their workers who become ill with HIV/AIDS-related illnesses.