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The Pebble Mine Dialogue: A case study in public engagement and the social license to operate

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  • Holley, Elizabeth A.
  • Mitcham, Carl

Abstract

The Pebble gold–copper–molybdenum deposit is a controversial mining project in the headwaters of the Bristol Bay salmon fishery, Alaska. As a member of the Pebble Limited Partnership, the mining company Anglo American sponsored a public engagement exercise to help stakeholders decide whether and how the deposit should be mined. The independent Keystone Policy Center facilitated the dialogue, which positioned science as a means of enhancing public rationality. Stakeholders for and against the mine reviewed the mining partnership's environmental baseline study data but did not reach consensus on whether risks posed to the salmon fishery were too great. Anglo American left the partnership, and the Pebble Dialogue was not completed. The final planned phase of the dialogue involved collaborative community–company mine planning in what would have been a high-impact mechanism of CSR, but negotiations of the risks and benefits to stakeholders did not take place. The mining project has not achieved social license, although the Pebble Dialogue offers some components that should be considered in future public engagement exercises.

Suggested Citation

  • Holley, Elizabeth A. & Mitcham, Carl, 2016. "The Pebble Mine Dialogue: A case study in public engagement and the social license to operate," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 18-27.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:47:y:2016:i:c:p:18-27
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2015.11.002
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    3. Tuulentie, Seija & Halseth, Greg & Kietäväinen, Asta & Ryser, Laura & Similä, Jukka, 2019. "Local community participation in mining in Finnish Lapland and Northern British Columbia, Canada – Practical applications of CSR and SLO," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 99-107.
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    5. Olivier Boiral & Iñaki Heras‐Saizarbitoria & Marie‐Christine Brotherton, 2023. "Sustainability management and social license to operate in the extractive industry: The cross‐cultural gap with Indigenous communities," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 125-137, February.
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    7. Mercer-Mapstone, Lucy & Rifkin, Will & Louis, Winnifred & Moffat, Kieren, 2019. "Power, participation, and exclusion through dialogue in the extractive industries: Who gets a seat at the table?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 190-199.
    8. Pablo Rodrigo & Ignacio J. Duran, 2021. "Why Does Context Really Matter? Understanding Companies’ Dialogue with Fringe Communities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-26, January.
    9. Lacey, Justine & Carr-Cornish, Simone & Zhang, Airong & Eglinton, Kelvyn & Moffat, Kieren, 2017. "The art and science of community relations: Procedural fairness at Newmont's Waihi Gold operations, New Zealand," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 245-254.
    10. Teschner, Benjamin & Holley, Elizabeth, 2021. "The cost of mine suspension from social conflict: A decision tree model," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
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    13. Upadhyay, Saurabh, 2023. "Impact of the formal and informal institutions on the performance of Indian mining companies: A fuzzy set QCA analysis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).

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