IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jrpoli/v47y2016icp18-27.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • 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
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301420715001208
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.resourpol.2015.11.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Owen, John R. & Kemp, Deanna, 2013. "Social licence and mining: A critical perspective," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 29-35.
    2. Prno, Jason & Scott Slocombe, D., 2012. "Exploring the origins of ‘social license to operate’ in the mining sector: Perspectives from governance and sustainability theories," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 346-357.
    3. Kemp, Deanna & Owen, John R., 2013. "Community relations and mining: Core to business but not “core business”," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 523-531.
    4. [multiple or corporate authorship]., 2014. "CASE annual report 2013," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 58040, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Söderholm, Kristina & Söderholm, Patrik & Helenius, Heidi & Pettersson, Maria & Viklund, Roine & Masloboev, Vladimir & Mingaleva, Tatiana & Petrov, Viktor, 2015. "Environmental regulation and competitiveness in the mining industry: Permitting processes with special focus on Finland, Sweden and Russia," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 130-142.
    6. Campbell, Gary & Roberts, Mark, 2010. "Permitting a new mine: Insights from the community debate," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 210-217, September.
    7. Luning, Sabine, 2012. "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for exploration: Consultants, companies and communities in processes of engagements," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 205-211.
    8. Hilson, Gavin, 2012. "Corporate Social Responsibility in the extractive industries: Experiences from developing countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 131-137.
    9. Craynon, John R. & Sarver, Emily A. & Robertson, David P., 2013. "Could a public ecology approach help resolve the mountaintop mining controversy?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 44-49.
    10. Emmanuel Bacry & Sylvain Delattre & Marc Hoffmann & J.-F. Muzy, 2011. "Modelling microstructure noise with Hawkes processes," Post-Print hal-00604490, HAL.
    11. Prno, Jason, 2013. "An analysis of factors leading to the establishment of a social licence to operate in the mining industry," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 577-590.
    12. Bi-Huei Tsai & Yiming Li, 2011. "Modelling competition in global LCD TV industry," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(22), pages 2969-2981.
    13. Moffat, Kieren & Zhang, Airong, 2014. "The paths to social licence to operate: An integrative model explaining community acceptance of mining," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 61-70.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Saenz, Cesar, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility strategies beyond the sphere of influence: Cases from the Peruvian mining industry," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    3. Johanna Järvelä, 2023. "The Mine or the Mire? Mobilising Place in Natural Resource Struggles," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 187(2), pages 237-254, October.
    4. 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.
    5. Walsh, Kathryn Bills & Haggerty, Julia H., 2020. "Social license to operate during Wyoming's coalbed methane boom: Implications of private participation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    6. Teschner, Benjamin & Holley, Elizabeth, 2021. "The cost of mine suspension from social conflict: A decision tree model," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    7. 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.
    8. Woźniak, Justyna & Jurczyk, Weronika, 2020. "Social and environmental activities in the Polish mining region in the context of CSR," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    9. Mercer-Mapstone, Lucy & Rifkin, Will & Moffat, Kieren & Louis, Winnifred, 2017. "Conceptualising the role of dialogue in social licence to operate," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 137-146.
    10. Baba, Sofiane & Mercier, Naoko & Guesthier, Andrée-Anne, 2024. "Fostering the social license to operate: An integrative framework of organizational antecedents," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    11. Walsh, Bríd & van der Plank, Sien & Behrens, Paul, 2017. "The effect of community consultation on perceptions of a proposed mine: A case study from southeast Australia," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 163-171.
    12. 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).
    13. 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.
    14. 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.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Leena Suopajärvi & Karin Beland Lindahl & Toni Eerola & Gregory Poelzer, 2023. "Social aspects of business risk in the mineral industry—political, reputational, and local acceptability risks facing mineral exploration and mining," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 36(2), pages 321-331, June.
    2. Alberto Diantini & Salvatore Eugenio Pappalardo & Tim Edwards Powers & Daniele Codato & Giuseppe Della Fera & Marco Heredia-R & Francesco Facchinelli & Edoardo Crescini & Massimo De Marchi, 2020. "Is this a Real Choice? Critical Exploration of the Social License to Operate in the Oil Extraction Context of the Ecuadorian Amazon," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-24, October.
    3. Amoako, Kwame Oduro & Lord, Beverley R. & Dixon, Keith, 2021. "Narrative accounting for mining in Ghana: An old defence against a new threat?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    4. Badera Jarosław, 2014. "Problems of the social non-acceptance of mining projects with particular emphasis on the European Union – a literature review," Environmental & Socio-economic Studies, Sciendo, vol. 2(1), pages 27-34, March.
    5. Mason, Claire M. & Paxton, Gillian & Parsons, Richard & Parr, Joanna M. & Moffat, Kieren, 2014. "“For the benefit of Australians”: Exploring national expectations of the mining industry," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1-8.
    6. Costanza, Jennifer Noel, 2016. "Mining Conflict and the Politics of Obtaining a Social License: Insight from Guatemala," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 97-113.
    7. Demajorovic, Jacques & Lopes, Juliana Campos & Santiago, Ana Lucia Frezzatti, 2019. "The Samarco dam disaster: A grave challenge to social license to operate discourse," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 273-282.
    8. Mercer-Mapstone, Lucy & Rifkin, Will & Moffat, Kieren & Louis, Winnifred, 2017. "Conceptualising the role of dialogue in social licence to operate," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 137-146.
    9. Wright, Susan & Bice, Sara, 2017. "Beyond social capital: A strategic action fields approach to social licence to operate," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 284-295.
    10. Prince Amoah & Gabriel Eweje, 2021. "Impact mitigation or ecological restoration? Examining the environmental sustainability practices of multinational mining companies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 551-565, January.
    11. Yıldız, Taşkın Deniz & Kural, Orhan, 2020. "The effects of the mining operation activities permit process on the mining sector in Turkey," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    12. Richert, Claire & Rogers, Abbie & Burton, Michael, 2015. "Measuring the extent of a Social License to Operate: The influence of marine biodiversity offsets in the oil and gas sector in Western Australia," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 121-129.
    13. Daniel M. Shapiro & Carlos Vecino & Jing Li, 2018. "Exploring China’s state-led FDI model: Evidence from the extractive sectors in Latin America," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 11-37, March.
    14. Mercer-Mapstone, Lucy & Rifkin, Will & Louis, Winnifred & Moffat, Kieren, 2017. "Meaningful dialogue outcomes contribute to laying a foundation for social licence to operate," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 347-355.
    15. Zanini, Marco Tulio Fundão & Migueles, Carmen Pires & Gambirage, Cinara & Silva, Jaison, 2023. "Barriers to local community participation in mining projects: The eroding role of power imbalance and information asymmetry," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PB).
    16. Santiago, Ana Lúcia & Demajorovic, Jacques & Rossetto, Dennys Eduardo & Luke, Hanabeth, 2021. "Understanding the fundamentals of the Social Licence to Operate: Its evolution, current state of development and future avenues for research," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    17. Pamela Lesser, 2021. "The road to societal trust: implementation of Towards Sustainable Mining in Finland and Spain," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 34(2), pages 175-186, July.
    18. Symeou, Pavlos C. & Zyglidopoulos, Stelios & Williamson, Peter, 2018. "Internationalization as a driver of the corporate social performance of extractive industry firms," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 27-38.
    19. Brueckner, Martin & Eabrasu, Marian, 2018. "Pinning down the social license to operate (SLO): The problem of normative complexity," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 217-226.
    20. 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.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:47:y:2016:i:c:p:18-27. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/30467 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.