Community Development
We are a proponent of grassroots sustainable social and economic development in and around the areas in which we operate. Our long term strategy is to improve the lives of the people we interact with; promote sustainable development; maintain our social license to operate and leave a positive social and environmental legacy after we have gone.
Furthermore, understanding the needs and socio-economic drivers within a local community and the associated role players at a local, regional and national level are an integral part in the development of a successful mining operation.
To this end, we use and we request that our consultants apply; International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) and international Finance Corporation (IFC) guidelines and methodologies with respect to mapping out and defining stakeholders and undertaking and preparing the requisite socio-economic baseline assessments and management plans.
At the start of exploration, our project team engage and work with local communities, but only undertake the more formalised methodologies, once there is a degree of certainty that the project resource is of a sufficient size and grade to create a workable mine. This is typically undertaken during the resource development phase and before the commencement of the conceptual and/or pre-feasibility study.
The more formalised process may be undertaken earlier, if there are perceived community risk factors that need to be managed carefully and/or could disrupt exploration activities.