License to Operate

Much of the raw materials which industry require come from mining. Mines must be located close to reliable and economically extractable ore bodies or mineral deposits. Scarred landscapes, mine tailings, contaminated water and gravestones are often the legacies left to local communities after the mines are depleted.  Modern mining techniques are safer to employees, can reduce visual impacts during operations and can be designed to protect water quality. After mining operations are completed, the site can be rehabilitated to resemble the undisturbed neighboring landscape.

It has been a normal practice that the mining company provides a lot of economic support to the local communities and local governments in order to obtain and maintain permits to operate. This practice is not easily eliminated and in some cases the local community can react and sometimes threaten the mine operations when these subsidies are reduced or environmental or fatal incidents occur.

Mining company’s license to operate is not only dependent on only government permits but community acceptance of the mine operations and local impacts.

In order to be able to reduce risks, eliminate old practices and at the same time maintaining the license to operate, a plan should be put in place with actions like:

• Perform stakeholder dialogue and assess potential areas for concern.

• Implement EHS management systems and assessment programs.

• Develop a good neighbor policy/strategy for community engagement.

• Develop crisis prevention procedures, in cases of critical incidents to mitigate the impact and avoid development into an external crisis.

• Crisis management procedures, in case of crisis how to manage stakeholders, media, etc, in order to mitigate the crisis and continue operations.

2TSustainAbility we have experience in crisis management and help clients develop relations with stakeholders to build reputation needed in case of new projects, expansions, crisis, etc.

Cement plants must be located close to reliable sources of raw materials and close to transportation networks in order to supply markets.  Payback calculations for building cement plants are calculated at between 25 and 50 years depending on projected demand. As cement plants are long-term investments and can serve as a magnet for economic development, the rural areas in which they were first built may become increasingly urbanized over their life cycle.

Before the requirement for pollution control systems, cement plants spewed clouds of smoke and dust across the countryside. But as population centers moved closer to the cement plants, environmental and occupational health and safety concerns from local communities have become more forthcoming.

It has been a normal practice that the cement company provides a lot of economic support to the local communities and local governments in order to obtain permits to operate. This practice from the past is not easily eliminated and in some cases the local community can react and sometimes threaten the cement plants when these subsidies are reduced.

Cement plants’ license to operate is not only dependent on only government permits but community acceptance of the cement company.

In order to be able to reduce risks to your license to operate, a plan should be put in place with actions like:

• Perform stakeholder dialogue and assess potential areas for development

• Develop a good neighbor policy/strategy for community engagement

• Develop crisis prevention procedures, in cases of critical incidents to mitigate the impact and avoid development into an external crisis

• Crisis management procedures, in case of crisis how to manage stakeholders, media, etc, in order to mitigate the crisis and continue operations.

2TSustainAbility we have experience in crisis management and help clients develop relations with stakeholders to build reputation needed in case of new projects, expansions, crisis, etc.