Good Practice Guide: Indigenous Peoples and Mining

"It is important that companies take the time to properly understand the communities they work with including their particular context, concerns and aspirations. This Guide aims to assist help companies achieve those constructive relationships with Indigenous Peoples. It is also intended to help companies comply with their commitment to Indigenous Peoples as stated in ICMM’s position statement .

The Guide highlights good practice principles, discusses the challenges in applying these principles at the operational level and provides real-world examples of how mining projects have addressed these challenges. It also explores the cost of getting it wrong.

It is not intended as a one-size-fits-all but is designed to provide useful information and direction for both companies and indigenous communities when considering issues around engagement and participation, agreements, impact management, benefits sharing and dealing with grievances.

While recognizing the role of traditional decision-making structures – the Guide urges companies to be sensitive to those sections of the community who are frequently excluded from these structures, such as women and young people.

This publication is a milestone rather than an end point. It will form part of ICMM’s ongoing engagement on these issues and will be reviewed in light of practical experience."

Download the full publication here