How having an ‘ESG Coach’ has radically changed Impact Minerals’ game

Dr Mike Jones is very, very good at mining and rocks. You can tell that he is, because the “Doctor” at the start of his name there was earned by doing a PhD in Mining and Exploration Geology at Imperial College, London.

Indeed, it was that study that first brought Jones to Australia in in 1988 to take up a role with Western Mining Corporation, exploring for gold and nickel deposits in the Yilgarn – a large number of miles and a dozen of degrees hotter than it was back home in England.

Jones is now at the helm of Impact Minerals, a relatively small outfit that is in the process of taking some big steps towards significant growth – and part of that process lies beyond his area of true expertise.

Take, for instance, wrapping his head around the concepts of ESG, at levels sufficiently thorough that any information Jones is able to supply will pass muster with investors and regulators alike.

Like all “new” concepts, the arrival of ESG as something that companies have little choice but to adopt came with a steep learning curve. It’s not a simple beast by any measure.

The onus is on companies to ensure that they are not only adopting the right principles, but also for them to be able to demonstrate – quickly and clearly – that the goals and requirements are being met.

And that means an investment of time and effort, which can be a tall order for small companies that can’t afford to have a full-time staff member dedicated to the task.

A short while back, I had the opportunity to sit down with Dr Mike Jones, managing director at Impact Minerals, who’s been in the “little miner” business for long enough to know when the time is right to invest his effort into a topic, and when it’s time to call in an expert to help with something that’s outside of his own core competencies.

A brief history of Impact

Impact is far from being a large company, and each member of the team at Impact is very good at their specific role. However, none of them specifically have “ESG Specialist” anywhere on their CV.

Jones says, with a clear sense of pride, that Impact has always been guided by a “do the right thing” principle, so the fundamentals of ESG aren’t completely alien to the company at all.

However, Impact recently underwent a major shift in focus. Having been a junior explorer and scouring the land for somewhere that looked like it fit the company’s needs and desires, it was time for Impact to take the big step from explorer, to project developer.

It was a move that brought with it a whole new set of challenges, including a vastly increased need to get on top of meeting ESG requirements.

“When you think about it, ESG is just a fancy name for the things that we’ve been doing – and companies should have been doing – already anyway,” Jones says.

“The way ESG is constructed, however, gives us a framework in which to put these things, and what we’ve noticed is – because we’ve moved on from exploration to development – the nature and style of investors we’re seeking out has changed as well.”

“We’re looking for larger groups, or just larger investors such as funds and institutions,” Jones continues. “That level of investor has a much higher threshold or expectation for the compliance side of ESG before they will give serious consideration to investing in a company like ours.”

That’s Compelling Reason “A” for why Impact tapped Socialsuite for assistance with its ESG compliance.

Compelling Reason “B” is far simpler, but no less meaningful, Jones says.

“Most of the ESG information is stuff that you ‘do in your head’,” he says – meaning that it’s actions that the company has taken so that it is in compliance, but it’s not really written down anywhere.

“The reason why we went with Socialsuite is because of the framework it provides,” Jones continues. “As we work with Socialsuite to collate the information, we’re able to physically ‘tick the boxes’ on the items we know we’ve already covered off, with the documentation to prove it.”

It can be a complicated process, especially getting it all set up and running smoothly – and again, time, human resources and know-how can look like a sufficient barrier to entry to turn companies off embracing ESG.

So when Socialsuite offered the services of an “ESG Coach”, it was a no-brainer for Impact to say yes.

Enter the ESG Coach

Denen de Silva is the ESG Coach who has been working with Impact over recent months, and when I spoke with him, he was everything you’d expect an ESG coach to be – in equal measures eloquent, loquacious and enthusiastic about what he does, and the importance of it in the grand scheme of things.

“My critical role,” Denen says, “as the coach isn’t necessarily to act as a gatekeeper to Socialsuite’s platform, as I’m more of a guide, I’d say.”

“I’m here to ensure that everything our clients report on is done so authentically, because accessibility and transparency is crucial when it comes to ESG reporting, and in that sense we are our clients’ best defence against “greenwashing”.

“For example, It’s very easy for a company to report on things that they want to do, and then they get a public relations company involved in getting that message out and all of a sudden it’s turned into “we are doing these things”, when they’re not actually doing it at all.”

“It’s very important to me that I help our clients be able to report very honestly and with integrity on the elements of ESG that they are required to focus on, and achieve compliance,” de Silva says.

Beyond that, at a more fundamental level, a lot of de Silva’s work with each of his clients is done to ensure that the reporting is a lot more than box-ticking and window-dressing – and that there is solid, relevant information that the company can show both regulators and potential investors when required.

It’s his deep knowledge and understanding of the ESG landscape that allows de Silva to be an effective tool for companies like Impact, guiding them on which aspects of ESG are the most pressing or important right now, so the company can prioritise effectively to get the best outcomes.

Socialsuite’s Chief Impact Officer, Dr Tim Siegenbeek van Heukelom, agrees that using an ESG Coach has been hugely beneficial, not just for Impact but right across the spectrum of his company’s clientele.

“As Mike Jones pointed out about Impact, we see a lot of companies that are doing the right thing,” Siegenbeek van Heukelom says. “But where Socialsuite is able to provide really valuable support and assistance is actually taking a structured approach, so that they’re able to bring together all of the good things that they’re doing, and then helping them demonstrate that externally.”

Doing that in a cost-effective and time efficient manner, for companies at the smaller end of the size scale – from junior explorer through to larger organisations – is where a lot of companies efforts end up being wasted.

There’s little point having done all the work, but at the end of the day not being able to show potential investors that the company is taking its ESG values and responsibilities very, very seriously indeed.

This article was developed in collaboration with Socialsuite, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.