Journal CommentDeveloping social capital to enhance mining community relations
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- Created: Wednesday, 11 December 2024 06:30
- Written by D. Morris
One of the more difficult challenges facing mining companies is the complex issue of local community engagement and partnership. Often large amounts of financial capital are invested in social projects with outcomes, which can be, to say the least, disappointing and unsustainable. On occasion the expenditure of resources and effort can result in community fragmentation, which compounds the problem. Low levels of trust, and fractious and failed relationships often characterize the interaction between the mine and surrounding community.
Mining companies and business in general understand well the deployment of natural, economic, and human capital in the pursuit of their objectives, and performance is often assessed against the effective and efficient use of these three capitals. However, a fourth type of capital, that is social capital, can be neglected and not seen as an important business imperative through the lack of understanding of its value and a natural discomfort with the work that is needed to develop it.
Social capital is developed through the interactions between people whose lives intersect within and outside a business or community. These interactions foster relationships, shared norms, values, and understandings that collectively shape behaviour, actions, and outcomes. Factors such as trust, belonging, social identity, sense of self, networks, confidence, and community self-reliance all form part of the multi-dimensional nature of social capital. In a setting where social capital has been consciously developed there is a lower probability of friction and discontent and a higher probability of constructive, prosperous co-operation. In the context of a mining community, investing in the growth of social capital in an organized and structured way can lead to resilient, long-term trusting relationships, greater self-reliance, reduced dependencies, and a more effective use of other forms of capital, resulting in improved business and societal outcomes. The development of social capital is a long-term programme, which requires sustained effort and commitment, and a constancy of vision and leadership, which understands that social capital is a valuable and essential part of the business effort and not an elective or discretionary element. The work can be viewed as disquieting, uncomfortable, and traditionally ‘non-core’ and thus requires senior leaders to take a bold step out of their familiar environment, adapt new leadership styles and make a personal commitment towards civic and community engagement. Leaders who are transparent, reliable, and empathetic will excel at growing their organization’s social capital.
From small initial efforts, social capital can grow exponentially and deliver impact beyond original expectations. Such a programme could be focused on work in one of the critical needs of the community such as education, health services or security, where in-principle common ground is easily found. Practical and tested programmes of this nature exist, which with the support of expert knowledge and facilitation are easy to implement provided that the commitment exists. A particularly successful initiative partners key community members—in this case, school principals—with senior leaders and decision-makers from the business sector (the mine). Through a professionally coached and structured journey that builds social capital, these partnerships create meaningful impact, benefiting the individuals involved and fostering innovative leadership skills. The work enhances the school principals’ ability to find their own solutions to their unique challenges, through the growth of their personal social capital, resulting in, among other things, collateral benefit to school performance and a positive impact on the wider community. The business leaders develop an awareness and understanding of the social complexity of the community, learn new transformational leadership skills in situations where they lack expertise or authority, and gain exposure to and insight of a sector of society they would not normally interact with.
Most importantly, this work fosters close, trusting, and lasting personal relationships between key individuals who develop shared values and beliefs, leading to a stronger connection between the business and the community. This connection creates a tangible shift in both perceived and actual power dynamics and lowers barriers towards generating the common goal of mutual prosperity. These types of programmes generate agency, growth of confidence and independence, and a reduced sense of isolation and hopelessness in difficult circumstances, all of which contribute towards better mutual socio-economic outcomes.
The conscious and deliberate development of social capital is a valuable tool, which should warrant more formal consideration in the social and community programmes of mining companies.
D. Morris
The mining engineering departments at the various South African tertiary institutes are responsible for producing the next generation of tech-savvy mining engineers. It is well known that it is an ongoing battle for these departments to attract top students. The problem is not unique to South Africa, however. Mining Digital reported earlier this year that mining is no longer seen as a popular career choice and enrolment in mining engineering courses decreased by 63% in Australia since 2014. The Mining Industry Human Resources Council of Canada found in a survey that 70% of the younger generation said they would not consider a career in mining and this was the highest proportion of all the industries included in the survey. This problem is even more complex in South Africa and addressing it will require a multi-pronged approach.
Rare earths elements (REE), often dubbed the ‘vitamins driving the 21st century industrial epoch and clean energy transitions’, have been a subject of debate and are at the centre of the geopolitical and supply-side tensions between China and the West. With everyone scrambling for de-risk of their supply chains, the attention is now increasingly being focused on seeking alternative sources of these critical raw materials. This is where Southern Africa, as a geopolitically neutral region rich in these irreplaceable raw materials, comes in to ensure the sustainable supply of the critical raw materials needed to drive the clean energy transition.
The SAIMM’s 2024 Annual General Meeting held in August 2024 celebrated the Institute’s 130th birthday and 70 years since the Journal was first published. This celebration comes at a time when the mining industry is facing challenges with regard to future funding and limited opportunities for new developments largely due to environmental lobbying and soaring financial costs.
I have always been fascinated by how things work, and my mother often commented that I got more pleasure from pulling my toys apart and rebuilding them than from playing with them. Learning, or should I say ‘trying to understand how things work, why they work, and then how to do it differently’ is an ongoing passion for me. The Why, How and What If may have driven my family crazy at times but they are questions that have shaped my life.
This year the SAIMM will celebrate its 130th ‘birthday’. In this commentary I would like to focus on the value and service that the Institute has provided to the mining and metallurgical industries. 
If you’re bored, it’s probably your own fault. When I was a first-year student in 2002, I was exceptionally shy and introverted, like many of my engineering student friends. I grew up with technology and was one of the first among my peers to sacrifice a bit of hard-earned internet-café job money (intended for a few on-campus treats at Steers) to buy a USB flash drive. I would crawl under computer laboratory desks to find the USB port to plug it in, much to the amusement of my peers who were still using floppy disks. Six months later, there were extension cables on the tables to plug in your ‘stick’. Google and Wikipedia were novelties, and search engines like Yahoo and Alta Vista were considered great for starting an internet search. The library computers and staff were invaluable for finding relevant information on all subjects.
There has been a lot of talk lately about the just energy transition and critical minerals. Southern Africa is richly endowed with critical minerals and as such should play an important role in the journey towards renewable energy. And then there is coal. Inevitably, decarbonization will entail the phasing out of coal as an energy source. However, a just energy transition requires more than simply shutting down coal mines and power plants. Coal mining communities often rely heavily on the industry for their jobs and livelihoods. As coal use declines, these communities will require robust social safety nets and reskilling programmes to ensure a smooth transition into new sectors of the growing clean energy economy. Areas for consideration might include alternative applications for, and products from, coal such as carbon fibre, which has applications in motor vehicles, wind turbines and energy equipment, sports items, electronic, military, defence, and medical products. Another example is coal use in building materials, some made with carbon fibres and others with carbon char. include coal plastics, coal foam, and graphene-based building materials. Graphene is an important single-layered carbon product which is light and extremely strong. It is currently emerging as a vital product with many applications including manufacturing, vehicles, aircraft, space travel, and electronics. Other alternative products from coal are activated carbon and carbon black. Coal and coal discard may turn out to be viable sources of rare earth elements, which are also of critical importance to the decarbonization journey. As this journey progresses and as is seen elsewhere in the world, the future of coal may lie in its perceived role as one of the most important elemental, mineral, and ore commodities that a country can possess. For any of the above to materialize will require extensive research and development. And even then, only a few of these visions may come to fruition. However, to do nothing is not an option. I wish you a pleasant reading experience. 
I thought to write this note as a researcher, author, and collaborator, and who, over a few decades has seen and participated in the development of several new equations, procedures, and processes on a number of topics: in my case, obviously in the field of rock engineering. These are invariably published in established journals or presented at conferences of some or other form, some more formal than others.
This special edition of the Journal showcases recent work in metallurgical applications of computational modelling. But what exactly is computational modelling? Historically this would have included any science or engineering problem that required a computer to solve numerical approximations of the governing equations. Computers were typically large, expensive pieces of equipment, and the problems solved were limited by the available power of the machine – early applications included chemical thermodynamics, numerical heat and mass transfer, and simple problems in fluid flow. 