Evolution Mining is a leading, globally relevant gold miner. Evolution operates five wholly-owned mines – Cowal in New South Wales, Mungari in Western Australia, Mt Rawdon and Ernest Henry in Queensland, and Red Lake in Ontario, Canada. The focus of Evolution Mining is on operating its projects safely and efficiently and developing them to their full potential.

Our 2-year multiple award-winning Graduate Program has been running since 2013, and is designed to develop you by building your knowledge base and skills with real and practical work experience, and set you up for success in your career. There is currently representation in the business from all cohorts.

Our Vision

Inspired people creating a premier global gold company – a sustainable business that prospers through the cycle. We have grown into a globally relevant gold producer since inception in November 2011.

We have a clear and consistent strategy:

Our Values and Culture

Given our aspirations to have a high performing culture we want to ensure our ​people are clear about the types of behaviours that we want to see and hear at Evolution. Our values guide behaviours and decisions we make in the workplace every day. Through having clear and consistent values and associated behaviours it helps us to create a working environment in which we achieve great results and enjoy how we go about it.

When we live the values, they become part of the DNA of Evolution and in turn the Evolution Way.

Our Awards

• Evolution has been announced as winner of the 2019 Miner of the Year Award awarded by Australian Gold Mining Journal (February 2020)
• In the top 75 Graduate Employers in Australia (AAGE), 2019
• NSW Mining Safety Excellence Award
• Coming runner up in the Community Excellence Award (August 2017)
• NSW Mining operation of the year awarded by NSW Minerals Councils (April 2017)
• Craig Oliver Award presented at RIU Explorers Conference (February 2017)
• 2016 Miner of the year awarded by Australian Gold Mining Journal (February 2017)
• 2016 Dealer Award at Diggers and Dealers (August 2016)
• Best Asia-Pacific Mining Deal at Mines and Money Hong Kong (April 2016)
• Winner of 8th Annual international M&W awards (April 2016)
• Mines and Money 2012 Deal of the Year – Creation of Evolution Mining.

In 2019, Evolution Mining was included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Australia (joining only one other gold company recognised in this category). In 2021, Evolution Mining received an improved rating of AA (on a scale of AAA-CCC) in the MSCI ESG Ratings assessment.

At Evolution, we want working here to be the highlight of people’s careers! Whether you are with us for 3, 5 or 10 years. We want this to be the company you highlight as the best to work for.

Here’s what our employees say about us (per our engagement survey):

• 83% of our employees said they would recommend Evolution as a great place to work.
• 98% said they were willing to put in the extra effort to get the job done.
• Our culture is formed on team spirit and comradery. We always make the extra effort to achieve our goals but have not lost our ability to have fun along the way.
• Employees comment on the importance we place on safety, the supportive and friendly feel and the positive environment that is created.
• Our leadership style is described by our employees as accessible, down to earth, highly capable with a focus on what matters.
• We often get the comment that at Evolution all roles are valued, you are not just a number, and the leadership really listens.

At Evolution you can expect a dynamic environment, passionate high-quality people, and an environment that encourages people to think and strive for improvement.

Our Safety Principles

We want our people to go home safely to their family and friends. We foster a safety culture where people do the right thing for themselves and those around them because they believe in it, rather than because there is a rule in place.

• All injuries and incidents are preventable
• No task is so important that it can’t be done safely
• Working safely is a condition of employment
• Management takes accountability for safety performance
• Everyone is accountable for their own safety and for those around them
• Everyone is empowered to stop at risk behaviour and control unsafe conditions

Think before we act, every job, every day

Why Join as a Graduate?

The graduate program is a key part of our strategy in ensuring we have the right people in the right roles with the right mix of skills and experience to achieve our goals within the organisation. Supported by a Stream Leader, a Senior Mentor and the dedicated Graduate Program Team, your structured individual development plan includes real work and projects, a corporate orientation, and regular face-to-face workshops.

Through on-the-job learning, feedback from the people you work with as well as four formal development workshops over the two years, you will develop the skills you need to be successful. Graduates are given exposure to a variety of mine sites and the corporate office to provide them with a whole of business perspective.

What does the program look like?

The program runs over two years, with a range of rotations which provides broad exposure across many aspects of our business, with the purpose of developing personal, technical and commercial skills. Following the successful completion of the role, graduates are guaranteed a permanent position at one of our Evolution sites.

What are the benefits of the program?

• Ownership of real work and projects
• On the job learning for specific practical experience through an individual development plan
• Operational and personal development training in safety, business skills, personal effectiveness and communication skills
• Regular face-to-face development workshops
• Exposure to and support by the Leadership Team
• Rotation through and exposure to different sites and corporate office
• Key initiative to pipelining up and coming talent into the business and developing future leaders at Evolution.

Past graduates have gone on to see success in various roles across Evolution, including Operations Business Analyst (reporting directly to the COO), Project Manager, IT Business Analyst and a range of key advisory positions.

Support Network for Graduates

Graduate Program Streams

• Mining Engineering
• Metallurgy
• Geotechnical Engineering
• Geology
• Environmental (sustainability, health & safety)
• People & Culture
• Finance
• IT
• Business Development

Graduate Competencies – Professional/Business Management Skills

Your program is designed to develop you in the following professional competencies.  There will be some things that come naturally to you and some that will be a stretch.  The two-year program is designed to support you in building your skills and knowledge in each of these competencies and setting you up for success.

Evolution’s Vacation Program

• Designed to introduce undergraduate students to the realities, challenges, & opportunities of working on a mine site
• Develops student’s knowledge base, skills and experience in a real & practical way, & sets them up for future success by providing the opportunity to take ownership of real work & projects

Apprenticeships

• An opportunity to undertake training (both practical & theoretical) leading to trade qualifications
• EVN currently has apprentices across all operating sites, across areas including Commercial & Finance, Maintenance, Mining (Underground) & Processing

Evolution's Vacation Program is designed to introduce undergraduate students to the realities, challenges and opportunities of working on a mine site. It develops student's knowledge base, skills and experience in a real and practical way and sets them up for future success, by providing the opportunity to take ownership of real work and projects. The program is a good way for us to identify and retain up and coming talent as previous students have been directly appointed to our graduate program.

In 2019 we had a 25% conversion from Vacation students to the Graduate Program. 

In 2020 there is a 28% conversion from Vacation students onto the Graduate Program, based on a proposed intake of 14 roles.

What are the benefits of the program for students?

• Opportunity to learn on the job with an individual development plan
• Potential enrolment into our 2-year Graduate Program
• Onsite orientation and connections with other vacation students
• An experienced manager to supervise day-to-day and provide one-one feedback and coaching
• A technical leader, to oversee student development and to provide discipline specific guidance
• Operational and personal development training especially in safety and business skills

Meet Our Graduates

Perks & Benefits

Hear from our Graduates

We understand that we have an obligation to create shared value for all our stakeholders.

Robust relationships built on a foundation of trust are critical throughout the entire mining cycle, from exploration and development through to operations and closure. We view them as an essential part of securing and maintaining our social license to operate.

Evolution has a Community Relations Policy and Community Principles that guide our behaviour when interacting with the community. We welcome feedback at any time about how we are performing against these standards and value any suggestions about how we can improve.

Each of our projects is set amongst vibrant rural communities with their own special qualities and character. Our partnering opportunities and community investments are therefore unique and tailored to the needs of the local community.

Evolution contributes to communities in several ways: local sponsorships, donations and partnerships; training, apprenticeship and scholarship programs; local employment and local procurement; emergency services where we are often first respondents to a local accident or incident; and royalties.

Our Performance – Direct Community Investment

Total direct community investment expenditures across our operations and Group office in FY21 were approximately A$3.30 million, and supported the following impact areas:

Community Investment Breakdown FY21(%)

Local Employment

Drawing our workforce from local communities where possible is a priority to ensure that the economic benefit of employment remains in our local communities. Benefits of local employment include skills development, increased income levels and economic diversification.

This strategy helps build strong working relationships with local communities. Hiring and training local employees may also result in operating efficiencies and lower long-term costs by having an educated and experienced workforce near our sites. This practice positively impacts local and national economies by providing well-paying jobs and generating government revenues that can be directed towards health care, education, and infrastructure.

Environmental Management

In accordance with our Sustainability and Strategic Planning policies, we incorporate environmental management into all areas of operations to manage the risks and potential impacts through all cycles of the business. We operate beyond legal compliance to deliver against our social licence obligations and strive for leading practice to meet community expectations.

Our Sustainability Performance Standards contain eight key business risk areas related to environment: air quality, biodiversity, rehabilitation and mine closure, resource efficiency and emissions, tailings storage facilities, waste, waste rock and ore, and water. All our sites and workplaces are required to meet the Standards which are audited on a regular basis.

We reward our people holistically through a combination of remuneration, recognition and benefits.

Evolution's rewards and benefits are structured to recognise and reward our people for their individual and collective contribution to our successes, for living our values in their actions and decisions, and for creating and enhancing value for our shareholders.

They are designed to support, motivate, and inspire our people whilst aiming to drive a high achievement culture.

On offer are a range of financial, employee development and healthy & wellbeing benefits and rewards. Including:

• Salary packaging and novated leasing
• Superannuation, life insurance and income
• Banking benefits
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Discounted private medical insurance
• Healthy business program
• Microsoft office packaging
• Flexible working

In addition, further financial support and benefits available to you as a Graduate at Evolution include the following:

• Relocation assistance (air transport, vehicle transportation, shipment of personal effects)
• Incidental allowance
• X2 return flights per year for health and wellbeing focus
• Quarterly development sessions with your graduate cohort
• Annual graduate conference (Sydney)
• Assistance with housing arrangements (support available will differ between sites)

We recognise the benefits of having an inclusive and diverse workforce, where people’s diverse experiences, perspectives and backgrounds are valued and utilised. We aim to have everyone at Evolution feel respected, comfortable and confident to bring their best work-self to work every day and to grow both professionally and personally.

Our people are the most significant enabler as they drive business performance and success. It is our role to ensure that the workforce feels equipped, engaged and motivated to succeed. We do this by providing a safe workplace (physically and psychologically), a supportive team, strong leadership, meaningful work and career and development pathways for those who have the appetite and ambition.

Our refreshed Inclusion and Diversity Policy outlines our commitments and applies to all aspects of employment, including recruitment, training and development, remuneration and performance management.

We believe in equal pay for work of equal value and continue to identify and address any gender pay gap issues. In the FY22 Remuneration review we analysed the remuneration of employees specifically addressing gender-based pay parity and alignment with market conditions. We report annually to Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) and use the report and industry comparisons to look for improvements in policies and practices to address any gender pay disparities within Australia.

In FY22, our leave procedure was updated to close the superannuation gap for people on parental leave. This will see primary carers superannuation topped up on their return to Evolution following their primary parental leave for the period of up to 12 months. In addition, to support the important issue of domestic violence, employees are able to access an additional 5 days of paid domestic violence leave in addition to those entitlements already provided for under the Fair Work Act.

Female representation in the workforce decreased from 20% in FY21 to 19% in FY22 due to acquisitions and divestments with female representation at Ernest Henry lower than that at Mt Carlton. Whilst the overall representation of female representation decreased, the number of females in management positions increased to 20.1% in FY22 from 17% in FY21. Approximately 30% of the Graduate Development Program hires were females. 

FY21 Case Study: Rainbow Crosswalk Sign of acceptance for LGBTQ2S+ community at Red Lake

Purpose

Respect is a key value at Evolution. The Red Lake Operation demonstrated this value by showing support and celebrating their diverse and inclusive LGBTQ2S+ community during Pride Month in June 2021.

Outcome

Red Lake employees painted a rainbow crosswalk with permission of the Municipality of Red Lake, adding not just a pop of colour, but also a dash of hope and acceptance into the community. This community encompasses straight and cisgender allies supporting and advocating for LGBTQ2S+ community members, as well as those within the LGBTQ2S+ community who support each other.

Mayor Fred Mota commends Evolution, “We are very pleased to have this opportunity to partner with Evolution on this project. Red Lake is a community that is supportive of inclusion and diversity. This rainbow crosswalk will serve as a visual reminder of this sentiment for years to come.”

We are committed to respecting and enhancing the rights, interests, concerns, traditional land uses and cultural activities of the First Nation  Partners and Indigenous Peoples within the communities in which we operate. For operations whose activities can directly or indirectly affect Indigenous Peoples, the Social Responsibility Performance Standards require the establishment of formal procedures and processes related to Indigenous Community engagement, economic inclusion and Cultural Heritage conservation, while meeting applicable legislative requirements.

The focus remains on growing a pipeline of Indigenous candidates, and proactively identifying experienced external talent with the skillsets needed by the organisation. Indigenous makes up 6% of the Evolution workforce.

The Community Relations teams at Group and sites work with the First Nation Partners and Indigenous Peoples, contractors and educational institutions to provide and support training and employment opportunities to Indigenous Peoples. The General Manager of the site is responsible for First Nation engagement at a local level. We aim to develop strong relationships that incorporate a comprehensive approach to supporting self-determination and with the aim of building appropriate skills, capabilities and resources that ensure long-term success and positive outcomes for their communities.

In FY22, there were no disputes relating to land use, customary rights of local communities and Indigenous Peoples, or incidents of violations involving rights of Indigenous Peoples.