Indigenous Peoples Issues - Mining and the Environment: From Ore to Metal - page 674

in capacity building including strengthening its organization and leadership, and provid-
ing access to a range of sources of information and advice.

Recruiting and Training Programmes for Indigenous Peoples

Indigenous Peoples often
have traditional and family
responsibilities which may
confl ict with typical mine work
schedules.

Because many indigenous communities are not used to the work environment and con-
ditions experienced on a mining project, participation in operations needs to recognize a
number of factors:
●

Flexibility - Indigenous Peoples often have traditional and family responsibilities which
may conl ict with typical mine work schedules. Flexible employment conditions or the use
of contract and small business service provider arrangements, with payment on comple-
tion of specii c tasks, will contribute to more l exible and successful relationships between
miners and indigenous communities. The Batu Hijau Copper-Gold Project provides an
example of such a l exible arrangement whereby locally recruited employees work a roster
of 4 days on and 4 days off. This enables local workers to continue their farming activities.

●

Training - indigenous communities rarely have access to the education and work
experience resources or backgrounds which other mine workers enjoy. Recruitment
and training programmes need to identify community members with an interest in
mine work, and assess them as being either job ready, semiskilled and ready for train-
ing, or unskilled and ready to learn work habits.

●

Incentive-based - Indigenous Peoples respond to clear incentives which are structured
to their capacity and aspirations. These incentives should be negotiated as part of the
agreement which establishes a long-term relationship between the mining company
and the indigenous community.

●

Consistency - all contractors, operations managers, and corporate divisions must share a
consistent approach to recruitment and training of Indigenous Peoples. All contractors

CASE 16.2
Evolution of Relationships between Companies and Australian Aborigines

In Australia, there have been three generations of relation-
ships between mining companies and their indigenous
communities. First generation relationships were those
conducted to comply with regulations - such as those
under the Commonwealth Northern Territory Aboriginal
Land Rights Act 1976, where community members had
little or no active involvement in operations, but received
a share of mine profi ts or shared in mine returns in some
other way.
Second generation relationships involve complex land
transactions, enterprise agreements, and employment provi-
sions - often negotiated with third parties such as Land
Councils. In these circumstances, community organizations
are often equity holders or joint venture contractors with
a mine, but - like fi rst generation relationships - com-
munity members have little or no active involvement in
operations. Instead, indigenous organizations joint venture

with non-indigenous companies and so Indigenous Peoples
have limited active participation in operations. This is not
necessarily bad since many Indigenous Peoples prefer it
this way, but it makes for a different sort of relationship
between a mining company and the indigenous community.
The third generation of relationships is negotiated
between many stakeholder groups including indigenous
organization, native title claimants, and regional community
members. These relationships typically seek to include
Indigenous Peoples as active participants in mine operations
and the regional economy. This frequently involves multiple
land use agreements and a capacity building process to
ensure that indigenous communities establish some economic
independence beyond closure.