CASE STUDY: INVESTMENT IN GOLD PROJECT, CENTRAL BRAZIL
BACKGROUND
- Australian gold miner with extensive investment in gold project in central Brazil attacked (on 2 occasions) by bandits seeking refined product
- Staff both local and expatriate held at gunpoint, traumatised and unwilling to continue living and working in a remote location without adequate security coverage
- Australia-based corporate management eventually realise the risks inherent in operating in emerging nations where more laissez faire concepts of personal security are prevalent
CLIENT REQUIREMENT
- Deployment of specialist consultant to Brazil to analyse extant threat and formulate appropriate recommendations to reduce actual risk at site
- Liaise with Australian Federal Police representative in Brasilia to identify national and regional threats to the field project team in central Brazil, and to the administrative management team in Brasilia
- Consultant to deploy to site of bandit activity, meet with all local stakeholders including local community, local security and police authorities, to determine an appropriate course of action to avoid further attacks against project site and team
OUTCOME
- Attended security risk meeting with AFP, briefed on potential kidnap threat against one member of the Client’s management team, risk due to high profile social behaviour in Brazil and Colombia. Briefed the party to reduce his social activities thereby reducing the immediate risk of kidnap.
- Meetings with security and police officials and senior members of the local communities in the vicinity of the project site (central Brazil) to understand the recurring threat level regionally (Note: Communities also at risk of armed banditry).
- Debriefed expatriate and local workers about the armed intrusion incidents to determine mood, morale and level of commitment to project.
- Assessed threat of further incidents, in liaison with corporate and local management, and local authorities, and prepared appropriate contingency planning, including the recommendation for the deployment of a fulltime security adviser from Australia, for presentation to the Board for further action and implementation
