Social responsibility in mining

Professor David Brereton Director Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining

SMI researchers have developed a framework that can be used to monitor and report on the community engagement strategies of mining companies.

Director of the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining (CSRM) Professor David Brereton and researcher Dr Cath Pattenden have developed the framework, which is a major new initiative in the area of community engagement in mining.

Unlike traditional social impact assessments that assess benefits retrospectively, the new framework enables a company to establish monitoring and reporting procedures that address sustainability issues throughout the life of a mine. The framework has been developed specifically to monitor the social and economic impacts of BHP Billiton’s Ravensthorpe Nickel Operation (RNO). RNO is a major new mine and processing plant located near the small towns of Ravensthorpe and Hopetoun in the far south of Western Australia. The area is a lightly-populated agricultural region with no modern history of largescale industrial development. The mine has an estimated life of 25 years and will employ a locally based workforce.

According to Dr Pattenden, social and economic development on this scale will bring a range of opportunities and risks for both the company and the local community. Dr Pattenden said understanding these impacts was essential to the sustainable development of the region.

“The RNO project provides a unique opportunity for us to establish a monitoring and reporting framework that addresses all of the impacts – environmental, human, social, infrastructure and economic – on the local community,” she said. “This is a cradle to grave monitoring process. We are working in close consultation with the local community, company management and the RNO Community Liaison Committee to collect baseline data that will enable us to monitor community impacts over the entire life of the mine. “This helps us understand the implications of change within the community and provides an anchor for more effective decision making and policy development.”

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