Digging with the locals: managing local community relations

摘要

HISTOR1CALLY, mining companies viewed local communities surrounding a mine site as a source of discomfort rather than as a stakeholder group with which they needed to engage. If problems flared up and locals got restless, international mining companies would often turn to the national government to resolve the problem or step up their own security efforts, while protesting that they had done all that could be expected of them by paying taxes and abiding by local laws.