In 2023, Royal Gold provided $150,000 in funding towards two projects near the Peñasquito mine in Zacatecas, Mexico: Proeducación IAP – Excellence in Schools Initiative and University of Zacatecas Foundation.
Proeducación is a non-profit organization with more than 20 years of experience promoting actions to improve the quality of education in Mexico through its own model of school strengthening. Proeducación has been working with Newmont since October 2021; together they have implemented the Excellence in Schools Program in 12 communities, including some of Peñasquito’s impacted communities. Royal Gold’s donation will support three elementary schools in the communities of Matamoros, Nuevo Peñasco and El Vergel.
The University of Zacatecas Foundation is a non-profit organization that contributes to the education and welfare of children and young people in impoverished living conditions in the state of Zacatecas, Mexico. Newmont has been working with the University of Zacatecas Foundation since 2018 and has implemented three different programs focused on scholarships for students in the 25 mine-impacted communities. Royal Gold’s funding will support a new program with the university.
SDG Quality Education: Both projects were designed for the specific needs of the population, including education level; available school infrastructure; and the social, economic and cultural characteristics of the local population. Both programs are aligned with Newmont’s standard for community development: 1) promote community participation, 2) promote inclusiveness, and 3) have a measurable impact.
SDG Reduced Inequalities: Guaranteeing access to quality education in a comfortable and structurally adequate environment, the project empowers and promotes the social, economic and political inclusion of all, regardless of age, gender, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic status, thus reducing individual inequalities. In addition, the project allows rural and more remote areas of the country to have access to education with more infrastructure, reducing regional inequalities.