It focuses on building long-term, trusted relationships and partnerships with interested Indigenous Nations, as well as their Indigenous-owned businesses and development corporations. The primary purpose of BRIDGES is to establish Indigenous-led, flexible relationship models that identify and collaborate on economic opportunities occurring on their traditional territories or beyond. BRIDGES has a strong component of training, mentorship and capacity building focused on the inclusion of Indigenous youth and other vulnerable groups. Ausenco currently has a significant number of formalized Indigenous Partnerships and many more in negotiations with Indigenous-owned businesses across Canada, which are embedded in the services we provide to mining companies. Keywords FPIC/UNDRIP, Partnerships, Social License to Operate, Shared Value, World Mining Congress 1. SETTING THE CONTEXT Although Indigenous Peoples across the globe make up less than 5% of the total population, they hold approximately 20% of land worldwide and about 50% of mining projects are located on or near Indigenous territories. Indigenous communities possess deep cultural and spiritual ties to their lands, making their involvement crucial for the sustainable development of natural resources. Conflicts between mining companies and Indigenous communities are still prevalent and they tend to emerge from environmental, social and economic impacts, power imbalances, inequities regarding impacts and benefits, and lack of consultation and “Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). According to the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM, 2015), mining conflicts between companies and communities have surged dramatically since 2002. Figure 1 demonstrates this ten-fold increase in mining conflicts (i.e., from 10 conflicts in 2002 to 104 conflicts in 2015). In view of these incidents, mining companies have become increasingly aware of the negative impact of company–community conflicts on all aspects of their businesses, including loss of time, loss of productivity, loss of opportunity and impacts on reputation. Recent studies have also shown that social license to operate has become a critical risk for mining projects, not only leading to community opposition and operational blockages that affect project schedules, but also to a globally tarnished reputation and a barrier to attracting new sources of capital. It has ranked in the top 10 risks between 2019 and 2021 (EY, 2022). Losing it has cost between $20 million and $30 million a week due to operational disruptions caused by communities to large mining operations. 85
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