Community risk management by mining MNEs: managing local communities in Armenian mining

Using field work from the Armenian mining sector, we explore how MNEs practice community risk management. We start by conceptualising communities as communities of place (CofP), directly impacted by mining activities but have few resources, and communities of interest (CofI), as outsiders with an interest in mining projects and the resources to create uncertainty about the mine. We argue that community risk is a precursor to financial, political and cultural risks and that both CofP and CofI can expose the mining MNE to risks, either individually or in unison. We find that mining MNEs focus on mitigating community risks in the initial phases of the mine project, when the impact on the CofP is perceived to be lowest. Our interpretation is that the objective of the risk management practice is to commit resources to CofP for as long as there is a possibility that they will form partnerships with CofI.