Land Acquisition and Resettlement - Mining and the Environment: From Ore to Metal - page 603

●

Sharing the benei ts of mining in a transparent and participatory manner, either
though community development programmes or other forms of revenue sharing.

●

Accepting that the mining project is fully responsible for all resettlement-related costs.
This principle needs to be incorporated in operations before a project is permitted or
i nanced (Downing et al . 2002).

●

Respecting basic human rights derived mainly from principles of equality, social just-
ice and freedom of choice. Implementation of whatever human rights standards are
adopted is more important than specifying exactly which standards to adopt.

Since resettlement seeks to provide restitution for assets taken for the project by improving
the livelihoods of the affected people, the mining proponent should look on resettlement as
an opportunity rather than a threat: an opportunity to achieve community development, to
win the support of the local communities and to earn the social licence to operate. Ideally
project-affected people will share project benei ts over the entire life span of the project.
They can be helped to develop rather than to become impoverished by their sacrii ce for
the good of the mining project (Goodland 2004).
There should, therefore, be no confusion over the goal of resettlement: resettlement is a
valuable opportunity to reduce poverty. At least at the materialistic level, 'better off' means
provision of the very standard package of compensation such as: better houses, improved
water supply, equivalent agricultural plots, access to educational and health facilities and
access to affordable energy. People in remote regions of developing countries are often very
poor; making them modestly better off in materialistic terms is rarely expensive. However,
the major risks associated with cash compensation as discussed formerly, need to be recog-
nized; cash compensation should be the exception, rather than the rule.
Unfortunately experience demonstrates that people displaced by past mining projects
have not usually benei ted, even modestly, after their resettlement. Another reality is that
vulnerable ethnic minority groups are not always protected. As for employment oppor-
tunities, retraining and job creation are not always offered. There is ample room for the
mining sector to improve its performance in these aspects.

The mining proponent should
look on resettlement as an
opportunity rather than a threat:
an opportunity to achieve
community development, to
win the support of the local
communities and to earn the
social licence to operate.

14.9 ARTISANAL MINING AND INVOLUNTARY
RESETTLEMENT

Artisanal mining has previously been discussed in Chapter Five. It is inevitable that the
interests of commercial mining companies and artisanal miners will intersect from time to
time as each group seeks to exploit the same resources. The IFC has identii ed this as one
of the most contentious and difi cult areas they face in applying their resettlement policy
on mining projects. It is perhaps one of the clearest examples of where mining rights col-
lide with established (formal or informal) livelihoods of others. It is a particular challenge
to mine development in Africa, but such conl ict is also widespread in Latin America,
Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. While the incomes of artisanal min-
ers are usually very small, the activity commonly provides a social safety net and income of
last resort for the very poor. Accordingly, loss of this livelihood can have devastating con-
sequences. Again, there are differing degrees of 'rights' associated with artisanal mining,
ranging from traditional mining spanning many centuries as in the case of the Kankana-ey
in the Philiipines (see Chapter Five) to gold rushes that develop after a mining company
has discovered a new ore body, as was the case with the Talawaan mining activities in
Indonesia. There have been recent examples of cases where conl icts between artisanal

The interests of commercial
mining companies and artisanal
miners will intersect from time
to time as each group seeks to
exploit the same resources.