VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 02/13/13 -- Endeavour Silver Corp. (TSX: EDR)(NYSE: EXK)(FRANKFURT: EJD) is pleased to review its corporate sustainability activities and accomplishments in 2012 and its sustainability short term plans and goals for 2013.
Corporate sustainability at Endeavour means more than just conducting our business in an ethical manner. It means that we aim to improve the standard of living for all of our shareholders, employees and the communities in which we work. Endeavour is motivated to make a positive difference in people's lives.
In the workplace, it means rigorous safety standards, procedures and training to ensure our employees work in a safe and healthy manner. In the environment, it means taking extra measures to maintain and improve the integrity of local ecosystems. In the communities, it means supporting local people and governments whenever possible to enhance their standard of living.
In 2012, Endeavour's sustainability programs ranged from improving our safety policies and practices; supporting health programs for our employees and the local communities; enhancing environmental stewardship and reclamation; sponsoring educational scholarships and job skills training programs; sponsoring community cultural events and infrastructure improvements; and supporting charitable causes.
Sustainability Highlights 2012
Safety
-- Won 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awards at Durango State mine rescue and first aid competitions-- Reduced lost time accident frequency rate even with the sharp increase in hours worked due to the mine expansions at Guanacevi and Bolanitos and the acquisition of the El Cubo mine-- Increased safety training hours and audits per employee-- Dramatically improved safety record and reduced safety incidents at El Cubo
Health
-- Awarded Certificate of Healthy Company from the Durango State Secretary of Health-- Brought doctors and nurses to local schools and community centers, sponsored medical, dental and optical checkups for employees and local citizens-- Donated 100 eyeglasses and 20 wheelchairs to people in need-- Sponsored sex and drug education and addiction prevention classes and counseling in local schools-- Sponsored nutrition/obesity and women's health classes and counseling in local communities-- Rehabilitated the drinking water reservoir for the town of La Luz
Environment
-- Planted 16,200 trees and cacti to reclaim disturbed areas including historic areas disturbed by others-- Built a dry stack tailings facility at Guanacevi to create a smaller tailings footprint and recover water and chemicals more efficiently-- Established a wild life management and jaguar conservation project at San Sebastian-- Sponsored children's "clean up the town" days to support "green" practices in local communities-- Cleaned up contaminated soil areas at El Cubo and San Sebastian-- Conducted continuous water sampling around each of our mining operations to maintain the integrity of the local water supplies
Education
-- Conducted mine skills training programs to provide career skills and job opportunities for the young and unemployed as well as cooking classes, ceramics courses and stone sculpting training programs to support cottage industries-- Sponsored second year of five year $1 million university scholarship program in Canada to support students studying the Earth Sciences at Queens University and the University of British Columbia-- Sponsored 60 scholarships in Mexico for local students in primary, secondary and university educations including "stay in school" and academic performance programs-- Donated educational materials, construction materials and musical instruments to local schools-- Conducted tours of our mine and plant operations for local schools
