Confirmation of Candidature - Candidate : Elle Ellis Schiemer

While the arrival of a foreign mining company can be a welcome catalyst for development benefits in economically emerging nations, the decisions, and actions they take have significant impact on the political, social, environmental and economic conditions in the host communities and countries where they operate, including how they may contribute to a peaceful operating environment or exacerbate the drivers for violent action. 

From the initial discovery/exploration phase of a mine life cycle, the act of engaging with the local communities and establishing value chains, through community and social performance (CSP) initiatives mining companies directly and indirectly, immediately start to impact their host community that can last well after mine closure. Therefore, it is with a `positive-deviance' perspective, this project has sought out an exemplary transnational mining company demonstrating intentional CSP innovations with their host communities in South Africa who are attempting to translate environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies into practice for a case study. 

In this way, this study proposes to collect qualitative data to contribute to this under-researched topic that records observations of community development workers in the field with community residents, along with the experiences, opinions, narratives and perceptions of a range of stakeholders that help reflect on the impact of mining operations regarding their capacity to engaging in community partnerships, with long-term interests, in areas that are at risk of violence, and co-create `shared-value', such as peaceful co-existence. 

In this way this project will attempt to offer a deeper understanding of mining-impacted South African communities and their relationship with the transnational mining companies they host, highlighting industry implementation of ESG initiatives and effectiveness to mitigate operational risks in a global climate-crisis, post-pandemic economic environment.

For more information, please email the Graduate Research School or phone 0746 311088.