Introduction
We have been engaged by the directors of Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (Harmony) to perform an independent assurance engagement in respect of selected Identified Sustainability Information included in Harmony’s Integrated annual report for the year ended 30 June 2011 (the Report).
Scope and subject matter
The following Identified Sustainability Information for South African operations was selected for an expression of limited assurance:
- Electricity use (kilowatt hours) (page 5)
- Water consumption from primary activities (kilo litres) (page 5)
- Lost time injury frequency rate (page 4)
- Employment Equity (% of black employees per occupational level) (page 12)
- Local economic development spend in South African Rand (page 4)
Our responsibilities do not extend to any other information.
Responsibilities of the directors
Harmony’s directors are responsible for the preparation and presentation of the Identified Sustainability Information, as incorporated in the 2011 Integrated annual report, in accordance with their internally defined procedures and for maintaining adequate records and internal controls that are designed to support the reporting process.
Responsibility of the independent assurance provider
Our responsibility is to conduct a limited assurance engagement and, based on our assurance procedures, report our conclusion to the directors.
We conducted our work in accordance with the International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000. Assurance engagements other than audits or reviews of historical financial information issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board. This Standard requires that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and perform the assurance engagement to obtain assurance on the Identified Sustainability Information as per the terms of our engagement.
Summary of work performed
The defined procedures by which Harmony’s Identified Sustainability Information is generated and aggregated have been applied as assurance criteria. Definitions for the Identified Sustainability Information applied are those determined by Harmony and provided in the Report (refer pages 334 to 338).
The procedures selected depend on the assurance provider’s judgement, including the assessment of the risks of material non-compliance of the Identified Sustainability Information with the criteria. Within the scope of our work we performed among other the following procedures:
- reviewing processes that Harmony have in place for determining the Identified Sustainability Information included in the Report;
- obtaining an understanding of the systems used to generate, aggregate and report the Identified Sustainability Information;
- conducting interviews with management at corporate head office;
- evaluating the data generation and reporting processes against the reporting criteria;
- performing a control walkthrough and testing the accuracy of data reported on a sample basis; and
- reviewing the consistency between the Identified Sustainability Information and related statements in Harmony’s Report.
Inherent limitations
The accuracy and completeness of the sustainability data is subject to inherent limitations given the nature and methods for determining, calculating and estimating such data. Qualitative interpretations of relevance, materiality and the accuracy of the data are subject to individual assumptions and judgements.
For a limited assurance engagement the evidence gathering procedures are more restricted than for a reasonable assurance engagement, and therefore less assurance is obtained than in a reasonable assurance engagement.
We have not carried out any work on data reported for prior reporting periods, nor in respect of future projections and targets. We have not conducted any work outside of the agreed scope and therefore restrict our opinion to the Identified Sustainability Information.
Conclusion
Based on our work performed, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the Identified Sustainability Information selected for limited assurance has not been prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the defined reporting criteria.
PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc.
Director: FJ Lombard
Registered Auditor
2 Eglin Road, Sunninghill, 2157
Johannesburg
24 October 2011 |
