Jocelyn Fraser
University of British Colombia

A MEDIA ANALYSIS OF MINING-COMMUNITY CONFLICT AND INVESTIGATION INTO THE VALUE PROPOSITION OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

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ABSTRACT

From the odds of finding a mineable deposit to the challenges of building and operating projects in inhospitable regions, mining has always been as a risky business.  Over the years, mining companies have become adept at managing traditional risk, building expertise to mitigate threats to production schedules and budgets and return on shareholders’ investment. But the ability to manage the risk to operations from interaction with communities that host mining has proven to be more difficult.

This research reports on an analysis on international media coverage from 2012 to 2015 to quantify incidents of serious conflict in the mining sector as well as the number of companies and countries impacted.  The analysis of the causes of conflict suggests there is a need to be reframe social responsibility to break the current tension between mining companies and communities and create profitable business strategies that deliver tangible social benefits.

BIOGRAPHY

A PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia’s institute of mining engineering, Jocelyn Fraser’s research focus is on social risk and social responsibility.  She is particularly interested in the potential to stimulate new opportunities for companies, civil society organizations, and governments to collaborate and leverage the power of market-based forces to reduce mining-community conflict.  Jocelyn has more than 15 years of experience working to enhance stakeholder engagement, create value, and earn social permission for local, national, and international projects in the extractive sector.  Jocelyn is one of UBC’s Liu scholars - exceptional PhD students from across disciplines who facilitate collaborative, issue-based research on global issues - and a member of UBC’s Public Scholar Initiative, the first program of its kind in Canada to support doctoral research with the potential for purposeful social contribution.