A guide to leading practice sustainable development in mining

During the mine’s operation, road infrastructure was upgraded in order to
transport workers from their remote villages to the mine site. Misima Mines
built classrooms, medical aid posts and fresh water supply systems through a
tax credit scheme that redirected a percentage of the government’s revenues
back to the local community. Existing trade stores expanded and new ones
opened to sell workers a wider range of goods. The government built a high
school on the island, enabling more local children to extend their education.
Following the mine’s closure, the improvements made to the islanders’
standard of living began to deteriorate. Employment opportunities were
reduced and many land owners had to return to subsistence farming
and fishing. Funding for the ongoing improvement and maintenance of
infrastructure systems related to the mine’s operation, such as roads,
electricity grids and improvements to the airport, ceased as no other
industries had been developed to provide alternative revenue streams. In
addition, since they were provided by the mine, the PNG Government had
limited capacity to maintain these projects through the national budget.
Response of Mine Management: Focus was placed on developing the island’s
human and social capital. In terms of human capital, a base had already been
established by an improved education infrastructure creating a relatively
high level of literacy on the island. The company also helped employees get
certification in various skilled trades and professions such as accountancy,
nursing and engineering. The company hired an NGO to help local leaders
develop the skills needed to create strategic plans for each village and then
take them to higher levels of government. Misima Mines also helped the
traditional land owners where the mine was situated to get organised and
initiate a trust fund with their royalty money.
Social capital meant having enough internal cohesiveness to agree upon, and
work towards, common goals. On Misima, traditionally, collaborative action
seldom extended beyond the clan and village levels. The challenge therefore
was to have the diverse, dispersed villages and clans come together and take
charge of planning their collective future. Misima Mines convened an advisory
group composed of the leaders of all the stakeholders. It included churches,
a women’s association, a national human development NGO, an international
environmental and social NGO, the landowners and four levels of government.
Each time the multi-stakeholder advisory group met, it created stronger
network ties among Misima’s organisations.
The major problems that the advisory group faced were food security,
alternative sources of cash income and public infrastructure maintenance.
Misima Mines took a plot of land and started an agricultural research and
training centre that experimented with various high-value, low-weight cash
crops for export, such as vanilla, kava and nutmeg.
148 LEADING PRACTICE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR THE MINING INDUSTRY