RMGC Supplier and Entrepreneurship Development Diagnostic

RMGC Supplier and Entrepreneurship Development Diagnostic Project diagnostic 2010-05-31

Table of contents 1 The Environment for RMGC to Catalyze Economic Development... 5 1.1 The Development Context in Romania... 5 1.2 Local Community: Roşia Montană, Abrud, Campeni... 8 2 Diagnostic Methodology and Scope... 10 3 The SE Methodology... 11 3.1 RMGC s goal for supplier engagement... 11 3.2 RMGC s Initial Projections... 12 3.3 Revised Base Case Projections... 12 3.4 Supplier Engagement Targets... 12 3.5 International to National/Regional Opportunities... 13 3.6 National to Regional... 15 3.7 Local Area Supplier Development... 15 4 SE Component Activities... 16 4.1 National Supplier Engagement Activities... 17 4.2 Local Supplier Engagement Activities... 17 5 SE Component Impact... 17 5.1 International to National/Regional and National to Regional... 17 5.2 Local Area... 18 6 Potential Challenges... 18 7 The BCB Methodology... 19 7.1 RMGC Sustainability and Local Development Team Initiatives... 19 7.2 Local Economy Data... 19 8 Program components and outputs... 22 9 Short Term/Low Intensity Value Chain interventions... 23 9.1 Tourism... 23 9.2 Timber... 24 9.3 Livestock... 24 1

10 BCB Component Impact... 25 11 Potential Challenges... 26 12 Partners... 26 12.1 Contracting Partners... 26 12.2 Consultants and Community Leaders... 27 12.3 Access to finance partners... 27 13 Management and Indicative Resource Level... 29 14 Next Steps... 31 1 Meetings during 6 Week Engagement not including 28 entrepreneur interviews... 32 2 Supplier Engagement Flow Chart... 32 3 Bank Product Matrix... 34 2

Executive Summary Roşia Montană Gold Corporation s ( RMGC ) vision for its activities includes being a catalyst for sustainable development in Romania, while maintaining world-class standards of safety and quality in operations. Established in 1997, RMGC intends to extract gold and silver in Roşia Montană using open pit mining, grinding, and processing of the ore (the RMGC Project). RMGC s independently confirmed assessments show proven mineral reserves of approximately 214.9 tons at average grades of 1.46 grams of gold and 6.88 grams of silver per ton. With an operating life of approximately 16 years, this mine will be the largest gold mine in Europe. Independent engineering and economic experts have calculated the mine s potential economic impact in Romania during the construction (2 years) and operation phases (16 years), measured in un-escalated 2008 US dollars (in reports that are available), as follows: $4.0B of additional direct spending in the Romanian economy including - $1.7B in government revenues, varying between 0.1% and 0.2% of the government s total likely tax revenue - $2.13B in direct spend on goods, services, salaries and wages, net of all taxes; 2,300 new Romanian jobs created during the construction phase and 880 Romanian jobs during the operations phase; $0.280B spent on community facilities and programs, including clean up of pollution from old abandoned mining facilities; restoration of heritage assets; training, social and community programs; and, business development; $2B of Foreign Direct Investment (including some $300M investment made to date in Romania); $7.5B in exports at a $900/ounce gold price; $6.3B cumulative GDP increase directly from project activities; 3.5 gross output multiplier during the construction phase and 3.0 gross output multiplier during operations phase (i.e. raising the impact on the economy from $6.3B in direct impact to a total impact of $19B, including the addition of indirect supplier activities and project stimulated general economic growth or 9% of GDP); 4.0 multiplier for government revenue (raising the total from the $1.7B of direct spend for the Project to a total government revenue increase of $6.8B); 4.0 to 4.5 employment multiplier (raising the impact from 880 direct jobs on the Project to over 3,500 in total). RMGC requested TechnoServe to conduct a mine supplier and entrepreneurship diagnostic to identify the opportunities where RMGC can maximize the economic growth and beneficial impact on Romania. TechnoServe, in collaboration with the RMGC team (particularly the 3

sustainability and project procurement teams) has developed a three year Supplier Engagement and Business Capacity Building Program (the Program). The objective of the Program is to reach full potential for Romanian supply of RMGC (especially from the local area identified as within 40 kilometers of the mine site) without compromising safety and quality and to optimize the development of the local business community. The end goal is a sustainable community for the long term. The two components of the Program are: Supplier Engagement: Identification of the full potential for local and other Romanian suppliers to meet the needs of the RMGC Project based on existing capacities, as well as on the capacities that can be improved by entrepreneurial training, business development, and joint venture development support; and, Business Capacity Building: Support for entrepreneurial capitalization on the expanded demand generated locally and regionally by the community from economic growth that necessarily accompanies an operation of this scale of the proposed RMGC Project. The expected impact from the Program, based on TechnoServe s experience with other projects and markets and observations from its fieldwork in Romania, is not only to find the company projections realizable, but also to estimate scope for meaningful enhancement to the extent of: Increasing the $2.5B of net procurement spending in Romania by $880M (36%), to $3.4B 1 ; Increasing the $120M of Roşia Montană local procurement by 91%, to $230M by reducing in-house activity in favor of increased outsourcing from local businesses that can then also develop third party, sustainable sales; Increasing the beneficial regional economic impact by procuring an additional $145M of the Romanian purchases in the region of the mine, rather than from more distant Romanian locations; Developing the local business community apart from the mine, increasing sales by 50% for the 150 of the local companies found to have the potential to benefit meaningfully from participation in the Program, with a cumulative incremental impact of $464M in sales revenues calculated over 20 years, while noting that this impact is expected to then maintain economic sustainability into the future. The Program design envisages RMGC building additional capabilities in-house to manage the process and to implement certain supplier and business development support activities. Expert 1 These figures include taxes, whereas the figure on page 3 of $2.13B is net of tax. 4

consultants will select, train and advise promising business entities and implement RMGC programs to achieve the projected results. TechnoServe has designed and implemented similar programs in Peru and Africa with Newmont and BHP Billiton mines and with a major hydroelectric scheme in Chile. These operating environments each have their own distinct character, as does the RMGC context. However, from past work, TechnoServe has learned that the common success factor in local economic development work is focus. The extractive sector abounds with examples of economic growth projects, large and small, that have no relation to the mine and that have failed because of a lack of follow-through to build sustainable skills and capabilities. A far more sustainable approach is to use the mine s core business to the greatest benefit for the local economy as a purchaser and employer, a source of stimulus for the local economy. By proactively engaging the local economy and investing in its capabilities, a mine can greatly enhance its economic impact. For example, in Cajamarca Peru, a geography with a significantly lower level of local economic capabilities compared to the RMGC local area, TechnoServe worked with 50 highpotential small businesses, resulting in $10.2M of cumulative incremental revenues over 5 years, generating 373 new jobs and purchasing from over 1,500 local suppliers of agricultural primary products. This program generated nearly $8 of incremental income (ploughed back into the community) for every $1 of project resources. While some of these businesses directly supply the mine, the majority of the businesses supply non-mine local, regional and national markets, using the business skills they attained from the business development program funded by the mine. TechnoServe proposes a similar program based on the same principle of sustainable capacity building, but adapted to the RMGC context. It represents a shift in perspective, from viewing the community as a passive recipient of benefits to viewing the community as a local economy that can reach a new level of prosperity due to the presence of the mine. 1 The Environment for RMGC to Catalyze Economic Development 1.1 The Development Context in Romania Romania s economy was heavily affected by the international crisis in 2009 ending an eightyear period of rapid growth. Romania s GDP for 2009 was approximately $162.6B USD 2. After 2 At the official exchange rate, CIA World Factbook. Data are in 2009 U.S. Dollars. 5

high GDP growth rates from 2003 to 2008 driven by membership to the European Union (EU), the growth rate plunged in 2009 to -7.1% 3. The impact of the financial crisis arrived later in Romania than other EU countries, but with greater force. 10 5 0-5 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009-10 European Union Romania Exhibit 1: Real GDP Growth Rate: Growth Rate of GDP Volume - % change over Prior Year With the international financial crisis, unemployment increased significantly to 7.5% 4 as of December 2009 compared with 5.8% over the prior year. 2007 and 2008 saw drops in unemployment in line with the boom in domestic output. Furthermore, the Romanian government deficit increased dramatically in 2008 and 2009 by 142% and 27%, respectively, summing to a 9.2B EUR deficit at the end of 2009 5. In the past decade, Romania has shown great advancements in improving the national standard of living for its approximate 22.2M population; however, the country still lags behind other EU member countries (EU25 6 ). Romania s current Human Development Index (HDI) places the country 63 rd of 182 countries in the world with an HDI of0.837 7. While Romania is in the high human development category 8, the country is last among all EU countries. The EU25 average HDI is 0.928 with a worldwide ranking of 25. Romania is close to the EU25 average HDI with respect to education, but well below average with respect to life expectancy and GDP per person. 3 European Commission Eurostat. 4 Harmonized unemployment rate, European Commission Eurostat. 5 European Commission Eurostat. 6 EU25 refers to the average of the 25 member states not including Bulgaria and Romania. 7 2009 Human Development Report, information based from 2007. 8 Categorized as.80 and above. 6

The 2006 Human Development report (based on 2004 data) was the first time that Romania had advanced to the High Human Development category due to improvement in all three factors: longevity, education levels, and standard of living (See Exhibit 2). The steep increase in GDP has been the driving force behind the improvement in HDI. The consistent improvement in education has been due to a higher enrollment in tertiary school from 20.9% in 1995 to 47.5% in 2005 9. The life expectancy index has improved due to the Health Ministry implementing more consistent health programs. 0.95 0.90 0.85 0.80 0.75 0.70 0.65 0.60 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 GDP Index Education Index Life Expectancy Index HDI Exhibit 2: Progression of HDI from 1995 to 2007, UNDP As part of the EU s National Development Plan for Romania, the EU has allocated 19.7B EUR in strategic and cohesion funds. The objective of this plan is to, reduce the economic and social development disparities between Romania and the EU Member States by generating a 15-20% additional growth of GDP by 2015 10. The EU designed this plan to stimulate Romania s economy by providing interventions in basic infrastructure, economic competitiveness, the limited education level in light of a modern knowledge based economy, public services, and rural areas. As of the date of this report, a large percentage of these funds have not been allocated within Romania. 9 National Human Development Report, Romania 2007 by UNDP. 10 National Strategic Reference Framework 2007-2013. 7

1.2 Local Community: Roşia Montană, Abrud, Campeni July 7, 2010 The towns of Roşia Montană, Abrud, and Campeni have a population of 16,841 people 11 with approximately 41% as an active workforce 12. From January 2006 to November 2008, all towns registered a decrease in population, with an overall decrease of 4.9% 13. Population Jan-06 Nov-08 % Change Roşia Montană 3,557 3,227-9.3% Abrud 5,980 5,809-2.9% Campeni 8,178 7,805-4.6% Total 17,715 16,841-4.9% Exhibit 3: Population decline by town The population decline is due to low birth rates, unemployed miners migrating outside the community, and youth seeking better opportunities within other EU countries and other parts of Romania. As of October 2009, the unemployment rate in Roşia Montană was 14.3% of which 5.8% are registered and 8.5% are unregistered 14. 1.2% of the unregistered unemployed population is recent graduates searching for their first job. Despite these deteriorating factors, the local area comprises a relatively vibrant entrepreneurial community. There are 439 registered companies with combined 2008 sales of 120.2M USD and 2,739 employees, representing 16% of the total population. Note, this information is from data registered with the government and may well be underestimated in sales and employment. Campeni has the largest economy with 60M USD in sales and 224 companies. Abrud and Campeni have one business for every 33 and 35 members of the town population, respectively. Roşia Montană has one business for every 85 persons, signifying that there is room for growth within the Roşia Montană economy. 11 Figure is as of November 2008 - Assessment of the Social and Economic Impacts and Risks. 12 National Institute of Statistics, according to Assessment of the Social and Economic Impacts and Risks. 13 January 2006 population figures The County Statistics Department of Alba Iulia. 14 Report of the Socio-Economic State of the Roşia Montană Village, Socio-Economic Research and Development Center Muntii Apuseni Association, December 2009. 8

Town 2008 Sales # Of Companies # Of Employees Roşia Montană 5,056,946 38 352 Abrud 55,165,797 177 1,136 Campeni 59,937,175 224 1,251 Total 120,159,918 439 2,739 Exhibit 4: Company information by town July 7, 2010 The businesses represented in the local community have a substantial degree of diversification, and are not over reliant on any one industry, with significant sales in wholesale beverage and food, food services and retail timber and furniture, among others Sector (in Thousands) Sales USD % Total Wholesale beverage and food 18,232 15.2% Food Service/Food Retail 17,765 14.8% Timber/Furniture Manufacturer 13,809 11.5% Construction 13,761 11.5% Transport 12,012 10.0% Mining 11,947 9.9% Other Retail 6,920 5.8% Textile Industry and Clothing Retail 4,610 3.8% Other Services 4,242 3.5% Food/Beverage Processing 3,561 3.0% Demolition 3,454 2.9% Other Wholesale 2,741 2.3% Construction Retail/Manufacture 1,932 1.6% Auto Body Repair/Part Sales 1,905 1.6% Livestock/Agriculture 776 0.6% Business and Other Consultancy 551 0.5% Hotel 375 0.3% Accounting/Legal 355 0.3% Campground 324 0.3% IT and Communications 252 0.2% Not specified 220 0.2% Quarrying Minerals 189 0.2% Manufacturer of Metal Parts 111 0.1% Cleaning Services 63 0.1% Floor and Wall Covering 55 0.0% Total 120,160 100% Exhibit 5: Total local economy by sector 9

Despite the number of businesses and the degree of diversification, the local community experienced significant setbacks in 2009. The largest company, Cupru Min, representing 10% of 2008 sales and 5% of employment stopped operations at the end of 2008. In addition, the financial crisis has slowed business in the local community. For example, the total number of employees supported by Roşia Montană businesses decreased by 18% from 2008 to 2009 15. 2 Diagnostic Methodology and Scope For six weeks RMGC and TechnoServe collaborated to develop a program to capture RMGC s vision for supplier engagement and local entrepreneurship development in Romania, especially focusing on the local area surrounding the RMGC operation; followed by the identification of methods and programs for the realization and enhancement of the potential. TechnoServe participated in the following meetings and events: Met with key RMGC staff; Reviewed RMGC project documentation; Reviewed the RMGC sustainable development plans and initiatives; Analyzed projected RMGC procurement spend at the local, regional, national, and international levels; Met with 18 potential partner organizations, key Romanian leaders, local government officials, and local universities; Attended Alba Iulia Commerce event; Interviewed 23 local community entrepreneurs and five entrepreneurs in Alba Iulia; Met with five banks and two Non-Banking Financial Institutions (NBFIs), including Gabriel Finance; Performed site visits. A full list of meetings can be found in Appendix 1. The original scope of the diagnostic had two objectives: Identify opportunities for tangible economic benefits nationally, regionally, and locally Develop a strategic roadmap for implementation of high potential opportunities During the engagement, RMGC and TechnoServe agreed to add, as a further deliverable, a medium level work plan with a detailed description of the program implementation, partner information, and staffing. 15 Report of the Socio-Economic State of the Roşia Montană Village, Socio-Economic Research and Development Center Muntii Apuseni Association, December 2009. 10

As a result, TechnoServe proposes a program with two components: Supplier Engagement and Business Capacity Building, with a corresponding human resource structure for RMGC to implement the program (see Section 13). The Supplier Engagement component outlines the process of proactively indentifying and structuring supplier opportunities, with a particular focus on the local area around the RMGC operation. The Business Capacity Building component provides basic training to 150 local businesses and provides mentorship and advanced training to a selective group of high potential entrepreneurs. This program has different geographical foci, defined as the following: National: all of Romania Regional: Within 100km of the mine Local area: Within 40km of the mine Local community: the towns of Roşia Montană, Campeni and Abrud RMGC and TechnoServe have differentiated between local area and local community to emphasize that the Business Capacity Building component has its greatest focus on the town development of Roşia Montană, Abrud, and Campeni the area that has been most greatly impacted by the closing of the local mines. RMGC and TechnoServe expanded the definition of local area to capture companies that might not be located in the three towns (such as Zlatna) but could still offer employment to those living in the local community. Companies located outside of the 40km range would find it more difficult to employ residents of Roşia Montană, Abrud, and Campeni. Supplier Engagement (SE) 3 The SE Methodology 3.1 RMGC s goal for supplier engagement RMGC s goal for SE is to maximize the procurement of Romanian goods and services without compromising safety, quality and profitability. Within Romania, RMGC is committed to maximizing purchases locally from the communities within a 40km radius of the mine. 11

3.2 RMGC s Initial Projections July 7, 2010 RMGC s procurement team identified and estimated the total spend for goods, services and direct labor to be 4.1B USD for the construction, operations, and closure phases, of which $500M 16 is accounted for by labor. The team developed a comprehensive list of suppliers 17 ; allocated all costs to local, regional, national, EU, and outside EU; and identified supplier opportunities to bring more expenditure to Romania. Ipromin, a Romanian engineering firm, independently confirmed the Romanian supplier potential. The initial projections of the RMGC team were as follows: In Millions USD International National Regional Local Total Original Proj. 1,575 659 815 1,022 4,071 Exhibit 6: Initial RMGC projections 3.3 Revised Base Case Projections As part of the initial work in the diagnostic, TechnoServe and RMGC revised the original projections to form a new base case. The revisions were made based on the assumption that an item could only be counted in local, regional, or national if it currently was available in that geography. RMGC and TechnoServe identified two procurement items that could not be currently found in the original allocated geographical location. On this basis, petroleum procurement was shifted to national from the local, regional, and international areas, as petroleum producers only exist at the national level. Power was shifted to the national level, as being sourced from the national grid. Although there is local access to electricity, power is not produced locally. Exhibit 7 shows RMGC s original projections in comparison with the base case. In Millions USD International National Regional Local Total Original Proj. 1,575 659 815 1,022 4,071 Base Case 1,559 1,392 606 514 4,071 Exhibit 7: Original Projections to Base Case 3.4 Supplier Engagement Targets Using the new Base Case as a starting point, TechnoServe and RMGC systematically reviewed opportunities to develop targets for Supplier Engagement on the local, regional, national, and 16 This amount includes earthworks, construction, mining, processing, and G&A related labor costs for all three phases of the RM project. 17 This supplier list was created in 2008. Although it has been continuously updated, the team is aware that some of the information might be outdated. 12

international level. These targets are based on the assumptions that the procurement could be steered to a different geography (i.e. Romania or closer to the mine), if a supplier development program were to be initiated. The following table shows the results of this investigation. In Millions USD International National Regional Local Total Base Case 1,559 1,392 606 514 4,071 SE Proposal 679 1,417 1,461 514 4,071 Net Impact -880 25 855 0 0 Exhibit 8: Movement from Base Case to SE Proposal As shown above, there is an additional $880M of procurement moved from the international level to Romania with approximately $25M at the national and $855M at the regional levels. The Program also suggests an outsourcing of $110M in new local supplier contracts. See Local Area Supplier Development for a detailed explanation. Through this process of identifying opportunities, RMGC estimated that a significant procurement volume could be shifted from international to national; and from national to regional and estimated the number of jobs that this movement would represent. # Of Jobs Total 378 to 406 Exhibit 9: Estimated number of jobs The following sections detail the opportunity movement for each section. 3.5 International to National/Regional Opportunities There are five potential opportunities to move international suppliers to the national level. In isolation, each represents what would be a significant investment in the industrial capacity of Romania. In combination, they would amount to a re-ignition of a cluster of chemical and industrial products that could serve other sectors beyond mining. In addition, the Program gives priority to businesses within the region (100km of mine site). Therefore, below are explanations of potential shifts in spending from the national level to the regional level. Cyanide (JV): Currently the demand and available supply for cyanide are approximately equal. No existing manufacturers of cyanide can currently supply large quantities for sustained periods without expanding existing production facilities, or building new facilities. In addition, the expectation is that the cyanide market will continue to tighten in the short to medium term due to four or five large gold mines opening within the next two to three years. In 13

Romania, there is a refinery, Arpechim, which has produced cyanide as a by-product in the past, although not at production rates sufficient to meet RMGC s demand. This environment could present an interesting opportunity for an existing manufacturer of cyanide to develop a cyanide production facility in Romania, although one major producer of sodium cyanide had communicated to RMGC recently that Europe was not an attractive location for establishing new production facilities due to the higher costs of energy and raw materials in comparison with other global sites. Nevertheless, there might be the opportunity for an existing producer of raw materials (for cyanide production) to be involved by expanding their production facilities accordingly? The SE component considers ammonia nitrate producers, sodium hydroxide producers, and Arpechim as potential JV partners with existing cyanide producers. Grinding Media (Romanian Company or JV): The mine will require a large quantity of grinding media of two sizes, with the larger 125mm diameter balls being difficult to source. Many EU manufacturers simply do not produce this large diameter ball, or cannot achieve the hardness and wear resistance characteristics being sought. Currently RMGC are not aware of any grinding media manufacturers in Romania which can meet the volume, size and hardness specifications which RMGC requires. The opportunity therefore exists for RMGC to assist international producers of grinding media to expand through JV with local producers of grinding media, producers of other similar steel products (local foundries), or directly with steel producers (smelters). Sodium Metabisulphite (SMBS) (Romanian): RMGC will be one of the largest users of SMBS in Europe, and therefore, provides a large potential opportunity for Romania to engage in SMBS production. One of SMBS raw materials is lime, which has a large resource in Romania. In fact, there is a company located in Ocna Mures, Romania, which currently makes Soda Ash (another raw material) and is located near a large lime quarry. With some investment for expansion, this company could be a potential producer of SMBS. Lubricants (Romanian Company): Lubricants can be produced as a byproduct of fuel. RMGC could research opportunities with current oil and gas facilities in Romania. Heavy Mechanical Equipment (Offset): Because of the sophistication and size of the mine, RMGC will need to use a highly specialized fleet of mechanical equipment. Currently there is no 14

opportunity to produce this equipment in Romania. RMGC potentially could use the high cost of their fleet as leverage and incentive for a major equipment manufacturer to agree to offsets in Romania. An offset means that the producer would move some manufacturing (although not necessarily for RMGC s mine equipment) to Romania in order to bring jobs and income to the Romanian economy. 3.6 National to Regional Mechanical Equipment and Piping (Romanian Company or JV): RMGC requires specialized mechanical equipment and piping used in the processing plant. RMGC could identify potential suppliers in the Alba Iulia region that have the capability to design and produce this equipment. Although these suppliers have not been identified, the equipment is not complicated. Steel Liners (Romanian Company): This opportunity represents the entire $49.8M of steel liner procurement budgeted over the life of mine. The processing plant requires steel liners for the crushers and mills. The linings are sacrificial absorbing the wear (metal loss) during the grinding of the ore, with liner components having to be replaced periodically (typically once or twice per year). RMGC would need to locate a steel manufacturer in the region who could produce a specially made liner for the RMGC mills and/or engage with international producers willing to bring equipment, technique and technology as applicable to the local foundries. Electrical Equipment (Romanian Company or JV): The RMGC processing plant requires a range of electrical components and consumables. Although some of the equipment is more complex in nature, RMGC should be able to locate regional manufacturers to produce/supply most common electrical components and materials. Liquid Oxygen (Romanian Company): RMGC currently has not identified a supplier that produces liquid oxygen in the region and could help an existing producer to develop production facilities in the region (possibily even locally?). This company would be able to supply oxygen not only to other gold mines, but also to other industries and the medical field (as medical grade O 2 ). 3.7 Local Area Supplier Development RMGC s local budget has only allocated 120M USD for local supplier contracts. RMGC and TechnoServe collaborated to identify 230M USD of labor contracts that can be outsourced at 15

the local level. This process augmented the original 120M USD by 110M USD. The majority of this $110M is included in labor; however, it would give greater benefit to the local area to build enterprises that supply to the mine, rather than hire employees. Eventually these enterprises would diversify their clientele and become sustainable businesses, separate from the mine. The training modules offered with the business capacity building component will facilitate that process. Local Supplier Development LOM Per Year (20 year life) Jobs Created Projected Total 230.00 11.50 445 Exhibit 11: Local Supplier Engagement Furthermore, the local community has existing capacities that could expand to meet some of the mine s future demands, such as catering, construction, and transport. To ensure that these sectors can supply RMGC with the level of output and quality required, RMGC should include local suppliers in their Business Capacity Building program. In addition, RMGC can use training programs and access to finance solutions to build the capacity of local suppliers (such as hotel and cleaning) that currently are underdeveloped in the community. Sector (in 000s) 2008 Local Economy Catering 17,765 Construction 13,761 Transport 12,012 Auto Body Repair 1,905 Hotel 375 Cleaning 63 Exhibit 12: Examples of industries in current local economy 4 SE Component Activities RMGC must take an active role in supporting Romanian and local suppliers to the mine by establishing a systematic process. The SE component has two distinct geographical foci: national supplier engagement, which includes regional opportunities, and local supplier engagement. 16

4.1 National Supplier Engagement Activities July 7, 2010 Over one to two years, the national procurement team will implement a set of interventions to identify and develop Romanian and JV businesses in key sectors, as well as negotiate potential offsets. Note, the proposed human resource structure for RMGC to implement the program (see Section 13). This program is divided into four phases: Exhibit 13: Four phases of National Supplier Development 4.2 Local Supplier Engagement Activities The local SE portion is more intensive than national SE. This portion is divided into six phases, which will be complemented by capacity building training (see Business Capacity Building for more detail). The initial phases will be complete in three years; however, through the life of the mine the local procurement team will continue to monitor local suppliers and repeat the following phases. Ideally, local procurement will be built into the processes of the procurement department and become part of the daily operations. Exhibit 14: Six phases of activities for Local Supplier Engagement 5 SE Component Impact 5.1 International to National/Regional and National to Regional With the restructuring of the contracts discussed above, the SE component estimates that 830.6M USD of new contracts will be signed with Romanian entrepreneurs. Furthermore, there is potential to create offset agreements with major mechanical equipment producers, 17

estimated at 49.4M USD. These companies would add 275 to 300 direct jobs to the Romanian economy. With the Program s emphasis on regional development, the SE component proposes that the national procurement team could facilitate the movement of 145M USD of project procurement from the national to the regional level. This movement would transfer 103 to 106 jobs to the regional level. 5.2 Local Area TechnoServe estimates that the local procurement team could contract $230M of local area suppliers to the mine representing 445 jobs. 6 Potential Challenges The SE component is likely to encounter a series of challenges. The following exhibit identifies these challenges Challenges Solution Benefit Lack of incentives for procurement dept to work with local suppliers Inadequate pool of local suppliers Complexity of RMGC contracts Limitations of supplier capacities Lack of transparency in bidding Confusion from suppliers on company standards Well planned local supplier development policy and incentive structure Systematic communications system Contract Structuring: Joint ventures; disaggregation; subcontractors Capacity building and mentoring Centrally controlled and communicated bidding process Pre-bid meetings; meetings with unsuccessful bidders; monthly local contractor meetings based on KPI s Greater success in reaching local suppliers Higher quality, lower cost suppliers Greater uptake by local suppliers Higher quality local suppliers Higher quality, lower cost suppliers Higher quality suppliers Exhibit 15: Supplier Engagement Challenges, Solutions, and Benefits 18

Business Capacity Building (BCB) 7 The BCB Methodology 7.1 RMGC Sustainability and Local Development Team Initiatives The patrimony and sustainable development team has developed a comprehensive Sustainable Development Action Plan, which outlines 12 action items 18. Of these action items identified, RMGC opened Gabriel Finance and disbursed two loans, relocated 125 Roşia Montană families to La Recea in Alba Iulia, and conducted 91 vocational training sessions with over 2,500 students. In addition, the team has spent 11M USD on patrimonial initiatives, including protection and some initial restoration of local buildings and plans to spend more than 35M USD in the future on such activities. 7.2 Local Economy Data The local community has 439 registered companies in Roşia Montană, Campeni, and Abrud, divided between the following sectors. 18 These action items are: Roşia Montană Foundation for Sustainable Development; Cultural Heritage Conservation and Tourism; Environmental Action Plan; Infrastructure, Industry, and Services; Small to Medium Business Development Program; Gabriel Finance; Vocational Training Program; Community Health and Safety; Environmental and Ethical Purchasing Policy Reducing Resource Use and Waste; Continuous Community Engagement; Resettlement and Relocation Action Plan; and Grievance Mechanism. 19

Sector (in Thousands) Sales USD % Of Total Food and Beverage 39,557 33% Construction 19,314 16% Timber/Furniture 13,809 11% Transport 12,012 10% Mining 11,947 10% Other retail 6,920 6% Textile Industry and Retail 4,610 4% Other Services 4,207 4% Other Wholesale 2,741 2% Auto Body Repair/Parts 1,905 2% Other/Unspecified 1,082 1% Business Services 906 1% Livestock/Agriculture 776 1% Hotel 375 0% Total 120,160 100% Exhibit 16: Local Community Economy by Sector The local community s current economy supports a wide variety of businesses. RMGC s BCB program would aim to reduce the concentration of sales from the largest companies in the community by contributing to the growth of smaller businesses. The program would seek to diversify and solidify the local economy. Within this local economy, RMGC has not yet had a significant impact on total sales. Shown below is a chart with RMGC s 2008 spend as a percentage of total sales in the local economy with some selected sectors. 2008 Business Svcs. Transport Timber Auto Repair Catering Local Economy 906,065 12,011,624 13,809,116 1,904,621.0 17,764,916 RMGC Spend as a % of Total Local Economy 34% 2% 1% 11% 1% Exhibit 18: RMGC 2008 procurement as a % of the local community economy 20

Once the mine begins construction RMGC s projected local demand will be less than 10% of the total economy s sales. However, the rapid decline in the local population, combined with the closing of the copper mine indicate a challenging economic environment now and in coming years. The RMGC operation has a unique opportunity to turn this economic stasis (or even decline) around, not only with direct employment but also by facilitating the development of a thriving local business environment. RMGC will be one of the single largest purchasers of local goods and services, but there still exists a large client-base outside of RMGC. Further, the initiatives planned for local environmental clean-up, new infrastructure development, patrimonial asset restorations, local facilities and community and social development would contribute significantly to living conditions and standards in ways that are relevant to economic and community viability, population retention/growth and sustainability. This shows that the mine will be the impetus to the local economy s growth, yet the foundations of the local economy have the realistic prospect of surviving beyond the mine lifecycle, once it has grown by using the mine s economic stimulus. With RMGC s initiatives and the opening of the mine, this economy has the potential to significantly develop. This situation is somewhat unique when compared to the business environment faced by many extractive operations. If an extractive enterprise represents the majority of economic activity in a remote area, it creates a significant dependency by the community on the enterprise, which can be very challenging to overcome. In the case of this local community, there is a reasonable local economy to rescue and revive, even if starting with relatively greater poverty compared to the Romanian average. The presence of RMGC promises to inject purchasing power into that local economy via employees, but can also have a dramatic effect by empowering local entrepreneurs to take advantage of both direct supply to the mine as well as supply in response to the community s increased purchasing power. This will greatly improve the prospects for sustainability, as the suppliers both to RMGC and other markets are able to take advantage of the program of business networks and training to expand to new markets and activities. TechnoServe spoke with 23 local entrepreneurs, representing 36 local businesses. These entrepreneurs are located in Roşia Montană, Abrud, and Campeni, and Gura Rosiei (only ALS Laboratories). These interviewed entrepreneurs represented 15% of the total local community economy. 21

Sector (# of companies visited) 2008 Turnover 23 Interviews Construction (5) 8,545,370 Food and Beverage (15) 4,548,418 Laboratory Services (1) 3,222,497 Auto Body Repair/Part Sales (3) 537,388 Hotel (3) 289,925 Timber/Furniture Manufacturer (4) 279,179 Textile Industry and Retail (2) 202,303 Transport (2) 49,599 Livestock/Agriculture (1) Unknown Total 17,674,679 Exhibit 19: Interviewed Entrepreneurs Very few entrepreneurs have written a business plan, marketing strategy, or financial projections. The process of writing a business plan and habitually updating projections is a vital requirement for a business expansion and growth. In addition, the entrepreneurs displayed limited understanding of the formal financial services sector. Many entrepreneurs were distrustful of formal financial services institutions or had accepted loans without a proper strategy. Entrepreneurs also lacked understanding of their strategic positioning with relation to competition or geography. The BCB program s training modules will address these needs and weaknesses. With additional interviews and discussions as the program progresses, the training modules will continue to hone their lessons to the specific needs of the local business community. 8 Program components and outputs TechnoServe proposes a three-year capacity building program designed to stimulate the local community and train entrepreneurs in their specific needs. Throughout the life of the program RMGC will gradually shift out of its role of protagonist as greater leadership is assumed by partner organizations and community leaders. These partners include the entrepreneurs themselves, local and regional government, business associations, financial services institutions 22

and other community based organizations. The team required to implement this component is described in Section 13. This program consists of six phases: Exhibit 20: Six phases of activities for Business Capacity Building 9 Short Term/Low Intensity Value Chain interventions In addition to the training program detailed above, RMGC may want to conduct some work at the level of a given sector or value chain. This would imply identifying a market opportunity that has the potential to integrate members of the community in the supply of that market, in producing, processing and marketing the product along the value chain in its journey to reach consumers. TechnoServe does not recommend undertaking major value chain work as it is often a multi-year and very capital intensive set of interventions that arguably go beyond the scope and capacity of a mining company. During the diagnostic we did not identify any locals sectors that have significant momentum behind them in order to create competitiveness. We recommend selecting and training high potential entrepreneurs as the partners to drive potentially competitive value chains, where possible using RMGC procurement as a fast track to scale for local suppliers, and then providing those successful entrepreneurs (and clusters of successful entrepreneurs) with the networks and mentoring to grow to scale and to diversify their markets and sectors in which they meet demand using their skills and capacities. TechnoServe has applied this methodology with success in other geographies with extractive enterprise partners looking to create relatively localized economic impact. However, some targeted, low resource, short term activities could be conducted as outlined below to lay the foundation for the people operating in select value chains to further develop their value chains: 9.1 Tourism Opportunity: Take advantage of RMGC patrimony investment to create an appropriate historical/cultural tourist experience. 23

Challenge: There are many competing locations offering an equal or better tourist potential to the segments of either cultural/historical tourism and/or ecotourism. In considering the scope for and nature of tourism in the area, the current presence of a large, open mine site and pollution, as well as the ongoing industrial activities prior to rehabilitation, must be taken into account, especially for the eco-tourism segment. Recommended next steps: A feasibility study to define who are the realistic market segments and assess their needs to inform further patrimony investments. This exercise would last approximately 3 months driven by a tourist and tour operator survey with short benchmarking of competing locations. Based on this survey, the potential for tourism can be assessed versus competing locations, to drive an appropriate customer-focused investment by RMGC in the tourist products of the area. 9.2 Timber Opportunity: Significant timber resource relatively close to RMGC s operations. Challenge: This value chain operates on a semi-formal basis only and takes advantage of the lax enforcement of natural resource legal regime. We believe that there is a significant reputational risk to RMGC of actively supporting a semi-legal sector. Recommended next steps: Work with timber and wood product businesses within the capacity building program to promote a responsible/legal value chain championed by leading, committed entrepreneurs is an indirect approach to promoting environmental best practice in the sector. 9.3 Livestock Opportunity: Increase productivity and price of subsistence livestock farmers by following the Campeni model of farmer organization, reaching up to 1,500 farmers. Note, from TechnoServe experience with subsistence livestock farming, genetic improvement to herds is often a higher impact, medium term approach to generating farmer income. Based on our experience, a genetic improvement program takes at least four to five years to generate economic results, however a short term technical assistance program, focusing largely on animal health, can have an impact in one to two years. 24

Recommended next steps: Consider hiring a local livestock expert to study the experience of the Campeni association and evaluate the costs of a short term, basic technical assistance and market linkage support program. 10 BCB Component Impact TechnoServe estimates that the BCB component might generate a cumulative incremental increase in sales of 464.0M USD over 20 years; the 20 year time period for calculation was set based on the RMGC mine lifecycle, however the proposed program will generate profitable businesses that will survive and adapt well beyond the RMGC lifecycle. This calculation is based on 2008 sales figures of the top 160 largest companies not including the top ten a potential sample of the companies that would receive basic training 19. The total sales for these companies should increase 50% over the first five years with limited growth for the next fifteen years, equaling a total increase of 25.8M in sales from year 0 to year 5 20. Note, this is a very conservative estimate based on TechnoServe experience in Latin America and Africa, where increases in the revenue of entrepreneurs participating in similar training programs have been up to five fold over five years, with business mortality rates less than 20%. In addition, the BCB component estimates that these activities will impact 6,075 people in the local community (36% of the population), including employees and family members 21 during the first three years of the program. In terms of the impact to people s lives that the BCB component can bring about, it will contribute to a transformation of the community when taken together with the suite of activities planned by RMGC including: infrastructure development, environmental clean-up, facilities additions (e.g. public facilities at Piatra Alba), village building restorations for diverse uses, education, health and social/cultural life initiatives. Increased business activity also broadens the local and regional tax base, critical for sustainable, locally driven investments in the social infrastructure of the community. 19 Since 2008 sales figures are probably underestimated, there is potential that the BCB component s impact will be much larger. 20 This calculation is based off of TechnoServe s prior experience working with other mines. These are estimated figures. 21 This calculation is based off 6.2 employees per company and 2.5 members per household. 25

In short, the proposed program promises to make a very significant contribution to RMGC s impact to the local community making it a very different place to do business and to live, improving the local population s income level, employment prospects and quality of life. 11 Potential Challenges The BCB component has various challenges, which RMGC will address directly. The following exhibit identifies these challenges: Challenges Solution Benefit Ensuring clear communication of program to community Maintaining the understanding that the program is impartial Entrepreneurs that do not have good ideas Lack of trust for the program Systematic Communication System, clear action plan to communicate all steps of business plan Communication and clear presentation of steering committee and criteria used by committee Find consultants with advanced levels of experience who know how to re-direct ideas, but still listen to the entrepreneur Engage community leaders and partner organizations to create a wider circle of support Higher participation within the community; limits controversy Higher satisfaction among entrepreneurs, better community involvement Higher quality businesses Higher participation Exhibit 22: Challenges to address 12 Partners 12.1 Contracting Partners The SE program should identify potential international business partners that would be interested in moving production to Romania or are interested in forming a JV with a Romanian company to supply to the mine. The SE team will also identify large Romanian national/regional companies that would partner with a local company. The process of identifying business partners should be transparent and without bias. 26

12.2 Consultants and Community Leaders July 7, 2010 The SE local procurement team will partner with business organizations to assist in various phases of the process. These organizations will assist in convening businesses within the community to discuss and disseminate supplier opportunities. In addition, the SE team will collaborate with the BCB team to provide training and ongoing feedback to local suppliers. The BCB team will work with a variety of partners throughout the three-year program with the intention to gradually transition the protagonist role to these partners. The steering committee will seek financial service executives, local government officials, and entrepreneur support institutions as members. Through the various training phases, the program will require financial services partners to facilitate the communication of lending opportunities to entrepreneurs. The BCB team should seek continually guest speakers from leading businesses to provide business advice and mentorship. The BCB team should also look for motivational speakers, particularly local entrepreneurs to share their success stories. Government finance programs (such as the National Credit Guaranty Fund) and EU finance programs should communicate their opportunities in program training sessions. The BCB team should build alliances with these finance programs to ensure that local entrepreneurs will have full access to these resources. 12.3 Access to finance partners TechnoServe met with seven financial institutions: five banks (BCR, BRD, Banca Transilvania, Raiffeisen Bank, and CEC Bank) and two Non-Banking Financial Institutions or NBFI (CAPA and Gabriel Finance). These financial institutions offer loans for microenterprises and small and medium sized enterprises (see Appendix 3 for details of bank products), showing that there are a significant number of financial options in the local area. All of the interviewed banks have local branches in either Abrud or Campeni, but some offer their business loans only through their Alba Iulia branch. BRD, CEC Bank, and Gabriel Finance offer lending options to start-up businesses. CAPA requires that the business is operating for at least three months and the entrepreneur must demonstrate a significant level of professional experience. According to the Mix Market 22, there are five additional microfinance institutions (MFIs) working in Romania, the largest being ProCredit with the branches in Cluj-Napoca, Targu Mures, and Sibiu. The other four MFIs are Express Finance, LAM, OMRO, and ROMCOM. RMGC could 22 http://www.mixmarket.org/mfi/country/romania. 27

speak with these organizations and ask if any would be interested in expanding into the local community in line with the launching of the BCB component. In addition, since 2001 the government has operated the National Credit Guaranty Fund for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises 23. Businesses can use this fund to cover up to 80% of the total guaranty required by the bank. The fund provides guarantees to commercial banks/financial institutions, SMEs, natural persons, and family owned-businesses for the following: Short, medium, and long-term loans to finance investment projects or the production cycle; Bank comfort letters; Leasing contracts (maximum of three consecutive installments); Lines of credit. All of the banks (not including the NBFIs) listed in this document participate in the guaranty fund. The loan applicant must submit all required documentation to the bank for the loan. If the applicant is deemed credit-worthy without the sufficient capital to cover the guaranty, the applicant may apply to the guaranty fund to cover the remaining guaranty amount. The fund notifies the lending institution of approval within seven days of receiving the application. For short-term loans the fee is a percentage of the amount guaranteed. For medium and long-term loans the fee is a percentage of the annual loan balance approved. The European Union has also offered funds to small and medium enterprises through Romania s allocation of Structural and Cohesion funds. Under the Sectoral Operational Program Increase of Economic Competitiveness, the EU has offered 2.6B EUR between 2007 and 2013 to SMEs, Trade, Tourism and Liberal Professionals. It is to be noted that the means of access to these funds is unclear given that the specific funds checked appear to be closed for new applications, despite there being little evidence that all funds have been spent. In general, the program should foster greater and more open communication between the banking and business communities. 23 http://www.fngcimm.ro/index.php, for more information. 28

13 Management and Indicative Resource Level July 7, 2010 The program incorporates one team for each component, led by the VP Procurement and the VP Sustainability respectively, as shown in Exhibit 23. 29

Exhibit 23: Organization Chart The VP Procurement will oversee the SE component divided between two geographical teams, national and local. The National Procurement Director oversees national procurement, which will focus on developing a discrete number of large interventions. His or her position will be time limited, probably on the order of two years, to follow through the negotiation of major international to national and national to regional items listed above. A Business Specialist and Administrative Assistant will support the national team. The Local Procurement Director will oversee local procurement. This position should be a permanent position in RMGC as a core part of the procurement team, dedicated to ongoing development of opportunities. A Business Specialist, Outreach Specialist, and Administrative Assistant will support the local procurement team. The Business Specialist at the local level will have the same role as the national business specialist. The Outreach Specialist will work with the community, monitor suppliers, and provide feedback. The local procurement team will have significant overlap with the business capacity building team to provide training for local suppliers. 30