When community residents do not believe the benefits of mining will outweigh social and environmental costs, opposition can develop. Costly incidents of mining-community conflict (Franks et al, 2014) have alerted mining companies to the need for earning a social license to operate:
the tacit or explicit permission from governments, communities, and other stakeholders to do business (Porter & Kramer, 2006).Exploration - the search to find mineral deposits that may be of a suitable size and quantity to support a commercial mining operation is the first stage in the mining life cycle and is often the first point of exposure for local communities to a future mining operation.
This makes exploration a critical stage for companies to work with communities to understand local conditions (Hilson & Murck, 2000) and build relationships with project stakeholders1. Stakeholder engagement can provide valuable input to local conditions and support outcomes that have a higher degree of community acceptance. This may prevent the need to change project design decisions, something that may be required if community opposition develops. CITATION:Fraser, J, Batdorj, B and Kunz, N C, 2019. Can mineral exploration companies create and share value with local communities? The case of Erdene Resource Development Corporation in Mongolia, in Proceedings 9th International Conference on Sustainable Development in the Minerals Industry, pp 4244 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).