The endorsement of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) by the Human Rights Council and the adoption of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015 are two key developments that will profoundly alter the mining industry in the next decade and beyond. By looking at recent developments that come from international law concerning the social license to operate, as well as case law from the practice of international investment tribunals, this contribution aims to show how the adoption of a broader perspective that goes beyond project-specific domestic legal requirements may be beneficial not only to individual companies, but also for the industry as a whole. CITATION:Barnes, M M, 2019. The social license to operate in the extractive industries: an international law perspective, in Proceedings 9th International Conference on Sustainable Development in the Minerals Industry, pp 7881 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).