The University of Queensland’s Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining and our Social Performance team conducted a training session on community relations in the exploration stage, which was attended by more than 30 professionals from different operations that this Canadian mining company maintains in Chile, Brazil and Argentina.
The two-day training was attended by top corporate, exploration and social performance executives from Lundin Mining Corporation, the Canadian company leading the following projects in South America: Candelaria and Caserones in Chile; Chapada in Brazil; and Josemaría in Argentina. Representatives from the Lundin Foundation and the mining exploration companies NGEX Minerals Ltd. and Filo Corp. also participated.
This workshop began two months ago, with the first online phase of the course that has been run for four years by CSRM, the Center for Social Responsibility in Mining at the Sustainable Minerals Institute of the University of Queensland, a workshop led by specialist Sarah Mackenzie and which also already has a version in Spanish and Portuguese.
Now, SMI-ICE-Chile and CSRM have joined forces and expertise to develop for the first time a face-to-face version of this workshop, which was recently held in Chile for Lundin Mining Corporation, and which represented the completion of the online course.
“In recent years, as the need to take into account social aspects in mining exploration intensifies, we have noticed a growing interest from large and small exploration companies to carry out this training,” explains Sarah Mackenzie, who traveled from Brisbane, Australia, to participate in this face-to-face initiative in Chile. “The call for decarbonization and the transition to renewable energy is driving demand for critical minerals, and this in turn increases the need to explore to discover new deposits. However, these minerals are mostly found in territories with multiple challenges in terms of social, environmental and governance; so, we see how consideration of the social context of exploration a determining factor in the success of projects is increasingly, both for the company and for the territory. “That is why it is particularly crucial in mining to get it right in social matters from the start.”
Some evidence of the complexity of this context includes, for example, increased community and regulatory scrutiny regarding sustainability outcomes, particularly calls for early-stage consultation and indigenous participation and consent; as well as environmental, social and governance factors.
The first challenge posed in the workshop was to understand the context and community profile, and then to delve deeper into the pillars of meaningful community engagement to identify and manage potential risks.
To facilitate the exchange of experiences between the different Lundin Mining operations and to energize the workshop, it had a dynamic focused on group work that allowed participants to apply some of the learnings to their own contexts and challenges.
“Having held this workshop with Lundin Mining Corporation is very meaningful for SMI-ICE-Chile,” says Mónica Morales, leader of the Social Performance and Resource Governance area. “We are consolidating our work with the Lundin Foundation to develop a set of different topics related to capacity building in sustainability. On this occasion, it was a particular challenge and a privilege to have such a powerful and diverse working group, made up of corporate and five operations heads, linked to the areas of sustainability, community relations and exploration, in person for two days. This allowed us to have a very genuine and in-depth exchange, which undoubtedly enriches the experience of the Center and strengthens our work on social performance in the mining industry.”
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